Summit County, Colorado is a “factory town” pure and simple.

Our industry is decidedly more fun than the coal, steel and furniture factories where I grew up. Our products feature fluffy white gold, gorgeous blue skies and sparking waters against dark green forests. The labor force, under the direction of public and private entities, manufacture extraordinary settings for life experiences. A very willing audience rewards both the public and private sectors by providing income and tax income.

Why then, do members of our community seek to deny that Summit County is a factory which can only function because workers can live here? Instead, they rage against efforts to make workforce housing possible. Really?

Have they not been on the factory floor recently? Have they not enjoyed a safe high-speed lift or corduroy turns or single track? Such things do not just happen here, they are manufactured by laborers. The homes with snowy peak views do not spring up magically, they are built by labor. Homes and condos are not clean and fresh magic; a workforce makes them that way. Police, fire, water and sewer are essential cogs in this high-price environment, but where is our willingness to make those cogs functional?

We are a factory and our factory managers, elected officials and private vendors alike, are swimming upstream against the greed heads who insist that cogs in the machine arrive here impossibly wealthy.