Rural Colorado Economic Status - Mid 2009 (Denver, Pueblo: sale, real estate market, foreclosures)

[Josseppie]

One way that rural Colorado is going to get better economically is by having better education opptuenties for the people living there. Pueblo Community College and Colorado State University - Pueblo are working to make that a reality for people all over rural southern Colorado. This was a article in the Durango newspaper about how PCC is expanding to the western slope. When the students graduate from there they can go on to a 4 year university if they want and Colorado State University Pueblo has a agreement to accept those students increasing their chance of getting into a major university.

"The merged institution, Southwest Colorado Community College, looks to become a comprehensive community college for the region. "We see one college, multiple communities," PCC President J.D. Garvin said during a visit to Durango on Wednesday."

The link: http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/07/02/New_local_community_college_taking_shape/

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

One way that rural Colorado is going to get better economically is by having better education opptuenties for the people living there. Pueblo Community College and Colorado State University - Pueblo are working to make that a reality for people all over rural southern Colorado. This was a article in the Durango newspaper about how PCC is expanding to the western slope. When the students graduate from their they can go on to a 4 year university if they want and Colorado State University Pueblo has a agreement to accept those students increasing their chance of getting into a major university.

"The merged institution, Southwest Colorado Community College, looks to become a comprehensive community college for the region. "We see one college, multiple communities," PCC President J.D. Garvin said during a visit to Durango on Wednesday."

The link: http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/07/02/New_local_community_college_taking_shape/

Ah, more fantasy. Truth is, western Colorado is full of well-educated people that can't find jobs commensurate with their education. I know--I work with some of them. There are several very good 4-year colleges in western Colorado--and have been for a number of years. Also, some good technical schools and vocational schools. For years, Fort Lewis College in Durango had a relationship with CSU (the one in Fort Collins, that is) similar to what is being touted as "news" now. Of course, certain supposedly well-educated people from, uh, Pueblo who haven't bothered to study much Colorado history probably don't know that.

PS--I graduated from one of those four-year colleges in western Colorado--and, amazingly enough to some, I can write and spell well enough to be a published author (more than once, actually).

[Josseppie]

There was a article in the Pueblo Chieftain about how the education was lower in rural Colorado and how all the colleges and universities in southern Colorado were teaming up to help increase it, they met at CSU Pueblo. I cant seem to find it now but if I do I will post it here since it has statistics about the education level in rural Colorado.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

There was a article in the Pueblo Chieftain about how the education was lower in rural Colorado and how all the colleges and universities in southern Colorado were teaming up to help increase it, they met at CSU Pueblo. I cant seem to find it now but if I do I will post it here since it has statistics about the education level in rural Colorado.

The problem in rural Colorado is not lack of educational opportunity--it is a lack of jobs available for educated individuals. Many of the best-educated people have to leave to find jobs commensurate with their education. Bluntly, it doesn't take much education to flip hamburgers and change beds--and those are the kinds of jobs that rural tourist and retirement-dominated Colorado has these days. The mining and energy industries do actually require skilled labor and a considerable number of well-educated geologists, engineers, and such--but we seem determined to kill off those kinds of industries in rural Colorado. Even most modern farmers and ranchers tend to be college-educated, but we seem to want to kill off those industries with water grabs and land development. The higher education system is not what is lacking in rural Colorado--it's a lack of career opportunity for educated people. All of the population growth in the last 25 years has not helped that one bit--in fact, I would submit--that as a percentage of job opportunities for educated folks as a total percentage of rural jobs--the situation is worse now than it was 30, 40, or 50 years ago. As I have posted elsewhere, the biggest employer of educated individuals in rural Colorado is, well, government.

[Josseppie]

Its the chicken and the egg. What comes first the good jobs or the higher education. That has been a issue for rural Colorado for a long time, including Pueblo. Hopefully things will start to change with what schools like PCC and CSU - Pueblo and doing.

[Bob from down south]

Originally Posted by Pravda of Pueblo

Its the chicken and the egg. What comes first the good jobs or the higher education. That has been a issue for rural Colorado for a long time, including Pueblo. Hopefully things will start to change with what schools like PCC and CSU - Pueblo and doing.

It's more than what they "and" doing (hopefully teaching English as part of the curriculum). If the chicken doesn't lay the egg somewhere where it can hatch, the exercise was all for nothing.

What, people are gonna get MBAs at CSUP and Wall Street will suddenly decide to move to southern Colorado? No, sorry, no sale. If Puebloans actually do start getting better educated, they will leave there to seek incomes commensurate with their educations. One does not get a college degree with the end goal of working for cr*p wages on the production line of a water bottling plant or wind tower factory, which are hollow victories in an area staggering under the most massive job losses in the state.

Today's employment numbers demonstrate that President Zero's smoke and mirror lies aren't working. The hock and bull sold to Congress at the time of passage of Plan Porkulus said worst-case, unemployment would reach 9% without a stimulus plan, 8% if it was passed. The headline number is already at 9.5%, and the "real" UE rate is rapidly approaching 20%, despite the reckless waste of $787 Bn of the taxpayer's money. But I guess we can take solace in knowing that CSUP is going to provide a venue for thousands more kids to bury themselves in student loan debt in order to contribute to a more richly educated unemployment line.

Seven bank failures today. Five last week. 52 so far this year. More "green shoots."

The Zero Nation
No Sugar
No Caffeine
No substance at all

[Josseppie]

Are you saying that education level has no role in a areas economic health?

[sterlinggirl]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

Are you saying that education level has no role in a areas economic health?

A higher educational level is detrimental to economic health when you're trying to lure manufacturing to an area. Higher education typically means higher wages, and higher wages are less profitable.

[jazzlover]

Not to veer off topic here, but the problem with education today is that colleges--and all schools for that matter--are not teaching basic skills needed for a representative democracy to be able to function. Things like basic civics--so people can understand what government is, how it is organized, and how it should function. That ignorance on the part of a supposedly educated public shows right here on this forum. Schools aren't teaching basic writing, reading, and communication skills, either. That also shows here, as well. I see people holding Master's degrees that can't even spell on a 6th Grade level. Lack of communication skills is a real problem in American society because, no matter how smart somebody may be, if they can't communicate effectively, they can't pass their knowledge on to anyone else. The list of educational failings in modern America could go on--pitiful math skills, no understanding of economics, ignorance of basic personal finance skills, etc., etc.

We shouldn't blame the schools entirely, though. What is most sorely lacking today is plain ol' common sense. That is a skill learned very early on in life from one's parents. By the time a kid enters school, he or she either has it or doesn't. Obviously, teaching that is not a priority for many of today's self-absorbed parents. Now, back on topic here, good ol' common horse sense is one thing that residents of rural areas seem to be better able to teach their children. After spending a few decades managing people, I can easily say that I can teach a person with good common sense and some modicum of intelligence to do most anything I require, but a person without common sense is often never a useful employee, no matter how extensive their "book learnin'" may be. Interestingly, in my working career in both urban and non-urban areas, it seems that a disproportionate share of the people with good common sense, a good work ethic, and leadership qualities grew up on farms, ranches, and in small towns. I have a hunch, too, that no matter how dire the economic situation may get in rural Colorado--and it is getting dire--those "hometown" folks will likely survive it better than many urbanites will.

[Josseppie]

To briefly respond I think you read to much into this forum. I, for one, spend all day writing reports and working on company financial's that need to be perfect, why I am on a computer so much that I am able to post a lot. Thus, when I get on here I don't spend the time I could making sure my spelling and grammar is perfect. I quickly read it over but then get back to work so I make mistakes that I normally would not make or if I did make I would catch and correct.

As far as education I have to disagree, even manufacturing requires specialized training why Vesta's is working with PCC to train their new workers, even the Pueblo Chemical Depot is having a hard time finding all if its workers locally.

So if rural southern Colorado wants to attract more manufacturing and expand its economic base more education is not a luxury but a necessity and having CSU Pueblo and PCC work with the region will only help the entire state in the 21st century, especially the rural areas that do not have the kind of opportunities the larger cities currently have.