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Colorado - Tue. 07/08/25 A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank View Online View in Browser
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CDL 303: LEARN HOW TO DRIVE TRUCKS IN THE MOUNTAINS

 
 
 
Any motorist who has driven the Interstate 70 Mountain Corridor for very long knows that there are now lane and speed restrictions for trucks, but that still has not entirely eliminated the closing of the highway due to crashed, jack-knifed tractor trailers, especially in the winter months. According to the Colorado Dept. of Transportation, each hour I-70 is closed results in an estimated economic loss of more than $1 million and those impacts can extend 100 or more miles. Scott Maurer and Joe Trussel have a plan to alleviate the problems caused by truckers. They created CDL 303, a school for truckers to earn their commercial driver’s license, and the only one in the U.S. that offers a comprehensive mountain training program.
CDL 303 teamed with RoadAware Safety Systems, a company that produced the Road-Aware app that alerts drivers of upcoming curves and steep grades on their route, with a suggested safe speed, to create an online mountain driving course. It is free to CDL 303 students, but any CDL driver can access it. CDL 303’s mountain training now includes four levels. Each has a mountain driving certificate. The highest level includes a three-day, hands-on-the-wheel, in-cab training. Typical training for this level includes driving I-70 west from Denver, up and over Loveland Pass on U.S. 6 with its steep, hairpin turns, back to I-70 headed eastbound, up and through the tunnel, to Denver.
 
- Colorado Sun, 07.04.25
 

UNION, KROGER REACH TENTATIVE 3-YEAR AGREEMENT TO AVERT STRIKE

 
 
 
Representatives of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 7 and grocery giant Kroger, parent company of King Soopers and City Market, announced late Thursday that they had reached an agreement for a three-year contract. A representative for the union said the agreement came following 46 hours of bargaining and it constituted, “A major step forward.” Kroger has more than 25,000 employees in Colorado and representatives of both parties are looking at dates to ratify the agreement. According to the union, the contract included no cuts to retiree health care benefits, wage increases, grandfathered employees and department managers and a longevity bonus for all associates with at least one year of seniority. In addition, the agreement introduced a new test-and-learn trial to study staffing improvements and mentioned no giveaways of union work to gig companies like Instacart.
 
- Denver Business Journal, 07.03.25
 

UNION STRIKES ANOTHER DEAL: TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH SAFEWAY/ALBERTSONS

 
 
 
The Union Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 representatives reached an agreement with Kroger stores on Thursday night and began negotiations to end their two-and-a-half-week strike with Colorado Safeway and Albertsons stores on the Fourth of July. On Saturday, July 5, the union on social media announced it had reached a tentative agreement on 45 key contract provisions, including higher wages, improved dental and vision benefits, a fully funded pension and protection against union work going to gig companies such as DoorDash. The contract is still subject to a ratification vote by the union members. Those meetings are still being scheduled.
Meanwhile, the union is calling for all members on strike to return to work by Monday. The strike began June 15 with stores in three Front Range cities and the company’s Denver distribution center. The strike expanded over the following weeks to 48 of the 80 Safeway locations in the state. The union had been negotiating with the grocery store chain for nine months, without reaching an agreement, before launching the strike.
 
- Denver Post, 07.05.25
 

ANOTHER GLOBAL WHISKY COMPETITION, COLORADO DISTILLERIES AGAIN WIN AWARDS

 
 
 
The 16th annual International Whisky Competition took place in Louisville, Kentucky at the end of June and Colorado distillers made an impressive showing. The whiskeys (note: the name of the competition used the spelling “whisky”; Colorado distilleries use the spelling “whiskey”) were rated for each country and for the American whiskeys, Boulder’s Hogback Distillery won the third best American whiskey overall for its Peat Smoked Single Malt, coming in behind recipes from A. Smith Bowman Distillery and Jack Daniel’s, which placed first and second, respectively.
  • That specific Hogback spirit also earned a gold medal in the American single malt category, which Colorado makers swept.
  • The silver went to the eponymous flagship single malt from Root Shoot Whiskey in Loveland.
  • Bronze went to Diamond Peak from Denver’s Stranahan’s distillery. Stranahan's had a strong showing in the aged blends competitions, taking home gold and bronze in the “best single malt 10 year and older” category. The winning recipes were the Mountain Angel 10 Year, which placed first, and the Mountain Angel 12 Year, which placed third.
  • Fort Collins-based NOCO Distillery also made an impressive showing, securing three gold medals in the “best American small-batch bourbon,” “best American rye whiskey,” and “best American cask finish” categories.
  • The Roper Reserve, from Larado Whiskey in Windsor, nabbed silver in the rye category, as well.
  • The International Whisky Competition ranked the best Colorado spirits entered in 2025 based on their individual scores. Hogback Distillery’s Peat Smoked Single Malt garnered gold, followed by NOCO Distillery’s RYE Whiskey, and Larado Whiskey’s Larado Reserve.
 
- Denver Post, 07.03.25
 

U.S. EMPLOYERS ADDED 147,000 WORKERS IN JUNE, EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS

 
 
 
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday reported nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 147,000 for the month, higher than the estimate for 110,000 and just above the upwardly revised 144,000 in May. Reaffirming the labor market’s durability, job gains in April and May were revised upward by a collective 16,000. The unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.1 percent, the lowest since February and against a forecast for a slight increase to 4.3 percent. Government employment posted a large gain, leading all categories with an increase of 73,000 due to solid boosts in state and local hiring, particularly in education-related jobs, which rose by 40,000.
Government employment posted a large gain, leading all categories with an increase of 73,000 due to solid boosts in state and local hiring, particularly in education-related jobs, which rose by 40,000. The Federal government lost 7,000. In addition, health care again was strong, adding roughly 39,000, while social assistance contributed about 19,000.
 
- CNBC.com, 07.03.25
 

TELSKI TAKES OVER COMPLETE CONTROL OF MERCHANT PASS PROGRAM

 
 
 
Telluride Ski and Golf (Telski) announced last week that it has ended the partnership with the Colorado Flights Alliance in the Telluride Merchant Pass Program. Telski is taking over complete management of the program which Colorado Flight Alliance had managed since 2003. The program offers local businesses deeply discounted season ski passes for their employees and Telski stated that they will maintain the rate of $1,375 per pass from last season with no blackout days. Telski said it will "streamline" the eligibility and purchase procedures for the pass.
Previously, to be eligible for the merchant pass, businesses had to donate $800 to Colorado Flights Alliance (CFA) or generate $800 via the 2 percent lodging and restaurant tax. Businesses could receive one pass for every $800 they either donated or generated in tax revenue. Although final requirements for the pass have not been released, officials of Telski say the eligibility for a donation to CFA has been eliminated. Telski stated, “From this point on, it's not based on airline contribution anymore. As of right now, that has stopped. The merchant pass has no ties to Colorado Flights Alliance, period.”
 
- Telluride Daily Planet, 07.05.25
 

CDOT WILL BE WORKING ON ROCKFALL AREA ON U.S. HWY 550 UNTIL OCTOBER

 
 
 
Motorists heading to or from Durango over Coal Bank Pass on U.S. Hwy. 550 are advised to expect delays, as Colorado Dept. of Transportation crews will be working on rockfall mitigation and replacing a retaining wall near Deer Creek, in the stretch from about mile marker 56.9 to 59.3. The rockfall work will remove about 12,000 to 14,000 cubic yards of rock and dirt, which will be stockpiled at Andrews Lake for future use in road shouldering and other projects. That’s enough to fill 1,300 dump trucks or nearly four Olympic-sized pools. The work will require patience from motorists, with the rockfall mitigation and wall replacement scheduled to be completed by Oct. 1. CDOT has installed 24/7 traffic signals at mile marker 56.9 and 59.3.
 
- Durango Herald, 07.04.25
 

CPW: PUBLIC INPUT REQUESTED ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO FISHING REGS

 
 
 
Colorado Parks and Wildfire is seeking public input on proposed changes to its fishing regulations in Grand and Summit Counties through Monday, July 21. In Summit County specifically, Colorado Parks and Wildfire is proposing to change the timing of the seasonal fishing closures on the Blue River and Tenmile Creek, upstream of Dillon Reservoir. The new proposal closure dates are from Sept. 15 (currently Sept. 1) to Dec. 1. Aquatic biologists believe the proposed change will extend the fishing season in these waters while not significantly impacting the spawning brown trout, which peaks around Oct.1. Public feedback on the proposed changes to the fishing regulations is open through July 21. Questions and feedback can be sent to Northwest Region Senior Aquatic Biologist Ben Felt at benjamin.felt@state.co.us and Hot Sulphur Springs Area Aquatic Biologist Jon Ewert at jon.ewert@state.co.us with “Feedback on proposed fishing regulation changes” in the subject line.
 
- Summit Daily, 07.06.25
 

FACING A HARD DEADLINE FOR DECISION, COLORADO RIVER STATES TAKE NEW DIRECTION

 
 
 
Seemingly for years, negotiators from the seven states of the Colorado River basin have been meeting to deal with the issue of how the river’s water should be allocated as long-term drought and higher temperatures, fueled by climate change, reduce the amount of water available. The states now have a hard deadline from the U.S. Dept. of Interior to reach a decision. The states have until Nov. 11 to tell Interior they have a deal. Then, the states have until Feb. 14 to submit a detailed plan. After a prolonged stalemate between the Upper Basin states (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming) and the three Lower Basin states (California, Nevada and Arizona) over the plan of how to allocate water releases from Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the negotiators have developed an entirely new concept. One that breaks away from decades of how the reservoirs were managed.
The new approach to a settlement is to not base water releases on reservoir levels, but instead to base the amount released from the system’s two major reservoirs on the amount of water flowing in the river. The new concept for managing the river reflects an attempt to account for the reality of the shrinking river and will, if adopted, adjust releases from the reservoirs based on the amount of water in the river. The conceptual framework dictates that releases from Lakes Powell and Mead would be a percentage of a rolling three-year average of the river’s natural flow. That’s a huge shift from previous management plans that called for releasing set quantities of water based on reservoir levels. The states, if they adopt the plan, will have to decide how to calculate the river’s natural flow, which is the amount of water that would be in the river without any human intervention.
 
- Denver Post, 07.05.25
 

HOME SALES IN DENVER METRO ARE SLUGGISH AT BEST

 
 
 
The monthly report from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors shows that the large inventory of listings in May increased in June, without any substantial increase in sales. The result is the total inventory of unsold homes topped 14,000, a supply that would last more than three-and-a-half months at the current pace of sales. That makes the current Denver metro real estate market the slowest in 15 years:
  • New listings added in May: 7,269
  • New listings added in June: 5,929
  • Closings in June: 3,864
  • Active listings as of June 30: 14,007
  • Median price of a single-family home sold in June: $665,895 - slightly higher than the sales price in May as well as June 2024
  • First half of 2025: new listings are up 14.5 percent compared to the comparable period in 2024
  • Closings in the first half of the year, down 1 percent
 
- Denver Post, 07.03.25
 

COOL, LAID-BACK COLORADANS…RANK NO. 3 FOR WORST ROAD RAGE?

 
 
 
Not long ago, there were studies that indicated Colorado ranked as one of the kindest and/or friendliest states. Now, a recent Forbes Advisory ranking had Colorado No. 5 for most road rage and a study from Consumer Affairs ranked Colorado No. 3 for most road rage. The Consumer Affairs study scored all 50 states and Washington, D.C., in six categories: traffic incidents involving gun violence, fatal crashes related to aggressive or careless driving, fatalities involving aggressive or careless driving, the percentage of all accidents that involved aggressive or careless driving, the percentage of all traffic fatalities that involved aggressive or careless driving and aggressive/careless driving and speeding violations.
Ten states with the most aggressive drivers:
  1. Louisiana
  2. New Mexico
  3. Colorado
  4. Arkansas
  5. Montana
  6. New Jersey
  7. North Carolina
  8. Hawaii
  9. Nevada
  10. Florida
Ten states with the least aggressive drivers:
  1. Maine
  2. Iowa
  3. California
  4. Mississippi
  5. Utah
  6. Virginia
  7. North Dakota
  8. Nebraska
  9. Oklahoma
  10. New Hampshire
 
- Coloradoan, 07.05.25
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
MARKET UPDATE - 07/07/2025 Close
 
(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
 
 
Close
Change
Dow Jones Industrials
 
44406.36
 
-422.17
 
S&P 500
 
6229.98
 
-49.37
 
NASDAQ
 
20412.52
 
-188.59
 
10-year Treasury yield
 
4.39
 
+0.06
 
Gold (CME)
 
3332.20
 
+0.60
 
Silver (CME)
 
36.61
 
-0.16
 
Oil (NY Merc)
 
67.93
 
+0.93
 
Natural Gas ($/MMBtu)
 
3.41
 
+0.01
 
Cattle (CME)
 
215.90
 
+1.85
 
Prime Rate
 
7.50
 
NC
 
Euro (per U.S. dollar)
 
0.85
 
+0.01
 
Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
 
1.36
 
NC
 
Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
 
18.66
 
+0.03
 
30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 07/03/2025)
 
6.67
 
-0.10
 
*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
 
 
 
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