Bonner County experienced impressive population growth in the 1990s as its beauty, recreational opportunities and quality of life attracted thousands of new residents. From 1995 to 2005, the county’s population grew 23 percent from 33,206 to 40,908, while Idaho’s population grew 21 percent and the U.S. population grew 13 percent. The rate of population growth has increased considerably since 2003. The largest city, Sandpoint, with a population of 8,105, and its suburbs, Ponderay at 697 and Kootenai at 480, sit in the county’s center, while Priest River, with 1,909 people, dominates the west and Clark Fork at 570, dominates the east.
Labor Force & Employment
Development of Schweitzer Mountain Resort and Sandpoint’s reputation as a haven for the arts have contributed to the growth of tourism. Schweitzer’s expansion since 1990 boosted winter employment at local motels, restaurants and stores. Schweitzer plans to expand further over the next decade. As important as the winter tourism season is, the summer brings even more tourists. The biggest source of new jobs in the 1990s was Coldwater Creek, the Sandpoint catalog company. It grew from a small mom-and-pop operation to the county’s largest employer. In 1999 and 2000, Coldwater Creek made large job cuts at its warehouse and call center. Since 2004, its corporate headquarters has been adding workers. Today, it employs nearly 500 people in Bonner County.
In Bonner County manufacturing jobs rose 76 percent from 1,189 in 1995 to 2,090, while it fell 17 percent in the United States. Bonner County’s growth occurred as several manufacturers — Litehouse, salad dressings; Quest Aircraft airplanes; Unicep Packaging, plastic applicators; Diedrich Manufacturing, coffee-roasting machines; Encoder Products, electronics — added jobs to the county’s mainstay, wood products. Today, wood products manufacturing employs 840 people, while other manufacturing operations employ 1,250. Rapid population growth and expansion of the industrial base kept construction booming and fostered growth of retailers, services and public schools in recent years. During the last two years, Sandpoint has received considerable national attention as a great place to live, and construction and real estate are shattering their previous records.
Economic Development
The Bonner County Economic Development Corporation and the Priest River development Corporation are working to bring more jobs to the county. They can show potential employers the county’s high quality of life and low business costs including low labor costs. The county’s resident labor force exceeds 20,000 people, and surrounding areas add 15,000 people to the potential labor pool.
Bonner County’s beauty, recreational opportunities, and small-town lifestyle have made it one of Idaho’s fastest growing counties. Its attractions also draw many tourists, especially in the summer and during ski season. Although wood products remain important, more than half of the county’s manufacturing jobs are in a wide variety of other sectors. The largest manufacturer is Litehouse, America’s largest maker of refrigerated salad dressings. Homegrown clothing and accessories catalog company, Coldwater Creek, employs about 300 people at its corporate headquarters. Sandpoint Job Service serves Bonner County.