Encana divests West Slope midstream assets

A leading natural gas producer has announced the sale of a portion of its pipelines and compression facilities in Western Colorado. Encana Oil & Gas expects to close on the $590 million transaction later this year as part of ongoing efforts to divest so-called midstream assets to raise capital for other production operations. According to […]

Doctor: Western Slope a model for health care reforms

Phil Castle, The Business Times:  Western Colorado serves as a model for instituting the reforms necessary to change an otherwise unsustainable health care system in the United States, according to a doctor who advocates a more coordinated approach directed by primary care physicians. The end result is not only better health care at a lower cost, […]

No business like snow business: Manufacturer supplies uplifting experience to ski resort customers

No business like snow business: Manufacturer supplies uplifting experience to ski resort customers

Phil Castle, The Business Times:    As sales manager at Leitner-Poma of America, Tom Clink is in a position to observe every phase of a chair lift project. Initial designs appear on computer screens and large sheets of paper. Massive chunks of metal cut and machined to exacting specifications fit together like pieces in a gigantic […]

Building a model of efficiency: A project under way at the Wayne Aspinall Federal Building

Building a model of efficiency: A project under way at the Wayne Aspinall Federal Building

Phil Castle, The Business Times:  Even in the midst of the demolition, the remodeling and the other renovations under way at the Wayne Aspinall Federal Building and Courthouse in downtown Grand Junction, Jerry Burton hasn’t lost sight of the ultimate goal. “We’re still reaching for net zero,” says Burton, assistant project manager with the U.S. General […]

Leading Colorado lender: SBA financing activity up

Phil Castle, The Business Times:  Financing activity under federal small business loan programs held steady in Colorado through the first half of the year, according to numbers from a leading lending organization in the state. Colorado Lending Source was involved in issuing 121 loans through the first six months of the year, 10 more than the […]

Colorado small business index rises despite national economic drag

A monthly index tracking conditions for small businesses in Colorado increased for the first time in five months on improving labor trends. The state economy likely would fare even better were it not for a weak national economy, said Jeff Thredgold, a corporate economist who calculates the Vectra Bank Colorado Small Business Index. “The Colorado […]

Mesa County real estate update: Sales up, dollar volume lags

Over the five years she’s operated her Grand Junction real estate firm, Tina Harbin has never been busier. The owner and managing broker of Real Estate West attributes part of the trend to the increasing number of government-owned properties her firm lists and sells. But Harbin also credits what she describes as an “opportunity market” […]

Grand Valley businesses rank among fastest-growing and top minority owned firms

Two Grand Junction companies continue to rank among the fastest-growing firms in the nation as well as the top minority and women-owned businesses in the state. JG Management Systems and Rocky Mountain Sanitation are included in the 2011 Inc. magazine listing of the 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. JG Management Systems […]

Labor index declines, but signals slow job growth

A monthly index tracking labor trends continues to decline, but still signals slow job growth in the months ahead. The Conference Board Employment Trends Index slipped two-tenths in August to 100.8, but remains 4.1 percent higher than this time last year. “While the Employment Trends Index has been on a slightly declining trend in recent […]