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How mountain town businesses are working to defy Colorado’s elevated quit rates

Two preschool-age boys sit in a classroom playing with a colorful set of plastic interlinking pieces.
Robert Tann/Summit Daily News
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Robert Tann/Summit Daily News
Twin brothers Isaac O'Maley-Ramras, left, and Caden O'Maley Ramras are pictured at the Mountain Sprouts Academy child care center in Copper Mountain on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Retention efforts improve when companies offer benefits like child care, according to officials in the business industry.

Over the past 20 years, Colorado has had higher quit rates compared to the national average. Spring and summer 2024 were no exception.

The U.S. recorded a quit rate of 2.2 in April, while Colorado stood at 3.2. In June, Colorado had a quit rate of 2.5, while the U.S. sat at 2.0. The most recent data from July shows the U.S. had a quit rate of 2.1 while the U.S. was at 3.2.

The U.S. Bureau of Statistics defines quit rates as the number of resignations "during the entire month as a percent of employment."

At the same time, an Aug. 20 report from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment showed the state's unemployment rate rose to 4% in August — the highest it's been since January 2022.

According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, data isn't broken down by county or region when it comes to quit or turnover rates. There is only statewide stats. But state employees said the Western Slope faces unique challenges that can lead to high turnover and low retention rates for its workforce.

Erin Young, a Silverthorne resident, is an employer coach with the Colorado Workforce Development Council, which falls under the umbrella of Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. She said she works with a variety of business entities and workforce development centers, and her job largely involves identifying how to increase the amount of people in the workforce and keep people in jobs. Young's work spans across the state.

She said Western Slope businesses have to deal with factors that are out of their control that accompany living in the High Country when it comes to attaining and retaining staff. For instance, people move from the Western Slope and out of their jobs for a variety of reasons including cost of living, lack of affordable housing and sometimes just to get away from winter. Some people pass up jobs on the Western Slope for similar reasons alongside others, such as a want to be closer to metropolitan places with more resources and more options for aspects like healthcare.

When it comes to keeping people in jobs across the state, it comes down to promoting job quality for the Colorado Workforce Development Council. The office focuses on helping workplaces create jobs people want to keep.

Predictable and livable wages are among the most important factors that serve as a make-or-break option for people staying in their current positions.

Young said they have found having family-sustaining wages is a priority for people. People have expressed they need to have enough money to support themselves and their family, whether they have children of their own, have assumed a caretaker role for an elderly loved one or stepping in to help raise a younger family member. Family can also include pets and their veterinary bills.

She said workers don't want to just be able to sustain themselves, they want to also feel like they can build wealth with their wage.

"When we say wealth building, it's not just can I pay my bills, but can I save a little for a big expense in life like a wedding, college, having a kid or a down payment on a home," she said.

Certain businesses, such as small businesses, face constraints when it comes to providing competitive wages, but there are other ways they can keep employees around. Benefits also top the list for what keeps people at jobs, and Young said strong benefits can take different forms other than providing the best health insurance around, noting "not every business can afford that."

She said what her employer found was important was providing benefits that are individualized to any given staff. Sometimes the benefits that keep employees around don't have anything to do with traditional benefits such as health insurance or 401ks.

For instance, Young used to own Red Buffalo Coffee and Tea in Silverthorne and would trade free coffee for free yoga classes at a local studio for her employees. Individualized benefits are what can keep employees around when there's not ample money in the bank for small business.

Andrew Beckler is a small business owner out of Steamboat Springs who founded the company Grass Sticks, which specializes in bamboo ski poles. He said providing top-notch health insurance can be tough as a small business owner, so he focuses on other retention efforts he knows his employees will appreciate.

Beckler gives his employees the option to ski every day and never miss out on a powder day by providing them with lenient schedules they have control over. He also gives them a full Ikon Pass or an equivalent value bonus.

"We all make sacrifices to live here, primarily for our access to the ski resort," Beckler said via email. "If it weren't for the ski lift, we could all live somewhere much more affordable and still have great access to the outdoors (but no ski lift)."

Benefits can also come in different forms of support, such as providing child care or allowing people to bring pets to work so they don't have to pay someone to watch them or let them out.

Copper Mountain Resort recently built a child care center where employees get priority and don't have to wait on the lengthy waitlists that exist for nearly all child care facilities in the county.

Western Slope businesses don't just need to focus on keeping employees, they need to also focus on getting them in the first place. Summit County Government rolled out a new hiring platform this year, called NeoGov, that representatives said makes more user-friendly experiences to streamline the application process.

Silverthorne Veterinary Hospital staff members said the spot was struggling to find staff due to the rising cost of housing. So, when it came time to move offices, the hospital decided to prioritize including workforce housing.

Veterinary Justin Milizio said when the hospital moves this fall its new home will include around 4,000 square feet of workforce housing. That includes three units and a total of eight bedrooms.

"When hiring veterinary staff, we are looking for individuals that already have specialized training, and we have to look outside of the county to recruit staff members to fill our open positions," Milizio said via email. "We do expect the staff housing we are building to help with the hiring process."