Now that the Mesa County School District 51 Board of Education has approved a budget for the upcoming year, the district is proactively asking voters if they’d support a November ballot measure designed to raise more money for education from property taxes. In a direct mail flier sent to voters in early July, the district […]
Robert Bray considers himself “cautiously optimistic” about the Mesa County real estate market. By one measure, the number of residential real estate transactions reported in the county during the first half of 2011 was up 28 percent compared to the first half of 2010. “Most of the low-end stuff is seeing tremendous activity,” said Bray, […]
A monthly measure of optimism among small business owners has declined for a fourth straight month as expectations for a substantial economic recovery dim. The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index edged down a tenth in June to 90.8, a reading that reflects more recession than recovery. Although June […]
A proposed $7.1 million transaction is expected to expedite the construction of a new hospital in Grand Junction while providing more space for a growing college campus. The presidents of Community Hospital and Mesa State College announced a deal in which the hospital will sell its 8-acre site along 12th Street to the college. The […]
U.S. job growth slowed in June with only a meager gain in payrolls and a slightly higher unemployment rate. According to the latest Labor Department estimates, nonfarm payrolls grew 18,000, the smallest increase in nine months. The jobless rate edged up a tenth to 9.2 percent, the highest rate in six months. Initial estimates for […]
Real estate sales held steady in Mesa County during the first half of the year, but the combined dollar volume of those sales fell compared to the first half of 2010. The effects of large transactions skewed the numbers. But the median sales price of residential properties continued to drop in part as a result […]
A woman who left the private sector to oversee the operation of the Business Incubator Center in Grand Junction expects to soon return to her entrepreneurial roots. Chris Reddin announced her resignation as executive director of the center effective Aug. 5, ending nearly five years at what she once described as her dream job of […]
A monthly measure of business conditions in Colorado continued a seesaw trend in June with a more than eight-point retreat to its lowest level this year. While the Business Conditions Index has vacillated between gains and losses for the past four months, the outlook for at least one component of the index appears more promising. […]
The Grand Junction Housing Authority has been selected to participate in a program offering interest-free loans to homeowners at risk of foreclosure. The Emergency Homeowner Loan Program (EHLP) will provide nearly 1,000 Colorado homeowners an opportunity to apply for loans to help pay their monthly mortgage payments for up to two years or $50,000, whichever […]
A Grand Junction health insurance executive is among nine people appointed to a board that will oversee a new health benefits exchange in Colorado. Steve ErkenBrack, president and chief executive officer of Rocky Mountain Health Plans, will serve on the Colorado Health Benefits Exchange Board of Directors. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced the appointments. “The […]