Health care, manufacturing, tourism, and real estate are among current growth industries in Kootenai County that are expected to continue to improve in the new year, sources in North Idaho say.
Alivia Metts, Post Falls-based regional labor economist for the Idaho Department of Labor, says the health care and manufacturing industries have been performing especially strongly in Kootenai County in recent months.
“With the aging population and workforce, and the influx of retirees, health care will continue to flourish,” Metts says.
She adds, “Transportation-equipment manufacturing, metal fabrication, and wood-product manufacturing all have rebounded very nicely and have been showing positive growth for some time.”
She says the growth in the labor force has flattened out for the first time since the 1980s, which likely will lead to a higher need to find qualified people to fill available jobs.
“Unemployment is likely to fall slowly over time,” Metts says.
The unemployment rate in Kootenai County in October was 7.4 percent, down more than a full percentage point from 8.5 percent reported during October 2012.
Meanwhile, the civilian labor force there in October was 70,825, down from 72,047 a year earlier.
Steve Wilson, president and CEO of the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, says a healthy tourism industry also is a significant factor in the economy.
“For the last 18 months, tourism in Coeur d’Alene has been on an uptick,” Wilson says.
While lodging revenues haven’t returned to prerecession levels, they’ve increased 7 percent to 12 percent a month this year compared with year-earlier months, he says.
“I’ve heard nothing from hoteliers to indicate that’s going to change,” Wilson says.
Silverwood Theme Park, in north Kootenai County, and North Idaho ski resorts in neighboring counties also expect to see growth in visitor numbers, he says.
At the same time, Wilson says he’s also seeing a lot of optimism in the real estate industry.
“Title companies have experienced growth over the last year,” he says.
Shelly Enderud, Post Falls city administrator, says she expects to see more activity in certain real estate developments on the west side of Kootenai County.
“The last couple of years have started to turn around for us. We’ve been selling permits steadily in the residential side,” Enderud says.
She adds that she also expects to see an upswing in commercial permits in 2014.
She says Cabela’s Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which are anchor retailers at the Pointe at Post Falls development in west Post Falls, are reporting double-digit growth in sales since the Beck Road interchange construction was completed substantially and opened to traffic earlier this year.
With that, other retailers are showing more interest in the Pointe at Post Falls, she asserts.
Tony Berns, executive director of Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency, Lake City Development Corp., says a $14.6 million construction project at McEuen Park, on the east edge of the downtown Coeur d’Alene area, is expected to be completed in the spring of 2014.
Berns asserts the project, which will convert the 15-acre former seasonal baseball facility into a year-round multipurpose park, will be an economic stimulus for the downtown area.
“I think we’ll see some other development in that area,” he says. “Study after study has shown that private investment follows wise use of public space.”
On the western edge of downtown, Aspen, Colo.-based developer One Lakeside LLC plans to break ground next spring on a 12-story, $20 million mixed-use residential tower at the northwest corner of First Street and Lakeside Avenue, Berns says.
After a recession-related slowdown, the Riverstone urban village in northwest Coeur d’Alene development is “hopping in all phases,” Berns says.