The La Plata County Economic Development Alliance has three big goals to promote economic development in the county: high speed internet everywhere in the county, air service (meaning a new terminal), and a new business park.
They were topics of a panel discussion at the 9th annual Economic Summit on Oct. 28 at Sky Ute Casino. Panelists were Chris McCroskey, owner of a tech business called IdeaLoop, Kerry Siggins, CEO of Stone Age Inc., and Steve Parker, retired bank president, Colorado Transportation Commissioner, and member of the Durango Industrial Development Foundation that created Bodo Industrial Park.
McCroskey started his company in Dallas. But two and a half years ago, he moved his family to La Plata County. "We looked at lots of places," he said. "Durango is a special place, a real town. I moved my software developer company here. All our people work from home, so high-speed internet is essential. That almost made Durango impossible for us."
He said his family "needed a big house, which means in the (rural part of) the county." He said Century Link offered 2 megabits per second. That's not enough. He needs a minimum 10 mbs. That's the Alliance goal for every house in the county within the next five years, McCroskey said.
The narrow gauge train was Durango's communication link in the 1880s. "It's the only reason Durango exists," McCroskey said. "We are in the same place today with internet access and internet infrastructure. ... Is there any better place to live than Durango? I don't think so, but we can do better. I can work from anywhere as long as I have high speed internet and an airport."
He cited the statistic that La Plata County is 19th among counties in the nation with its share of residents who work from home via the internet. These are good paying jobs, he said. "It attracts talented people who can contribute to the community. It creates outposts for company expansion."
And it opens the way for telemedicine services for people in out-of-the way areas with minimal health care services. "You can't do that without high speed internet," McCroskey said. "I mean 100 mbs, and I think that's low." His vision is 1 gigabit (1,000 megabits) per second, which would download a 2 1/2 hour movie in 29 seconds.
"It's a sea change in the kind of business you can attract to the community," he said. He cited Chattanooga, Tenn., which now "attracts thousands of jobs because they offered this, all funded by their subscribers, no cost to taxpayers. We can do this."
He continued, "The Alliance wants to make the county the best location to start and run a business. It will be much harder without high speed internet."
That led him to urge voters to approve local opt-outs from Senate Bill 152, passed in 2005 by state legislators to block local governments from providing advanced telecom services directly or indirectly.
The opt out questions passed by large margins for the county, Bayfield, Ignacio, and Durango in this week's elections.
Parker talked about the need for airport terminal expansion. Funding for that could be on the November 2016 ballot.
"I came here in 1980," he said. "When I flew into Durango, the luggage area was about the size of this podium. We've come a long way since then. It took determined men and women in the 1980s to realize we needed a new airport terminal. Thirty years later, we still have that terminal."
One luggage carousel is a problem when three planes arrive at the same time, Parker said. "Communities are defined by their transportation systems... We no longer have a railroad (to the outside world). We're dependent on highways and the airport. I'm on the Airport Commission. I thought we could just fix up the terminal."
Parker said he was advised by County Commissioner Brad Blake, who owns a plumbing business, that the terminal's electric and HVAC systems can't be expanded. "Those are the guts of the building. I became convinced we have to do it right," Parker said. He showed the presentation from the consulting firm Jviation that led to the conclusion that a new terminal on the east side of the runway is the best option.
Part of the passenger growth here is from San Juan County, New Mexico residents because of the decline of Farmington's airport, Parker said.
The current terminal is around 41,000 square feet, including the tent. "The FAA says it should be about double that" for existing traffic, Parker said, plus more space to park large passenger planes, and more vehicle parking. He urged people to support a new terminal.
Siggins touted the need for a new business park in the county, using her company as an example. Stone Age sells high pressure water blast tools for cleaning. "We sell all over the world," she said. "We're bringing new dollars into the community. We should be in Houston, but who wants to live there? We've had to overcome a lot of challenges, including space. Having space to grow is very important."
The company started in Jerry Zink's garage in 1979, she said, then into a building that had three-phase power, also important for business.
The company moved to Bodo Industrial Park in 1987 and expanded to their current facility in the late 1990s. They are at Animas Air Park, which is more industrial than Bodo, Siggins said. They use a lot of water, and at some point their well went dry. Durango is planning to bring water service up there, but for now, she said it's very expensive to haul water two or three times a week.
"We expanded to 7,000 square feet. Where do we go when we can't make it work up there?" she asked. "We employ 103 people," including 16 from Bayfield and seven from Ignacio. "In 2014 we put $12 million into the Four Corners economy. ... We spent $14 million with outside vendors and $880,000 with local vendors. We'd love to use local vendors. ... We gave more than $100,000 to local charities, schools, business support organizations."
Siggins asked, "What if we had five Stone Ages, or 10, or 20? We can only do it if we have space for them to grow. ... We need a planning code that encourages industrial development parks. We need to look at what makes sense for a business park and fit residential into other places."
She continued, "We have to get rid of the compatibility idea (between land uses). ... We need to encourage and incentivize landowners to do industrial development instead of residential. We can't allow a few residents to be making decisions for us. We have to say this is important for the community, we have to make room for it."
She advised, "If Stone Age was only five years old and we were fighting for a 10,000 square foot space, we'd probably have to leave. Businesses are spending years working with the city and county trying to find spaces to grow. Some have left. We have to help small businesses find places to grow so we can make this a healthy community for our kids to come back to. We have to be doing that now."
County Commissioner Julie Westendorff responded, "We're seeing pressures regarding where water exists, lack of public water systems to support a business park. Wells aren't enough. The price of land is another (issue), and construction costs. The county (land use) code does have a compatibility component. There hasn't been consensus in the county about more fixed zoning... There are several really tough nuts to crack to find a place for a business park."
Parker told summit participants, "You have the ability to make these things happen. If you don't, shame on you."
