Colorado has a few notable industries. It has historically been cowboy and mining country, and lately seen big gains in tourism and technology. But leave behind the Big Smoke and the resort towns, head a bit south, and you’ll find another big employer.
Prisons.
Fremont County is located two hours south of Denver, and has FOUR different prisons in just one town, including the famous ADX Florence. Nicknamed the “Alcatraz of the Rockies”, it’s the only the SuperMax prison in the entire country, dealing with the criminals who are at the end of the line.
There are many cities and regions that have a certain focus. NYC has food, fashion and finance. SF has tech. Houston has oil. But even in those places, I can’t imagine more than 15% of SF residents work in technology, and much less than 10% of New Yorkers work in high finance.
In Fremont, 17% of ALL residents are currently incarcerated, compared to the national average of 0.54%. Include the guards, almost a quarter of everyone who lives there is either a prisoner, or is keeping an eye on them.
At least the views are nice.
