If the marketplace hates the uncertainty of an up-and-down stock market, the marketplace might love an announcement from the Federal Reserve that short-term interest rates will remain low for at least another two years. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announced earlier in August the Federal Open Market Committee expects to keep the benchmark federal funds rate […]
Debbie Kovalik increasingly hears what she considers encouraging words about retail development in the Grand Valley. As the department director over economic, convention and visitor services for the City of Grand Junction, Kovalik serves as a point of contact for businesses interested in expanding or opening retail ventures in the area. She said she’s talking […]
As the sun shines intensely through a clear summer sky, Derek Elder walks behind a long row of photovoltaic solar panels to a check a digital readout monitoring how well the panels convert all that sunshine into electricity. Over the course of the next year, Elder expects the 88 panels to generate a total of […]
Ernie Goss offers something of a mixed message in his second-half forecast for the Colorado economy. “Our numbers say it’s going to be good, but not as good as we’d like.” Goss, director of the Denver-based economic research institute that bears his name, tracks the Colorado economy for a monthly business index. And like other […]
While the construction industry in Mesa County has been an up-and-down proposition over the past five years, an island bordered by Orchard and North avenues and 12th and 7th streets in Grand Junction has been the scene of nearly non-stop activity. From new dormitories to a new college center and from an expanded fieldhouse to […]
A new school year already is underway at Caprock Academy, a Grand Junction charter school that instructs students from kindergarten through 11th grade. With the planned addition of 12th grade in 2012, Caprock soon will provide the only K-12 campus in the Grand Valley. Students showed up July 25 for the first day of classes, […]
Mesa State College made a big splash when it announced a name change designed to better reflect the location of the largest college in Western Colorado. Starting Aug. 10, Mesa State College officially will become Colorado Mesa University. While not all signs and logos will be in place by that time, the college had already […]
Business and educational leaders worked for more than a year on plans to help Mesa County School District 51 offer what they touted could become a world- class education. The effort spurred an initiative to recruit 500 volunteers to help tutor elementary school students an hour a week. At the same time, School District 51 […]
While there are indications the Mesa County economy is improving, some local business leaders worry the more optimistic outlook could offer a false hope that leaves businesses unprepared for a potential slide. “Retail sales of tires and automotive services are flat with 2010,” says Kevin Brooks, chief executive officer of Big O Tires in Western […]
Charter schools. Magnet schools. Home schools. Alternatives to traditional public classrooms are plentiful these days. And in an age when schools integrate technology into instruction, technology itself becomes yet another option for students and parents. Enter K12, one of many national companies offering parents the option of teaching their children at home with the aid […]