Phil Castle, The Business Times Despite recent declines in activity, natural gas and oil production remains a crucial source of revenue for many Western Colorado counties and school districts. It’s a connection that’s sometimes forgotten in the public debate over energy policy when it should remain an important consideration, said Craig Meis, a Mesa County […]
The Mesa County Libraries will host free presentations about credit, budgeting and banking as part of a Money Smart Week program. A benefit book sale also is planned to raise money to support library programs. Ryan Cahill, regional program manager for Wells Fargo, will lead a presentation titled “All About Credit” starting at 6:30 p.m. […]
Chandler Burgeon won the top prize in an annual competition challenging students at Colorado Mesa University to develop and present concepts for new business services and products. Burgeon won $1,500 in seed money in the Idea Challenge conducted as part of Entrepreneurship Day at CMU. Burgeon and a business partner, Craig Morris, operate SimplyTungsten.com., a […]
Three more open houses are planned to gather public comments and answer questions about whether or not the Colorado National Monument should become a national park. Open houses are set for 4 to 7 p.m. April 12 at the Fruita Community Center, 324 N. Coulson St.; April 18 at Bookcliff Middle School, 540 29 1/4 […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times Kathy Portner believes residents should enjoy as many options as possible when it comes to getting around the Grand Valley — including electric vehicles. That’s why Portner said she’s excited about a new initiative in Colorado to promote the use of electric vehicles. “Hopefully, the results of this project will […]
Season pass and lift ticket sales increased at Powderhorn Mountain Resort during the inaugural ski season under new ownership. Timely storms that dumped more snow at Powderhorn than many other Colorado ski areas helped. “We were fortunate in a number of ways this season,” said Daren Cole, general manager at the resort, located on the […]
Sales tax collections in Mesa County continue to outpace last year, resulting in a double-digit increase in year-over-year comparisons for the first quarter. The trend bodes well not only for county coffers, but also the local economy. Sales tax collections offer a direct indicator of retail sales activity. The county collected a total of more […]
After six straight months of gains, a measure of optimism among small business owners has declined on less upbeat expectations for hiring and sales. The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index retreated nearly two points to 92.5 in March. With gains in each of the previous six months, the […]
U.S. payrolls continued to increase in March – but at half the pace of the previous three months – even as the unemployment rate edged down. According to the latest Labor Department estimates, nonfarm payrolls rose 120,000. The jobless rate slipped a tenth of a point to 8.2 percent, the lowest rate since January 2009, […]
Phil Castle, The Business Times Annette Miller sees signs of both encouragement and concern in the latest real estate statistics for Mesa County. The number and dollar volume of real estates transactions continue to outpace last year. But property foreclosure filings have increased on a year-over-year basis for two straight months, jumping nearly 90 percent in […]