Pueblo Colorado’s Economy is Taking Off
By: Lance Winslow
Pueblo was once a mighty steel town and the huge Carnegie Steel Mill is still there. Much of the West’s Industrial might was once in Pueblo and just up the road was the famous inventor Tesla who further helped grow the area with the introduction of his electricity years later. Today the Industrial part of Pueblo is not what it was and there is a slight problem with tradesmen and luckily PCC-Pueblo Community College has all kinds of great programs for retraining and it is not too awfully expensive. Also in the area is CSU Colorado State University has a big medical department but many of the kids who are going there are not wanting to get into medicine for fear of lawsuits. They have nursing programs, but even the nurse students know that they are targets and even said that the law profession would not exist if it were not for the medical profession. We talked with several folks in town there at the local coffee shop some were somewhat disenchanted, but others were completely optimists about the future economic prosperity of Pueblo.
One lady we talked to listening to all these conversations came up to me later and said, I heard your talking and I want you to know that Pueblo is a great city and we are working hard to make it even greater. She said she volunteered for many groups and worked closely with the chamber of commerce, city leaders and said they had really worked hard to build up the arts there. They are committed to Pueblo and even with some of the younger crowd talking about going to Denver or the Springs to spend their weekends or weekend evenings. She said do not let anyone tell you that Pueblo is a second rate town, this town is great. When everyone in the community is committed to the downtown revitalization project it works. People come to visit and the go downtown and tell others and eventually it becomes a focal point of the community.
We talked with people in Retail, Laid off from Manufacturing, Engineers at the DOT research facility, Restaurant owners, city volunteers, young up and comings and we learned that Pueblo Co is never ever, ever, ever going to give up. They are committed and making progress and are confident to come out of this recession with rocket fuel to spare. We were impressed and agree Pueblo, CO is the place to be.
Lance Winslow