Creating “buzz” about a business poses a challenge owners can’t escape. Rarely does such word-of-mouth promotion just happen. But when it does, it’s amazingly effective. Most businesses must create their own buzz and word-of-mouth excitement. It takes strategy, quite a bit of creativity and usually involves giving something away. This is where pseudo events come […]
Editor’s note: Here’s a question-and-answer session with Claire Damken Brown, founder and president of Damken Brown & Associates, a Colorado consulting firm that specializes in diversity and equal employment opportunity strategies, gender communication, sexual harassment prevention and cultural competency. Brown is scheduled to lead a presentation at a Sept. 21 meeting of the Western Colorado Human Resource […]
An outdoor equipment and sporting goods store has donated a total of $20,000 to four Grand Valley organizations as part of an annual nationwide grant program to preserve and maintain natural spaces through active volunteer programs. Recreation Equipment Inc. (REI) donated $5,000 grants to the Colorado Canyons Association, Colorado National Monument Association, Colorado Plateau Mountain […]
A man who managed information technology systems for colleges and universities around the country, soon will begin working as the new director of the Mesa County Information Technology Department. Frank Whidden is expected to begin his new position Aug. 22. Mesa County Administrator Chantal Unfug announced Whidden’s selection. “Frank has the expertise to guide our […]
A Denver lawyer long involved in business transactions has been selected to oversee economic development efforts for the state of Colorado. Ken Lund is the new executive director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). Lund previously served as chief legal counsel for Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. Lund will remain a member […]
It’s official: Mesa State College is now Colorado Mesa University. A state law authorizing the change took effect Aug. 10. Staff, faculty and students at the university joined community members in celebrating the change the day before at a grand opening ceremony at Houston Hall, where a project expanded and renovated the first building on […]
Grand Junction has suffered some of the worst downturns in the labor and housing markets in a state that continues to lag behind the nation in economic recovery. A number of factors continue to hamper the Grand Junction economy, including lower educational attainment levels and household incomes, according to Scott Anderson and Ed Kashmarek, economists […]
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper launched a statewide grassroots economic development initiative in the Grand Valley and returned here to promote the results of the effort. “Where better than to do it it here?” Hickenlooper said during a stop at Lewis Engineering, a precision machining, assembly and design firm in Grand Junction. Hickenlooper toured the facility […]
A continued effort to interview Mesa County business owners to identify and help them overcome barriers to growth ranked among the most popular plans to come out of the latest in a series of economic development brainstorming sessions. “There were all kinds of ideas,” said Diane Schwenke, president and chief executive officer of the Grand […]
2011 has turned out far differently than what Doug May anticipated back in January. Forecasts for economic growth, albeit modest, have given way in the aftermath of extreme volatility in the financial markets to concerns about stock market declines and a return to recession. “The economy is much, much, much slower than I expected,” says […]