Half of a dynamic duo who turned an ice cream shop into an ice cream empire and became household names in the process will share his experiences at an annual Grand Junction event celebrating entrepreneurship. Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, will deliver the keynote luncheon address at Entrepreneurship Day April 20 at […]
A monthly measure of consumer confidence has dropped on far less optimistic expectations for business and labor conditions over the next six months. The Conference Board reported that its Consumer Confidence Index fell nearly nine points to 63.4 in March. While consumers’ assessments of current conditions improved, a measure of their short-term outlook tumbled more […]
David Miller quickly dispels what he considers the myth that green business practices aren’t good business practices. Efforts to save energy, water and other resources also save money, Miller says. Moreover, businesses that strive to protect the qualify of life of the communities in which they operate engender customers who feel the same way and […]
Sales and use tax collections continue to climb in Mesa County, but lodging tax collections dropped after three straight months of increases compared to last year. According to a City of Grand Junction report for February, sales and use tax collections totalled $3.68 million. That’s a 15.5 percent increase over the February 2010 report. Year-over-year […]
The monthly unemployment rate in Mesa County slipped in February from a seasonal peak, confirming assessments that local labor conditions have improved since the beginning of the year. Gilbert Lujan, supervisor of the Mesa County Workforce Center in Grand Junction, expects the jobless rate to keep trending downward. “I think it will continue with the […]
The opening of the Fruita Community Center marked the culmination of years of planning — as well as contention that resulted at one point in a tie vote over whether or not to increase the municipal sales tax rate to fund the facility. Voters finally approved a 1 percent sales tax hike in the spring […]
“In the West, when you touch water, you touch everything.” — Wayne Aspinall, congressman from Colorado, 1949 to 1973 “Water: We have it, the Front Range wants it.” — oft-mentioned phrase by residents of Western Colorado Wayne Aspinall, one of the leaders in efforts to dam and store river water in the West, offered sage […]
Water wars are as infamous as battles between sheep and cattle ranchers in Western Colorado lore. But while opponents in livestock conflicts rarely resort to fisticuffs any more, negotiations over water rights can still come close to resembling old-fashioned street fights. Water companies in the Grand Valley have a different tale to tell, though. The […]
In the midst of a discussion about increasing production of natural gas in Western Colorado this year, the energy industry is grappling with national reports about contamination from fluids disposed of following hydraulic fracturing — a process also called fracking. The contaminants, which sometimes include chemicals from the fracking process as well as salts and […]
In light of predictions the Colorado population will double over the next 40 years, people who use and manage water are working to ensure there’ll be enough of the “liquid gold” to go around. Everyone in the state — and in the West, for that matter — will feel the effects of such efforts. Those […]