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Colorado - Tue. 10/06/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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TRIO AWARDED NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE FOR NEUROSCIENCE DISCOVERIES
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A trio of neuroscientists were awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering work on optogenetics, a method of controlling nerve cells with light, which makes it possible to study how the brain shapes memories, feelings and behaviors. Announcing the prize recipients Monday at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, the Nobel committee said the work of Drs. Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel had laid the foundation of a new era in neuroscience. The work “unlocked new understanding of how the brain works, new possibilities for treating neurological and psychiatric disorders,” said Jonathan Levin, president of Stanford University, where Deisseroth is a neuroscientist and psychiatrist. Hegemann is based at Humboldt University in Berlin and Nagel at the University of Würzburg in Germany. The group will share the 12 million Swedish kronor, or roughly $1.2 million, prize.
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GEORGE GILLETT, WHOSE OWNERSHIP OF VAIL ASSOCIATES HELPED MODERNIZE THE SKI RESORT INDUSTRY, DIES AT 87
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George Gillett Jr., a meatpacking and media magnate whose ownership of Vail and Beaver Creek ski areas in the early 1990s shifted the resort industry into an era of modernization, died Sept. 22 at age 87. While consolidation and advance season-pass sales have transformed the resort industry in the last two decades, the path to this age was, in many ways, paved by Gillett, who bought Vail and Beaver Creek in 1985. He was a fixture on the slopes that first season as owner, skiing more than 130 days. Everyone called him George. He was one of the last of a bygone breed: the resort owner who skied daily and knew the lifties, patrollers, groomers, cafeteria workers and instructors by name. He fostered a community around his ski areas, enlisting both employees and guests in his vision. And that vision was big. When Gillett opened China Bowl at Vail ski area in 1988, he doubled Vail’s acreage, making it the largest ski area in North America.
He brought the World Alpine Ski Championships to Vail in 1989 after a nearly 40-year absence in the U.S. By 1990, Vail had more high-speed chairlifts than any other ski area. Gillett was instrumental in luring knee specialist Dr. Richard Steadman to Vail from Lake Tahoe, helping to seed what would become one of the world’s top orthopedic clinics and research centers. Gillett also saw “tremendous opportunity” in the Eagle County Regional Airport and worked with the community to grow that facility with more direct flights into the valley. Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts, said in a statement that many skiers may not know how Gillett influenced their experience through his philosophy. “That how you treat people, guests and employees alike, is what matters most in business,” Katz wrote. “George leaves behind an incredible legacy of vision, innovation, and leadership, as well as a generation of leaders who are grateful to have learned from him along the way,” Katz said.
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DENVER WATER HAS ISSUED $30,000 IN FINES & 2,000 WARNINGS
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Denver Water leaders aimed to reduce customers’ use by 20 percent across the board this year in response to record-breaking drought. But so far, through the end of September, Denver Water customers reduced their water use by only 9 percent. Denver Water commissioners in March implemented mandatory watering restrictions limiting customers across the city and some of its suburbs to watering twice a week and imposed higher billing rates that kicked in as customers used more water. Denver Water’s 1.5 million customers did become increasingly responsive to watering restrictions throughout the summer. In June, amid scorching heat, they reduced the amount of water they used, compared to normal for that month, by just 4 percent. In both August and September, customers used 14 percent less water than normal. In total, customers have used 10,800 acre-feet less water than normal so far this year.
Throughout the summer, Denver Water received more than 7,500 reports of watering violations. The utility issued 2,000 warnings and levied 110 fines that totaled approximately $30,000. Nearly the entire state remains in drought conditions, despite fall rain and the season’s first snows in the high country lessening the severity of the aridity. As of Thursday, 89 percent of the state was in drought, and the other 11 percent was considered abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
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DESPITE MUSTY TASTE & SMELL, WESTMINSTER'S WATER STILL SAFE TO DRINK
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Westminster’s smelly and musty water is still safe to drink, city officials said. The city’s drinking water is primarily supplied by Standley Lake, which goes through a natural turnover process each year. That process stirs up the reservoir — mixing cooler surface water with deep lake water — and increases algae production, which can give the city’s drinking water “an earthy or musty taste and smell” in the fall, city officials said in a statement on the Public Works and Utilities Dept.’s website. Westminster’s water “remains safe to drink and is tested regularly to make sure it meets all required safety standards,” city officials said in the statement.
This year’s drought exacerbated the taste and odor, according to the Public Works and Utilities Dept. Both are expected to improve in the next two to three weeks as the reservoir fully mixes and cools, city officials said. “Our water quality specialists monitor the lake water and the water leaving our treatment facility 24/7,” Westminster officials wrote in an article dedicated to the annual turnover. “This process does not change the high quality of water that reaches your tap at home.” Additional questions and concerns can be addressed via Westminster’s Water Quality Hotline at 303-658-2461.
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AFFORDABILITY, LOSS OF LOCAL BUSINESSES AMONG BIGGEST CONCERNS FOR ASPEN RESIDENTS
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Aspen residents are less likely to stay in Aspen for the next five years or want to raise kids here than they were two years ago, according to results from the city’s 2026 community survey. The city conducts its community survey every two years to measure the community’s sentiment on several facets of Aspen’s city government and livability.
- About 75 percent of survey respondents said they would remain in Aspen in the next five years, compared to 84 percent in 2024.
- There was a 4 percent increase in respondents who said they would recommend living in Aspen to someone who asks (51 percent in 2024 compared to 56 percent in 2026), but it is still much lower than national and state averages.
Some of that could be attributed to residents’ worries over affordability in Aspen, which was listed as a core concern for several survey respondents.
- About 26 percent of respondents rated availability of affordable quality childcare or preschool as excellent or good, compared to 18 percent in 2024.
- The community’s top three priorities, according to the survey results, were affordable housing, emergency preparedness, and traffic congestion and mobility.
- About 17 percent of respondents rated Aspen’s traffic flow on major streets as good or excellent, much lower than state and national averages.
- In 2024, overall confidence in Aspen government was low. Of the 449 residents surveyed by the city in 2024, 22 percent rated confidence in city governance as good, 36 percent rated it fair and 32 percent rated it poor. In 2026, 38 percent of respondents rated their overall confidence in Aspen government as excellent or good, compared to 32 percent in 2024.
- About 42 percent of respondents said they felt the city government acted in the best interest of the community, compared to 34 percent in 2024, and 52 percent said they felt Aspen government was excellent or good at “being honest” compared to 44 percent in 2024.
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VAIL, BEAVER CREEK SET TO DEBUT EPIC ASCENT PRIVATE LESSON CONCIERGE EXPERIENCE THIS SEASON
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In the wake of Monday’s disappointing fourth-quarter earnings call, Vail Resorts on Tuesday announced yet another Epic-branded strategy to improve the guest experience at Vail and Beaver Creek this coming ski season. Tuesday’s Epic Ascent program unveiling comes on the heels of July’s Epic Experience multiprogram plan and is more narrowly focused on local ski instruction for the 2026-27 ski season. While Epic Ascent will just be offered at Vail and Beaver Creek, the company hopes to expand the program to some of its other 40 resorts beginning in 2027-28. Weather permitting, Vail is set to open on Nov. 13, and Beaver Creek is scheduled to open on Nov. 25. According to Vail Resorts, every Epic Ascent booking will include “dedicated trip-planning support, from dining reservations and rental equipment to transportation coordination and customized on-mountain itineraries, along with flexible lesson start locations and skip-the-lift-line access.”
While the 12 percent decrease in Epic Pass season ski passes can mostly be attributed to last season’s record low snow totals, Vail Resorts officials have acknowledged a broader need to improve the overall guest experience, from on-mountain dining to gear rentals to guest engagement to, now, ski instruction. The announcement comes ahead of the Oct. 7 deadline to lock in an Epic Pass for the 2026-27 season at the current rate of $1,145 for an adult 31-plus years old. Rates will go up after that.
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STATE GRANT PROGRAM SUPPORTING AGRICULTURE BUSINESS INTERNSHIPS OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS
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Applications for a new round of grants from the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture of up to $5,000 to help agricultural producers hire interns is open now. The program was established in 2018 by the Colorado legislature with the first grants being awarded in 2019. Since then, more than 280 internships have received grant funding of over $1.25 million in total. Each year the department funds up to $5,000 to cover up to 50 percent of the cost for local farms, ranches and agricultural businesses to employ interns. It has $300,000 in funding, which can support 60 interns or more depending on the grant requests. The department is trying to find more applicants across the state including in northwestern Colorado where there is a large number of diverse agricultural businesses.
Agricultural production businesses are generally able to apply for this grant. The department prefers production businesses that work with crops, livestock, fibers, etc. and then bring those products to market. However, the program has funded other agricultural business interns as well. Interns are current students, recent graduates or a beginning farmer or rancher. They typically do hands-on agricultural work like crop planting and harvesting, learning ranching operations or running a Community Supported Agriculture program. For anyone interested in the program there is an informational webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 11 a.m. Registration can be made at ag.colorado.gov/awdp. Application deadline for the grant program is Monday, Nov. 2, by 5 p.m.
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DURANGO NONPROFIT RECEIVES NEARLY HALF A MILLION FROM OPENAI GRANT
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A local nonprofit, Community Connections, was awarded just shy of $500,000 in grant funding from OpenAI. Community Connections serves Southwest Colorado, providing case management and services to people with disabilities, developmental delays and complex needs. The nonprofit was awarded $494,000 through OpenAI’s People-First AI fund. In recent years, administrative duties have bogged down staff, said Community Connections CEO and President Tara Kiene, who is hopeful the grant will help with that. “Tasks that used to take 15 minutes now take two hours, and then you have to wait overnight for systems to connect in order for you to be able to do the next step, and it’s just become really overly burdensome,” Kiene said. The nonprofit is exploring how artificial intelligence can streamline administrative processes to get caseworkers back in the field, while also looking at how AI can improve client experiences.
Community Connections is partnering with the Center for Rural AI, a Durango-based nonprofit focused on helping rural communities with AI. Andrew Aitken, the center’s founder and executive director, put the grant on Kiene’s radar. Kiene is excited for the expertise the Center for Rural AI will bring. The Center for Rural AI created its own AI agent to look for grants, which is how they stumbled upon the OpenAI grant. The center wasn’t eligible for the grant, so the center did some research, looked at several nonprofits and ultimately reached out to Community Connections. Both nonprofits worked together on the application over several weeks. Center for Rural AI began dissecting Community Connections, Aitken said, looking at processes, workflows, existing challenges and potential opportunities for AI in order to fine-tune the grant application.
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ALTERRA MOUNTAIN CO. ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF NEW CEO AHEAD OF 2026-27 SKI SEASON
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Alterra Mountain Co., the Denver-based ski giant that owns the Ikon Pass, has announced the appointment of Kelly Vohs as chief executive officer, effective Oct. 19. Vohs will replace Jared Smith, who announced his departure as Alterra’s CEO in March. Vohs most recently served as the CEO of SafetyCulture, an operations platform used by more than 85,000 organizations and supporting 2.5 million workers. He also spent more than a decade leading companies within Blackstone’s portfolio, including as the CEO of LivCor, a real estate asset management company. Earlier in his career, Vohs led operations for BR Guest Hospitality, a New York restaurant group with more than 20 restaurants, and held leadership roles at several destination hotels, including as general manager of the Conrad Chicago. He also served eight years as a Green Beret with the U.S. Army’s 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, completing four combat deployments.
Vohs will assume the CEO position on the back of a historically bad winter in the West, which had ripple effects through the ski industry, and just weeks away from the start of the 2026-27 ski season. Alterra also recently struck a deal with city and state economic development commissions to move its headquarters to the former Denver Post building in Denver, rather than move out of Colorado. In Colorado, Alterra owns Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and Steamboat Resort, has a long-term lease with the city and county of Denver to operate Winter Park and partners with Copper Mountain and Aspen-Snowmass to offer access on the Ikon Pass.
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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS SALES TAX DOWN 3.74% IN AUGUST PRELIMINARY REPORT
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The city of Steamboat Springs has released its preliminary sales, use, accommodation and short-term rental tax report for the month of August, which showed collections down 3.74 percent compared to the same month last year, or a decrease of around $119,400. Year-to-date collections are roughly $1,065,000 below the same period last year; because sales tax revenue for 2026 was budgeted to be 1 percent below 2024 levels, preliminary August collections are falling short of budget by 2.61 percent.
- Liquor and marijuana sales decreased by 17.5 percent; sporting goods decreased by 11.4 percent; lodging decreased by 10.8 percent; restaurants decreased by nearly 9 percent and construction decreased by 7.7 percent.
- Accommodations-tax revenues, which help fund parks, open space, environmental initiatives and community amenities, decreased by 10.4 percent, or nearly $12,000.
- Short-term rental tax is dedicated to retaining and expanding affordable housing incentives for projects such as Slate Creek/Brown Ranch. Preliminary STR tax collections in August 2026 were down 15.7 percent, a decrease of approximately $106,570.
- Building-use tax helps fund capital projects within Steamboat Springs. For August, preliminary collections increased by nearly 67 percent from the previous August, or around $239,400, largely offsetting decreases in other categories.
To view the full report, visit TinyUrl.com/ydnbsb7e.
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DENVER WATER TO REDUCE FRASER RIVER FLOWS AMID EXTREME DROUGHT
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Grand County residents will see considerably less water flowing down the Fraser River starting Oct. 13. Denver Water typically diverts water from the Fraser River through the Moffat Tunnel to serve customers during the winter, but because of extreme drought conditions caused by a lack of snowpack and record-high temperatures, the Fraser River has considerably less water to give. Since 1969, Fraser River flows have been required to maintain a minimum of 4 cubic feet per second, or cfs, when Denver Water diverts water, a requirement tied in part to U.S. Forest Service requirements. Now, Denver Water is reducing Fraser River flows to 2 cubic feet per second starting Oct. 13 to accommodate extreme drought conditions. Reductions remain in place until May 15 unless drought conditions improve or if Denver Water encounters “unforeseen operational issues” that require them to increase reductions.
Along with reducing Fraser River flows, Denver Water will reduce flows in its tributaries; Vasquez Creek and St. Louis Creek will be reduced to 2 cfs, and Ranch Creek to 1.5 cfs. Grand County is the most heavily diverted county in Colorado. The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District diverts about 200,000 to 215,000 acre-feet of water from the Upper Colorado River headwaters, and Denver Water diverts about 60 percent of the water originating in Grand County’s high country to the Front Range.
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SUPPORT OUTDOOR STEWARDSHIP: SHARE VOC’s 2027 PROJECT & TRAINING APPLICATIONS
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Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is now accepting project and training applications for the 2027 season—and your network may be able to help spread the word. VOC partners with a wide range of organizations across the state to engage thousands of volunteers in hands-on stewardship projects, from trail building and habitat restoration to wildfire mitigation, urban greening, community gardening, and more. Please share this opportunity with nonprofits, community groups, or land managers that could benefit from VOC’s support in engaging volunteers for on-the-ground work. VOC is also accepting applications for trainings to help increase the stewardship capacity of local volunteers or staff. These trainings cover skills such as trail design, crew leadership, ecological restoration, and more—and may be useful to individuals or groups in your broader community. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but submissions are encouraged by Oct. 15, 2026.
- Learn more about partnering with VOC on a project at voc.org/partner-resources.
- Request a stewardship training at ositraining.org/training.
- For questions about partnering with VOC, contact Kelly Clouse at kclouse@voc.org or Sam Hutchins at sam@voc.org for training inquiries.
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DRIVES, WAITS TAKING TOLL ON DEN PASSENGERS, STUDY FINDS
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Denver International Airport ranks among the most stressful airports in the U.S., according to a new study. DEN ranks as the seventh most stressful airport in the report by Rightway Parking. The company looked at 55 of the busiest U.S. airports to find out which ones are the most stressful. It used flight delay and cancellation data, along with driving distance and time from the corresponding city. That means the methodology does not even consider the construction-related stress that appeared to be pulling down the airport’s customer satisfaction in at least one other study.
What makes Denver one of the most stressful airports? The stress at Denver International Airport is driven by the time that can be lost getting there and waiting for a flight. One in four flights out of DEN were delayed in the period studied, the third-highest rate among the 55 airports analyzed. Only Dallas/Fort Worth and West Palm Beach had worse rates. The distance from downtown Denver also hampered the airport’s rating. DEN had the third-longest driving distance from downtown (21.6 miles) and the fifth-longest recorded downtown-to-airport drive (35 minutes) in the study. Denver is boosted by one of the lowest flight cancellation rates in the study group. Its 0.77 percent rate is the lowest of the 10 most stressful airports and 10th lowest in the whole sample of 55 airports.
What are America’s most stressful airports? Unsurprisingly, the list is dominated by busier airports in larger metro areas that serve as regional hubs:
- Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas
- Chicago O'Hare International Airport in Chicago
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia
- John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City
- Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia
- LaGuardia Airport in New York City
- Denver International Airport in Denver
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Detroit
- Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina
What are America’s least stressful airports? Many of the least stressful airports are a step down in size from the most stressful and are less active:
- Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City
- San Jose Mineta International Airport in San Jose, California
- Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu
- Albuquerque International Sunport in Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix
- Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska
- Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, California
- Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport in Oakland, California
- Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska
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MARKET UPDATE - 10/05/2026 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 10/01/2026)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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