Minor league baseball seen as good fit for Grand Valley

Phil Castle, The Business Times While it’s too early to yet predict the full effects of bringing a minor league baseball team to Grand Junction, the owners and managers of the squad believe they’ve found a good home. “It’s really a no-brainer,” said Tim Ray, general manager of the Grand Junction Rockies. Ray called Grand Junction […]

$800,000 in improvements planned for Powderhorn

A total of $800,000 worth of improvements are planned for the upcoming ski season at the Powderhorn Mountain Resort. “Investing in the 2011-2012 ski season is the first step in our multi-year capital improvement campaign,” said Andy Daly, a member of the ownership group that purchase the resort earlier this year. “We want these improvements […]

Publication switch sparks dispute over foreclosure notices

Paul Brown defends on several grounds his decision to switch publication of property foreclosure notices from a daily newspaper to two weekly newspapers. Not only is the display advertising format of the notices in the weekly papers easier to read than the long columns of smaller type that appeared in the daily paper, but publishing […]

Leading index offers promise of accelerating growth

A sharp increase in a monthly index forecasting economic performance in the United States offers promise that what long has been slow growth could accelerate next year. The Conference Board reported that its Leading Economic Index (LEI) rose nearly 1 percent to 117.4 in October. “The LEI is pointing to continued growth this winter, possibly […]

Apartment vacancy rates decline

Apartment vacancy rates jumped to their highest level in a year in Grand Junction, but the average monthly rent also increased nearly $25. According to the latest results of a survey conducted for the Colorado Division of Housing, the average apartment vacancy rate in Grand Junction climbed to 7.7 percent during the third quarter. The […]

Sales tax collections continue to outpace 2010

Sales and use tax collections, a key indicator of retail activity, continue to come in ahead of last year in Mesa County, the latest government reports confirm. The City of Grand Junction reported collecting a total of more than $4.3 million in sales and use taxes in October, an increase of more than 4.2 percent […]

Colorado Small Business Index retreats

A monthly measure of economic conditions for small businesses in Colorado has retreated, although somewhat faster growth nationally could help. “Any improvement in what has been to date meager U.S. economic growth would pay dividends for Colorado’s small business sector,” said Jeff Thredgold, a corporate economist who calculates the Vectra Bank Colorado Small Business Index […]

More school cuts mulled in wake of election results

Phil Castle, The Business Times Officials will continue to look for ways to cut the budget for Mesa County School District 51 following the defeat of a ballot measure that would have temporarily increased property tax revenues. While it’s still too early to know for sure,  another $4 million to $5 million in cuts could be […]

U.S. rebound likely modest and slow

Phil Castle, The Business Times Craig Hakkio expects the United States economy to continue to grow rather dip back into recession. But recovery likely will remain slow. And it could take a long time to regain what was lost in the aftermath of a housing bust and financial crisis, said Hakkio, a special advisor on economic […]