BOISE, Idaho — We all know Idaho's growing; just take a look at rush hour here in downtown Boise.
But a new report from Governing.com confirms it: Idaho is among the states with the highest total job gains in 2017-2018. Idaho ranked fourth in job growth, behind only Nevada (which was first), Utah, and Washington.
"The good news is our job growth continues. And it's the right type of job growth," said Bill Connors, CEO, Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. "We have a very rich tech sector here, so that continues to grow. Our medical and healthcare areas continue to grow."
Plus, have you ever noticed how many great grocery chains are in Idaho?
"We've quietly become the grocery capital of the world."
Connors says those aren't hurting our job numbers either.
"You've got Albertson's and Winco--both have their corporate headquarters here. And if you think about that, that means Coke, and Nabisco, and, Kraft. All those people need to be here to be servicing those two gigantic accounts."
And the diversity of our job growth, Connors says, is something we can be proud of.
"You don't wanna be the kind of town that is kind of a one-horse town, ya know. You look at, uh, Houston when oil and gas went bust, and all of a sudden, all of Houston suffered."
If things go south, he says diversity is important so that other sectors can rise up to meet the community's needs.
"We're hearing a lot of people say, 'Hey, no more growth! We don't want anymore growth.' Well, ya know, there is and there probably will be a recession somewhere along the line, and we want to make sure when that happens, we've got a diverse economy here where one sector doesn't dominate everything."
Another reason for Idaho's job growth? The faces in our workforce.
"We have young, very well-educated people moving here from the Bay Area, from the Seattle area, who are bringing their talents here, and employees/employers love that kind of workforce," said Connors.
