Phil Castle, The Business Times Rosemary Litz grows nearly 50 lavender plants as part of the meticulous landscaping surrounding her Grand Junction home. The rounded bushes with purple blooms add color and fragrance to the serene setting. But for Litz, lavender constitutes a growing enterprise in another sense. She harvests blooms from the plants to […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times From a conference room at Reynolds Polymer Technology in Grand Junction, Mark Miller can see a whole world of potential markets. Even as demand in the United States for the acrylic components Reynolds Polymer manufactures for aquariums, architectural features and swimming pools lags along with the economy, exports to such […]
Business plans are one of those things that bankers request and college professors love. They are the kind of thing that start-up businesses think they should write and growing businesses feel compelled to update. But, let’s hold on a second. Why go through all the work of putting ideas that are already clearly formulated in […]
Based on recent polling, 78% of respondents indicated “No” to the question posed of: “Does your company currently have a policy or practice that permits or prohibits political related activities in the workplace?” Being that it is a political year and there seem to be many hot button issues, […]
A market dominating position is the result of doing business in a way that fosters customer loyalty. It happens when the customer receives such tremendous value in the quality, quantity and price of your products and services that they will not buy elsewhere. It happens when the customer service […]
A monthly measure of optimism among small business owners remains stuck at an historically low level that reflects continued uncertainty over economic conditions. The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Index of Small Business Optimism edged down a tenth of a point in May to 94.4. “In the last year, small business optimism […]
It’s been years since I took my toddlers to Disney World and rode that ride with them accompanied by the song that just won’t leave your head once you’ve heard it. In that decade or so, the small world has gotten even smaller and it has an impact on our economy in Grand Junction, both […]
Powderhorn Mountain Resort atop the Grand Mesa skipped a downhill slide in reporting an increase in skiers and snowboarders last season even as other Colorado resorts experienced declines in the midst of an unusually dry and warm winter. “Much of the ski industry in the U.S. was confronted with weather challenges last year. But several […]
Dale Beede enumerates the goals he achieved in purchasing a new car that runs on compressed natural gas. Support the energy industry that supports his commercial real estate firm. Check. Help reduce dependence on foreign oil, if only a little bit. Check. Reduce automotive emissions. Check. Save money. Check. “This was a win-win for me,” […]
Coal mining rebounded in Colorado in 2011 even as payrolls increased and the state returned to the ranks of the top producers nationwide. Production remains well below levels of six years ago, however, and the outlook remains uncertain given the threat of government regulations that could curtail the use of coal in power plants to […]