Phil Castle, The Business Times Year-over-year gains in sales, use and lodging tax collections in December added to higher numbers in the Grand Valley during 2015. Mesa County reported a 5.1 percent increase in sales and use tax collections for 2015 over 2014. The City of Grand Junction reported a 2.6 percent increase. Lodging tax […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times Crossroads Fitness kicks off the new year with a challenge designed to not only promote health and fitness, but also help participants stick to their resolutions. “We’re just getting people to engage in healthy activities, to create consistency in their workouts,” said Paula Reece, who operates the Grand Junction health […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times Jennifer Stoll believes there’s more than just fun to games. In fact, sports events can constitute an important source of revenue for the local economy. The people who come to the area to participate in and watch sports fill hotel rooms, buy restaurant meals and shop at stores. Moreover, sports […]
U.S. payrolls swelled nearly 300,000 in December, bringing job growth during 2015 to almost 2.7 million. The national unemployment rate remained unchanged for a third straight month at 5 percent, the lowest level in more than seven years. According to the latest Labor Department estimates, nonfarm payrolls increased 292,000 in December. Moreover, initial estimates for […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times It’s a chicken-and-egg dilemma: Young adults need experience to compete for jobs, but encounter difficulty landing jobs to gain experience. Meanwhile, employers lament their own difficulties in finding qualified applicants with the required skills and work ethic. A new program under way in Mesa County is expected to address both […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times Increases in the number and dollar volume of real estate sales in December added to what industry observers characterized as a good year for the Mesa County market. “If you can have what you call a happy year, it was 2015,” said Annette Miller, senior vice president of Heritage Title […]
Colorado business leaders are a bit more confident heading into the new year, according to the latest results of a quarterly index tracking their outlooks. “Business sentiment increased ahead of the first quarter, indicating a general level of confidence among Colorado leaders,” said Richard Wobbekind, executive director of the research division of the Leeds School […]
U.S. consumers remain mostly upbeat heading into the new year, according to the latest results of a monthly index tracking their assessments of business and labor conditions. The Conference Board reported that its Consumer Confidence Index rose 3.9 points to 96.5 in December. Measures of current conditions and the short-term outlook both improved. “As 2015 […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times Matthew Breman has spent most of his career telling stories — first for the entertainment corporations for which he worked, then for clients of the marketing firm he operates. Now Breman has another story to tell in yet another role — as the new chairman of the Grand Junction […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times A decision is soon expected on an effort to make Mesa County among the first counties in Colorado to participate in a program offering tax incentives to businesses that create new jobs. “This is a really exciting time. It’s going to be fun to see what comes with this,” said State […]