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Technology, Telecommunication Sectors Contribute To Colorado's Growing Population

DENVER (CBS4) - The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that Colorado's population has grown nearly 15%, and there are a lot of reasons to attract people here.

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"It really made itself to a verb through the pandemic," said Kelsey Knight, Zoom spokesperson.

Knight works for one of the tech companies with a footprint in Denver. Technology and telecommunications are growing sectors, which has helped to attract people from all over to the region.

This last year Zoom's popularity exploded as the company became the leading software for schools a well as CEOs to use in meetings.

"To go from that giant jump encouraged more employees to be there," she explained.

But the employees that have come here do more than just work here, they've given back and become part of the social fabric, helping to raise money for the arts and other non-profits.

"This year we found that our Denver office outdid our San Jose office, and raised more than $56,000 for the community," Knight said.

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Because of the recent population growth, Colorado is getting a new congressional seat, while California, because of population decrease is losing one.

"I think you're seeing a departure from coastal communities because of cost of living but also because of quality of life. We're standing here on an April sunny day, and you can live urban, suburban, mountain, all in metro Denver,"

Sam Bailey with the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation explained that the quality of life and diversity of jobs are attracting job seekers.

"From aerospace, bioscience, information technologies, and financial services, so when we hit an economic downturn, or in this case a health crisis, we're not relying on one industry to get us through it," Bailey explained.

The challenge now will be to keep people here, because of the population doesn't hold steady, it could then affect congressional seats later.

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