Align Arapahoe Performance Dashboard

Reflects the success of the EDP’s economic development efforts.

Low – The County provides funding to the EDP, but ultimately it is the EDP that directs the economic development initiatives. This measure is also affected by external factors over which the County has very little control. For example, interest rate movements in 2022 and 2023, coupled with inflation, has reduced demand for goods and services, which in turn causes fewer new jobs to be created. We saw this especially in 2022, where the total new jobs went from 18,798 the previous year to 13,332 that year. While new jobs in the county jumped back up to 18,602 in 2023, this reflects industries such as restaurants, retail, and hospitality, as well as nursing centers adding back jobs lost during the pandemic. In addition, the structural scarcity in the current labor market is expected to continue through the rest of the decade. This is because there are not enough workers to fill all the new jobs being created through economic growth.

The Job Growth measure gauges growth based on the average number of jobs added by the County's Economic Development Partners (EDP) over the previous 3 years. 

The EDPs peaked in 2018 by adding 41% of the new jobs in the region. When the pandemic hit, this percentage decreased steadily between 2021-2023. However, the overall measure met the target in 2024. While performance did improve in 2024, the target was lower given it is an average of 3 underperforming years.