Employment numbers spike in Hamilton County

Aurora Development Corporation (ADC) puts out an Economic Indicator report each month, which gives a high-level overview of metrics across Hamilton County. The report covers taxable sales, building permits, average wages, job listings, employment rates, home listings and the median listing price.
When I compile this information each month, it is interesting to see which metrics change and if these changes are impacted by local events or larger economics. For example, in 2023 when the houses built with Rural Workforce Housing Funds hit the market, there was a significant decrease in the median home listing price for several months.  
This month I went down a rabbit hole looking into the total number of people employed in Hamilton County. Tracking employment numbers is difficult because they will fluctuate each month, so it is easiest to track changes by comparing the same month during the previous year or looking at the annual average.  
This metric caught my eye because there has been a significant increase in the monthly employment numbers compared to last year. Through June of this year, we are averaging 5,294 people employed in Hamilton County compared to an average of 4,860 per month for the same period last year.  That is 434 more people currently employed compared to a year ago.  
Thanks to the people who have worked and volunteered at ADC prior to me, I can track these employment stats back to 2001. Over that 20-plus year period, the highest annual employment count was in 2008 at 5,740, and the lowest was in 2016 at 4,554. Since 2016, we have seen small, steady increases in employment numbers year after year, except for 2020, when we back-tracked by 63.   
So, what is the cause for this sudden increase? Looking back at our largest employment year in 2008, we know that the Aurora West ethanol plant began construction that year. I would speculate that this year’s increase is due to construction happening for the CO2 pipeline, improvements at KAAPA, new business development at Mission Critical, business expansion projects, as well as infrastructure and housing developments. The construction and growth of these new and expanding businesses have created more jobs and housing for residents, which has a huge economic benefit in our community. 
While we spend a lot of time talking about growing the tax base in economic development, this is a great opportunity to point out that employment growth accompanies tax base growth. It is hard to measure the economic impact that this job growth creates, but using our 2023 median household income of $79,884, we can assume that there is a $17 million increase in local spending power through new employment. This is a significant benefit to the service, retail and other industries who are on the receiving end of this economic increase.    
A phrase that we often hear in economic development is that growth creates more growth. This is a perfect example of how growth in the business sector creates growth in employment, which creates growth in the community. In the end, this is a benefit for everyone. 
 KELSEY BERGEN serves as executive director of the Aurora Development Corporation. She can be reached at kelsey@growaurora.com