Unemployment is falling in much of Northern Colorado but remains above 8 percent in Weld County.

The number of people living in poverty in one of the richest agricultural counties in the nation is firmly stuck at 12 percent or so and is above 20 percent in Greeley itself, much higher than in, say, Fort Collins or Larimer County.

Home prices in the Greeley-Evans market have been rising but the median is still about $165,000, considerably less than other areas of Northern Colorado.

Weld, in short, has its share of issues, many of them having been explored in depth on these pages and elsewhere.

But there’s another side to this story, a much more uplifting account of expansion and job-creation and real promise.

Our Molly Armbrister shared some of the details in her story in December (“Upstate Colorado exceeds job goals”) on how Weld’s economic development group is faring. Attendees at the organization’s annual meeting at the Greeley County Club a few days back also heard the good news:

The economic development organization was able to convert a third of its 73 leads in active prospects in 2012, with 10 companies moving in or planning to do so, bringing