Phyllis Norris knows full well the importance of customer service. Norris worked for City Market for 40 years, the last 10 as president overseeing the operations of 38 grocery stores. Although she’s now retired, Norris continues to stress customer service in a leadership role of a different sort as chairwoman of the Grand Junction Area [...]
Phil Castle, The Business Times Harry Weiss recalls two immediate impressions of downtown Grand Junction. The first was the design and construction of recently completed renovations. The second was the long-term presence of many of the businesses operating there. “Those two things were really quite impressive,” says Weiss, who as the new executive director of the [...]
A Grand Junction-based manufacturer better known for building ski lifts will join in a project to erect the world’s largest observation wheel in Las Vegas. Leitner-Poma of America expects to manufacture 28 spherical cabins that will rotate around the 550-foot tall High Roller Observation Wheel. As many as 40 people will ride in each of [...]
Local photographer and gallery owner combine their talents and visions in a new downtown location When Melissa Pruitt and Justin Nordine look back at the past few years their reactions are exactly the same. And that is, that it all happened so fast with the careers that they certainly love, but [...]
Phil Castle, The Business Times While it’s too early to yet predict the full effects of bringing a minor league baseball team to Grand Junction, the owners and managers of the squad believe they’ve found a good home. “It’s really a no-brainer,” said Tim Ray, general manager of the Grand Junction Rockies. Ray called Grand Junction [...]
Phil Castle, The Business Times: While necessity might be the mother of invention, Cinde Waller knows from personal experience the powerful motivation of pain. Desperate for relief following jaw surgery, Waller tied a satin ribbon around her head to hold her jaw in place. To keep the ribbon from slipping off, she tied another piece [...]
Kelly Flenniken brings a new title and a new role to a new approach to economic development. As executive director of the Grand Junction Economic Partnership, Flenniken will oversee efforts to leverage local business connections in proactively developing leads for new and expanding companies. “We’re going to be more aggressive going forward,” she says. Flenniken [...]
Opie Johnson has helped reinvent a Grand Junction restaurant, turning what was a franchise diner into a unique operation that serves fare with a thoroughly local flavor. “We’re the absolute epitome of a local eatery,” says Johnson, general manager of Cinnamon Grill. Formerly a Black Bear Diner, the restaurant has dropped the franchise and its [...]
Phil Castle, The Business Times Pete First enjoys a good vantage point from which to observe trends in the resale market. First works as director of franchise development for Winmark Corp., a Minneapolis-based corporation with a total of 900 resale stores in operation across the country. And trends in the resale market, he says, have been [...]
Sixteen prominent Grand Valley men, among them business owners, have joined in a new campaign to raise awareness about the effects of domestic violence and sexual assault. The Mesa County Domestic Violence Task Force invited the 16 to pose for black and white photographs taken by Dorsey Coe. The photographs, along with quotes reflecting their [...]
