A $10,000 contribution from Alpine Bank helped to meet a fund-raising goal for a wildlife-identification and outdoor recreation application under development by the Mesa County Public Library Foundation. The Wild Colorado app will offer a searchable database of Colorado mammals, birds, fish and reptiles that helps users identify wildlife. Users can personalize their wildlife-viewing experience […]
A former public official who served as chairman of a committee that’s installed a series of sculptures in downtown Grand Junction has won the 2015 Champion of the Arts Award. The Grand Junction Commission on Arts and Culture announced that Tilman “Tillie” Bishop will receive the award. The commission will present Bishop with artwork by […]
The Mesa Land Trust has received a nearly $160,000 grant to expand on its efforts to conserve Grand Valley farmland. The Grand Junction-based organization will use the $157,700 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado to work with a Palisade farming family to conserve peach and apricot orchards on East Orchard Mesa. This conservation project will expand […]
The Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce honored companies for expanding operations in the Grand Valley. Counting $25 million worth of improvements on the Colorado Mesa University campus in Grand Junction, the total investment in the expansions topped $46 million. The companies created 200 new jobs in the process. The latest numbers bring to 30 […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times The old saying about what happens in offering a better mousetrap apparently holds true — at least when it comes to spas. Customers have been beating a path to the door of Watermark Spas & Pools in Grand Junction to purchase Bullfrog spas. Sales have doubled over the past year, […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times While the labor market has yet to rebound, other aspects of the Mesa County economy reflect improving conditions, according to an economist long involved in compiling a statewide forecast. “Lots of things look fine,” said Richard Wobbekind, executive director of the business research division at the University of Colorado […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times The monthly unemployment rate in Mesa County has increased as layoffs in the energy sector exceed seasonal hiring. The jobless rate could go even higher in the new year with the combination of further slowing in the energy sector and layoffs after the holidays. “It could be a higher number […]
A monthly index forecasting economic performance in the United States continues to increase, forecasting growth into the new year. The Conference Board reported that its Leading Economic Index rose four-tenths of a percent to 124.6 in November. With the latest gain, the LEI has advanced 1.5 percent over the past six months, slower than the […]
With a month left to count, 2015 already has been a better year for the hospitality industry in Grand Junction than 2014, according to one measure of hotel and motel stays. Lodging tax collections continue to increase, with year-to-date collections for 2015 topping the year-end number for 2014. Nearly $120,000 in lodging taxes were collected […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times It’s too early to tell if a year-over-year decline in sales and use tax collections in November constitutes a one-month anomaly or the beginning of a trend. “I’m hoping it was just a blip and not a trend,” said Eleanor Thomas, budget manager for Mesa County. Jodi Romero, financial operations director […]