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Help wanted: Denver construction boom creating hundreds of “housing jobs”

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The surge in apartment construction in metro Denver is creating shortages of a different kind — workers to lease and maintain all the new developments.

“With about 25,000 units under construction, we are estimating that 600 jobs will be available,” said Christopher Dean, a spokesman with the Apartment Association of Metro Denver.

With the local unemployment rate at its lowest since the dot-com boom days, finding help has gotten much tougher. Experienced workers jump from new development to even shinier new development, and that is forcing their employers to get more creative in how they recruit.

“Instead of focusing on people who have industry experience, we are saying for these entry-level positions, let’s start getting outside of our industry,” said Allison Moledo, vice president of talent and development at Cardinal Group Management in Denver.

Hospitality and retail workers with good people and sales skills can carry those into work as leasing agents. Likewise, workers with construction experience and a mechanical aptitude can handle maintenance tasks.

The problem is that many workers who might fit in well at a multifamily property don’t even know it represents a career field, Moledo said. The careers are ones most people stumble into, not intentionally pursue.

To help acquaint the public with opportunities in leasing and maintenance, the association is coordinating open houses at 50 locations throughout metro Denver on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., part of the larger celebration of Apartment Day.

About 7,800 people work onsite at apartment communities throughout the metro area, with another 1,200 working off-site in management and investment companies, Dean said.

On the leasing side, entry-level wages in metro Denver start at about $28,000 and average closer to $41,000, Dean said. Commissions and incentives can boost that by another $1,000 a month. On the maintenance side, starting wages run about $31,200, with the average wage closer to $38,000.

The industry also offers opportunities for advancement into areas like marketing, community management and property acquisition. Average wages for the industry in metro Denver are closer to $50,630, Dean said, citing a survey conducted last year.

Many apartment management companies dangle a lure with particular appeal in this tight real estate market — a discount on a place to live. Modelo said the standard discount on rent is 20 percent, with even larger discounts for managers.

The apartment association has created a website with job openings and more information on careers in the multi-family housing market at proapartments.com.



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hansderycke
2786 days ago
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Colorado
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Government Bravely Prosecutes Nun for Embarrassing It

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On January 28, unexpected snow postponed the sentencing of 83-year-old Sister Megan Rice and two fellow activists in Knoxville, Tennessee. They face up to 30 years in prison for "willfully damaging federal property" (which they did) and "sabotaging national defense material" (which they didn't) by breaking into the Y-12 complex at Oak Ridge and brutally spray-painting peace slogans all over it.

They didn't damage anything except for the fences they cut through to get inside. So why were they charged as saboteurs? Here's why: the Y-12 complex is where the U.S. stores its weapons-grade uranium—over 100 tons of it—but three unarmed and untrained civilians with a combined age of 202 were able to get in and roam around for hours before even one guard appeared.

And that's embarrassing.

So, 9/11 happened, and over a decade and $1 trillion later, the government's got the TSA checking your waistbands but it can't keep a nun out of a nuclear-bomb plant. And she's the one being prosecuted?

Megan Rice
Alleged National Security Threat

The activists weren't even trying to show that security at Y-12 was bad, although they definitely did that. They cut through at least three fences during their two-hour "infiltration," and then had plenty of time to paint slogans, hang banners and do some serious praying before Barney Fife showed up. It's a good thing they did break into this place before any bad guys got the idea, because even that moron who put a bomb in his underpants could probably have done some damage the way things were. (It's better now, at least according to the Department of Energy, so sleep well.)

I don't expect the government to be grateful about the vandalism, and I am fine with ordering the activists to pay restitution for that (as the judge has done). But beyond that, does anything more than token jail time make any sense?

The government is pretending to think so, although I should note that prosecutors are "only" asking for six to nine years, not the possible 30. And in an effort to justify even that request, they apparently cracked open the National Strategic Bullshit Reserve for the sentencing brief, which is full of stuff like this:

The defendants have been convicted of serious offenses that have caused real harm to the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Tip: If there had been any real harm they wouldn't say "real harm." They'd just say what it was.

They have shown no remorse for their criminal conduct. To the contrary, they have reveled in their violations and used it to gain publicity for their cause.

It's called a "protest," jackass. That's how they work.

By penetrating the secure and sensitive premises of Y-12 and having a highly-publicized trial, the defendants accomplished their mission.

Ooh, how evocative. They were on a "mission" when they "penetrated" your "sensitive premises," were they? Nice effort to make a nun sound slightly nasty.

Now that it is time for them to pay the price for their decision, the defendants ask for an incredible discount. The United States believes that the defendants should be held accountable for their deliberate choices and accept the appropriate consequences for their actions.

Oh, give it a rest, Nancy Grace. They did you a favor. Have them pay for your fences and then let them go home. And put the money towards some better fences before somebody armed with more than a Bible tries to get in.

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hansderycke
3935 days ago
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Colorado
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6 public comments
Lacrymosa
3934 days ago
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Nuns Protest. Govt. overreacts out of embarrassment.
Boston, MA
adamcole
3935 days ago
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What the hell.
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Courtney
3935 days ago
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US Govt trying to put a nun in prison for showing how shittily US Govt is defending uranium reserves. Greeeeat.
Portland, OR
infogulch
3935 days ago
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Love the end: "Have them pay for your fences and then let them go home. And put the money towards some better fences before somebody armed with more than a Bible tries to get in."
Missouri
diannemharris
3935 days ago
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yikes!
rwarner
3935 days ago
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"The government's got the TSA checking your waistbands but it can't keep a nun out of a nuclear-bomb plant."
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