Award-winning entrepreneur shares some key lessons

The way Jack Hays explains it, it sounds so simple managing the companies he’s launched in Western Colorado. It’s just a matter of identifying and exploiting opportunities for growth. Hays puts it this way: “We find a need and fill it. We provide solutions.” Any good entrepreneur like Hays will attribute success in large part […]

A residential recovery would be welcome news

The residential construction industry has long constituted an important component of the Mesa County economy. Consider that the construction of 100 single-family homes creates an average of more than 300 jobs. So it was significant when the home building industry surged in the boom days and suffered in the bust that followed. Now there are […]

Excellence in exporting pays economic benefits

There’s no small measure of irony in the fact the company that manufactures components for the largest and most innovative aquarium projects around the world maintains its headquarters in the landlocked desert of Western Colorado. Nonetheless, there are millions of reasons to be thankful Reynolds Polymer Technology is located in Grand Junction — as in […]

A change in direction welcome along North

North Avenue once served as one of the busiest thoroughfares in Grand Junction and one of the busiest business districts in the city. So it’s disconcerting to those with long-term perspectives to see some of the changes that have occurred over the years: the businesses that have closed or relocated and the rundown and outdated […]

I’m no woodchuck … but I’m chucking Woody

Woody Walcher, that is. If you’re anything like me, there are just some things you see or hear that rub you the wrong way immediately. And then they stick in your craw, enhanced by their repetition. Such is the case with Woody’s latest set of campaign radio ads that now seem as if they’ve been […]

Uncertainty “buts” in economic projections

Economists have a pesky way of “buting” into what are otherwise encouraging forecasts. This trend or that statistic signals growth … BUT yet another trend or a different statistic could lead to slowing. Economists have no difficulty whatsoever in viewing the glass as both half full and half empty. Perhaps it’s a sign of these […]

It’s time for change along Horizon Drive

Bring to a mind, for a moment, the memorable places you’ve visited in urban settings — perhaps the River Walk in San Antonio or maybe the 16th Street Mall in Denver. For that matter, recall the last time you shopped at a store, enjoyed a meal or simply strolled along Main Street in downtown Grand […]

Lacking optimism? Think entrepreneurism

Tantalizing prospects of improving economic conditions continue to offer hope to weary business owners and managers, like visions of a cool oasis in the middle of a burning desert. Nonetheless, there’s seldom a shortage of discouraging news, such as the disappointing jobs report or dip in optimism among small business owners. All of a sudden, […]

A journey on the road of American greatness

That’s exactly what my family took over 12 days in March, and the trip was everything I dreamed it would be and how I always remembered it was. Our recent road trip brought back childhood memories of the enjoyment I always felt riding in our Country Squire station wagon along the interstate, refueling at truck […]