Roger Baker, Gilpin County Manager. I’ve heard the job fair the Black Hawk Business Improvement District held last Thursday down in Lakewood was a great success, but that it was held (or needed!) at all is pretty remarkable.

Even though the gaming market is relatively stable, statistics compiled by the Colorado Division of Gaming show a tremendous increase in the number of casino jobs, in Black Hawk particularly.

The Division surveys the casinos every July 1, and last year (the figures were just published in May) there were a total of 10,304 licensed casino jobs in Colorado. Of those, 6,211 were in the Black Hawk casinos, with another 906 in Central City and 3,167 in Cripple Creek.

Total casino employment was up 5% from 2010, but that increase was entirely in the Black Hawk casinos. Both Central City and Cripple Creek employment declined by that same amount, but Black Hawk employment grew by over 20% (from 5,080 to 6,211) to more than offset those lost jobs.

We’ve long had questions about the residency figures the Division also reports: according to them, 2,558 of those Gilpin County casino jobs are filled by Gilpin residents. Even taking into account a certain number of part-time jobs, and that some folks are working two (or more!) casino jobs, that figure seems pretty high.

For one thing, other government statistics still show that a large percentage of Gilpin residents work outside the County; fewer than used to, for sure, but still a large number.

Just this past week I was wrestling with the forms required to establish residency for some local folks who work in the Colorado oil and gas industry.

Somewhat similarly to gaming, oil and gas generates direct taxation to the state, much of which is returned to the jurisdiction where the drilling (or mining) is sited.

But there is also a provision that every jurisdiction that is home to a mineral industry employee gets a little bit of the tax pie. That’s tricky for Gilpin County, though, since the great majority of our citizens list Black Hawk as their residence, since that’s how their mail is addressed.

So I spent a fun hour recently emailing our old friends at the Department of Local Affairs (who run this program) a bunch of documentation (map books, address lists) showing that addresses like Apex Valley Road, Dory Circle and Lodgepole Drive are in fact in unincorporated Gilpin County.

But while that process was time-consuming and frustrating, it was interesting to see where our Gilpin residents work.

Several, not surprisingly, work at the huge Henderson molybdenum mine in Clear Creek County. But others work for big firms involved in drilling in Weld and other counties, companies like Conoco Phillips, Andarko and Halliburton. Some apparently work (or worked) in North Dakota, the companies flying them back and forth.

With the volatility in oil prices, and the general public concern about the methods employed by these companies, I wouldn’t think any of these jobs are too secure.

Even the Henderson mine has made it clear their operations will be coming to a close in the next decade or two, and the operators have been working with Clear Creek County to minimize those huge economic impacts.

No one likes having all their eggs in one basket, and the Gilpin Commissioners are always on the lookout for ways to attract new businesses (and jobs) to the area.

The recent discussion about expanding broadband internet service is one method of doing just that.

Still, having a single employer that needs to go outside of the County to find enough employees is a pretty good situation, and we’re lucky to host an industry that has such a positive impact on the County’s finances.