Colorado - Wed. 03/29/17 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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COLORADO INCOMES INCREASE, SLOWER PACE
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Personal incomes in Colorado rose from $277.7 billion in 2015 to $288.4 billion in 2016, a 3.9 percent increase, ahead of the 3.6 percent average gain across the U.S. and good for 15th nationally, but down from the 5.1 percent pace in 2015 when Colorado ranked 7th nationally. Colorado fell behind Utah, which recorded a 5.6 percent gain in personal incomes last year. That ranked second only to Nevada, which had a 5.9 percent jump. On the downside, resource-dependent Wyoming suffered a 1.7 percent decline in personal incomes last year.
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BREXIT BEGINS
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Nine months after Britain voted to leave the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May signed a letter that Tim Barrow, Britain's ambassador to the EU, is expected to hand deliver today to European Council President Donald Tusk. This will formally constitute the notification that the U.K. will be the first country ever to leave the European Union. On Tuesday, by a vote of 69 to 59, members of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh approved plans to request a referendum on independence that could take place just before Britain completes its withdrawal from the European Union. However, Prime Minister May must agree to any legally binding referendum on Scotland’s future.
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TENCENT BUYS INTO TESLA
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Chinese technology giant Tencent, best known for its WeChat mobile app, has spent USD $1.78 billion to buy a 5 percent stake in electric car maker Tesla. Tencent has been active in buying into U.S. companies, with recent investments in Snapchat-owner Snap and Lyft. Tencent becomes the fifth-largest shareholder in Tesla behind founder and chief executive Elon Musk and investment companies Fidelity, Baillie Gifford and T Rowe Price. Musk remains the largest shareholder, with a 21 percent stake, as of the end of 2016.
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STOUFFER: NEW WRNF DEPUTY SUPERVISOR
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Last month, Lisa Stouffer left her post as the Bozeman District Ranger in the Gallatin National Forest in Montana to be become the deputy forest supervisor of the White River National Forest. As second in command at the WRNF, Stouffer has experience in winter recreation and travel management as well as in wilderness and wildland designation and management. Stouffer is a 30-year veteran in the USFS, having started her career in 1986 after graduating from the University of Michigan with degree in forestry.
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PITCO LOOKING FOR INPUT ON ATVs
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Pitkin County will hold an open house today from 4-6 p.m. at the community room of the Pitkin County Library to gather input on the formation of a management plan for all-terrain vehicles on backcountry roads in the county. The county has outlined four options: 1. Do nothing and keep all roads free of ATVs; 2. Open four roads to ATV use: the Bear Creek Road, Seller Lake Road, Deimer Lake Road, and Powerline Road; 3. Open 86 miles of county roads to ATVs, including those in the Prince Creek/Dinkle Lake area, Pearl Pass and the Fryingpan area; 4. Open all county roads with less than 100 vehicle trips per day to ATVs.
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ACRA GETS SURPLUS FUNDS TO BOOST RESERVE
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The 1.5 percent lodging tax in the city of Aspen that is devoted to tourist promotion and marketing efforts took in $2.63 million in 2016. That amounted to $216,514 more than the $2.41 million that the city budgeted last year. On Tuesday, the Aspen City Council agreed with the proposal from the Aspen Chamber Resort Association to add $120,000 from the surplus generated in 2016 to the existing $200,000 marketing reserve fund, with the goal of eventually reaching a total of $500,000 held in reserve.
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GET READY FOR HIGH WATER ON THE DOLORES
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The Dolores Water Conservancy District has accelerated its schedule for releasing water from McPhee Reservoir and will begin releases that will reach 800 cubic feet per second by Friday, up to 1,200 CFS by Saturday and hit 2,000 CFS by next week. The releases will result in the most water running from the reservoir since 2008. The releases, while delighting boaters, will cause problems for the Colorado Department of Transportation crews who will have to remove a temporary equipment bridge on the Dolores River near Bedrock. The temporary bridge has limited clearance for boaters.
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NO CHANGE IN SAN JUAN GENERATING STATION PLANS
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President Donald Trump Tuesday issued executive orders rolling back measures which were aimed at reducing global warming, including the imposition of restrictions on coal mining and the use of coal-fired power generation. However, even with elimination of restrictions, the Public Service Co. of New Mexico said it will not change plans to close two units at PSC's San Juan Generating Station by the end of 2017. The utility also will continue the process of determining whether to continue the operation of the remaining units beyond 2022.
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NTSB: FAULTY EQUIPMENT, PILOT ERROR LED TO FATAL CRASH
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The National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday presented findings of its investigation of the helicopter crash in Frisco in July 2015 that claimed the life of pilot Patrick Mahany and severely injured two passengers. The federal investigators said the crash was survivable, but the helicopter was not equipped with a crash-resistant fuel system. That led to the post-impact fire that claimed Mahany's life and severely burned one of the two Flight for Life nurses onboard. The investigators reported that a hydraulic switch that provided pressure to tail rotor controls was in the "off" position when the helicopter took off, causing the aircraft to spin and then crash.
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RETAILERS SHUTTING DOWN BRICK-AND-MORTAR STORES
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These top retailers have announced store closings in 2017:
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J.C. Penney: closing 138 stores and offering buyouts to 6,000 employees
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Sears Holding: 108 Kmart and 42 Sears stores
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H.H. Gregg: 88 stores and 3 distribution centers in 15 states
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Macy's: 68 stores
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MC Sports: 68 stores
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Gander Mountain: 32 stores
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WHO CAN - AND WHO SHOULD - TAKE THE AMERICAN OPPORTUNITY CREDIT?
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If you have a child in college, you may be eligible to claim the American Opportunity credit (up to $2,500) on your 2016 income tax return. If your income is too high, you won’t qualify. But your child might. There’s a potential downside: You’ll have to forgo your dependency exemption for him or her. And the child can’t take the exemption. The exemption is also subject to a phaseout, depending on modified adjusted gross income. Make sure to talk to your tax advisor to run the numbers and provide more information about qualifying for the American Opportunity credit and other higher-education tax breaks.
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ALPINE BANK E-WASTE RECYCLING: NEW LOCATION
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Do you have electronic waste that you don’t know what to do with, maybe we can help. In celebration of Earth Day, Alpine Bank, along with the Town of Ridgway, is hosting an E-Waste Recycle Event in Ridgway on Saturday, April 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bring monitors, laptops, desktops, keyboards, printers, copiers, audio and visual equipment, TVs, cell phones and cables and accessories to the athletic fields on Chipeta Drive and County Road 23. Because of the complex recycling process, expect to pay a small recycling fee per item. Alpine Bank will cover up to $10 of the recycling cost for each person or business. For more information, call 970-626-4100.
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MARKET UPDATE - 03/28/2017 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 03/23/2017)
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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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