advice for a flying plumber - starting a business (Colorado Springs: new home, construction)

[oceankidz]

what a wonderful site - thanks to all who share so generously. We have done our online research, trying to narrow down our areas - but a pending visit in late October will help us to visualise it all. Will look from Ft Collins to South of CS, but Woodland Park grabs my attention for now.

OK,great to find the area, but what about the work! My husband has two options - plumbing/remodelling or aviation. With plumbing he would want to start on his own again, although might need to work with with someone to get familiar with the area. Aviation - another whole game ( I guess he could be happy flying for pleasure) -

Are there a glut of plumbers in Colorado Springs ? And advice on areas that are more active for remodelling or new home construction - except that we would like to live a little further out of city stuff.

In smaller towns what is the general attitude towards new comers starting up a business - here in Charleston SC it is not that easy if you are not born and bred in SC!

[duster1979]

There is so much new construction going on in the Springs and surrounding area that there could never be a shortage of people who work in any area of building trades.

[COflower]

There are a lot of aviation buffs around here. (C Springs) In fact my brother's company (build's Wal*Marts and Home Depots and the like) own two small planes and have three people in-house that in addition to their regular duties also fly the company planes.

Anyhow, with Ft. Carson bringing in a lot of troops over the next few years, C Springs will continue to grow and with that growth also means a lot of commercial and residential buildings. Jobs for skilled trades should be plenty for many years to come.

It probably would help if your husband gets an HVAC certification, that probably will open up his possibilities greatly.

Having grown up in the construction business, typically, highly qualified plumbers are hard to find but once they find them, they pay well and don't want to let the employee go.

Good luck on your relocation, wherever that may be.

[oceankidz]

Thanks to all for responding I certainly feel encouraged from the replies and reading all the posts - cannot wait until our visit....four weeks to go - just looks like there will be too many choices! Getting used to winter is going to be a shock to the system coming from South Africa and the Caribbean but hope that the 300 sunny days make up for it - and to decide between CS, Golden surrounds and Ft Collins - have two teen kids, homeschool and want a little space around us ( 2 acres) but not too far for my husband to commute - of course he could always fly!