Every year, I try to take a step back and look at the paper (as well as remind myself of what our advertisers and readers have had to say) in terms of how things look and how the paper has grown and performed. The good news is that from pretty much every corner, that answer […]
Ray Scott has it right. Faced with declining revenues and budget shortfalls in the aftermath of a recession, business owners have had to scale back their operations, establish priorities and make the painful decisions to reduce staffing. Stuck in the same circumstances, Scott believes state government must take a similar approach. As the owner of […]
Nearly every person in Colorado has been affected in one way or another by the economic downturn experienced in our state in recent years. With unemployment remaining stubbornly above 8 percent, most of us know someone who has been laid off and desperately looking for work. Of perhaps we know a business owner who can’t […]
Not your typical subject matter for a year-end column, I must say. Then again, the earth is going to end in a year from the day I’m typing this, according to my Mayan readers and the medallion I wear on the chain around my neck, so I might as well swing for the fences 24 […]
The calendar changes with the new year. But what about the fortunes of Grand Valley businesses? Will they change, too? The extent to which the new year actually will be happy depends on the answer to that question. Fortunately, the outlook is improving. At least that’s the assessment of three economists who closely monitor business and […]
“Compromise is the lack of leadership.” Like me, you might have heard that quote in some form or another over the years without knowing exactly to whom to attribute it. On the reverse side is another quote I detest with almost all of my being, “Politics is the art of compromise.” And the putting of […]
Colorado sometimes draws national attention for its method of raising taxes. Under the Taxpayers Bill of Rights amendment to the state constitution approved in 1992, voters themselves are the only ones who can raise local or state taxes. Voters still have no direct say over federal income taxes. But many view TABOR as an amendment […]
The midterm elections offered an historic statement on where public policy and the economy had gone in the previous two-plus years: that is, in the wrong direction. The faulty economics of increased taxes, more regulation, so-called government-led “stimulus,” unprecedented explosions in government spending and debt and a massive government intrusion into the health care marketplace […]
Happy days have yet to return in earnest to the Grand Valley. Yet, there’s a sense that if conditions aren’t getting substantially better, they’re not getting significantly worse, either. So in joining in an attitude of gratitude for the holiday season, here are a few things for which business owners and managers can remain thankful: […]
These are not only the lyrics to a classic song by Otis Redding, they’re also the new job description for park rangers at Highline State Park. And this is not news to my fellow Craig — Meis that is, who brought to light the crime wave sweeping our Colorado lakes and rivers: 14-year old Hell’s […]