The Outdoor Recreation and Jobs Economic Impact Act will make a difference
Kristi Pollard //December 20, 2016//
The Outdoor Recreation and Jobs Economic Impact Act will make a difference
Kristi Pollard //December 20, 2016//
The outdoor industry received an early Christmas present this year that Colorado should be celebrating. Last week, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner’s bipartisan Outdoor Recreation and Jobs Economic Impact Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama.
The statute requires the Bureau of Economic Analysis to calculate the economic impact of the outdoor recreation industry and requires the Commerce Department to provide Congress with a full evaluation of the outdoor recreation industry’s role in the broader economy. This is overdue recognition of a U.S. industry sector that is estimated to contribute $646 billion per year to the U.S. economy with 6.1 million U.S. jobs.
This issue is particularly important to Colorado and areas of our state beyond the Denver metro. Colorado has firmly established itself as a leader in the outdoor industry sector and rural areas, like Grand Junction, are driving this growth to new heights.
This economic growth is critical to areas of the state that are recovering much slower than the Front Range. While the Denver Metro area experienced a 4 percent increase in real GDP last year, many areas of our state, including Grand Junction, actually experienced a real GDP decline last year. Similarly, while the unemployment rate in the Denver metro area last year was 2.9 percent, that number is much higher in other key economic regions of our state: Grand Junction was 4.5 percent; and Pueblo was 4.7 percent.
This uneven economic recovery highlights why the Outdoor Recreation and Jobs Economic Impact Act is so important for all of Colorado. Sen. Gardner sponsored the legislation because it extends one of Colorado’s strongest economic drivers to areas beyond the Front Range.
The economic engine for so many parts of our state is tourism. Tourists visit all parts of Colorado to explore the outdoors and enjoy our vast network of public lands. This has created Colorado’s significant outdoor industry and less populated areas of the state especially rely on this economic engine.
To illustrate how important this business sector is to areas beyond Denver and the Front Range, the Grand Junction Economic Partnership has dozens of examples of outdoor industry companies thriving in Colorado’s Grand Valley such as:
The Outdoor Recreation and Jobs Economic Impact Act is significant for Colorado’s economy as a whole and especially important for areas of our state needing economic stabilization. The federal law will require a key segment of Colorado’s economy finally be calculated and recognized. Colorado needs to play to its strengths, and Sen. Gardner’s legislation to support the outdoor recreation industry will significantly support and grow the entire Colorado economy.