|
Colorado - Thu. 11/14/24 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
|
|
View in Browser
|
|
|
| |
JOHN MALONE RESTRUCTURES WITH FOCUS ON SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
|
| |
|
|
| |
The two richest Colorado residents, based on the most recent Forbes 400 list, Philip Anschutz and John Malone, have significant corporate interests in entertainment and sports. Malone, No. 89 on the Forbes list, is restructuring to separate Liberty Media into two corporate entities: one focused on sports and one focused on entertainment. On Wednesday, Liberty announced plans to spin off Liberty Live Group, which owns a sizable stake in ticketing and concert promotion giant Live Nation and Quint, which sells event ticket and travel packages. Liberty Media will continue to hold Formula One and the parent of Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
Accompanying those changes, longtime Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei will step down. Malone will step in as interim CEO when Maffei’s contract expires at the end of the year. Malone said Maffei had improved the company and overseen as many as five separate public companies at the same time during his tenure. Separately on Wednesday, Charter Communications said it had agreed to acquire Malone’s Liberty Broadband, which is the largest shareholder in the Spectrum cable and internet parent company. Liberty Broadband will also spin off its GCI subsidiary, an Alaskan communications provider, through a stock distribution as part of the deal.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
XCEL ENERGY CUSTOMERS: EXPECT AN INCREASE IN NATURAL GAS RATES
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Xcel Energy natural gas rates increased Nov. 5 as a result of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission approving an increase of $130.76 million in Xcel’s revenue. As a result, an average monthly residential bill will go up $4.57 a month and the average monthly bill for small businesses will rise by $17.49. Xcel Energy had requested an increase of approximately $171 million, but the PUC staff argued that Xcel’s rate request was unreasonably high and recommended lowering the increase. Xcel is Colorado’s largest electric utility. It provides electricity to 1.6 million customers and natural gas to 1.5 million customers, with overlaps between the two groups. For those seeking help to pay their energy bills, the PUC has the Utility Bill Help Program, which can be found at the PUC website or by visiting puc.colorado.gov/utilitybillhelp.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
RISE BROADBAND EXPANDS WITH ACQUISITION OF MIDATLANTIC BROADBAND
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Rise Broadband, based in Englewood, is the nation’s largest fixed wireless broadband provider, delivering high-speed internet and digital voice services to residential and commercial customers. It will increase more with the acquisition of MidAtlantic Broadband’s fiber-to-the-home broadband/internet business in Missouri. Rise Broadband serves 16 states and MidAtlantic Broadband in Missouri, operating under the Yondoo Broadband brand, includes about 10,000 residential and commercial locations in the eastern region of the state. Included in Rise Broadband services will be the Missouri cities of Kahoka, Canton, La Grange, Bowling Green, Elsberry, Potosi, Belle and Bland.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
DENVER’S “PRIDE OF THE POINTS” FIREHOUSE ADDED TO NATIONAL HISTORIC PLACES
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Fire Station No. 3, of the Denver Fire Dept., located at 2500 North Washington Street, in Five Points, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, History Colorado announced Tuesday. Historic Denver, in its announcement, noted Fire Station No. 3 is the longest continually running firehouse in the city, owned and operated by the Denver Fire Dept. since 1931, and was Denver’s only all-Black firehouse. All-Black fire crews operated out of the station, also known as the Pride of the Points, between 1931 and 1957, when the Denver Fire Dept. was desegregated.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
ITALY’S ART THEFT SPECIALISTS SEIZE EUROPEAN ART FORGERIES
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
The art theft arm of Italy’s Carabinieri, one of Italy’s main law enforcement agencies announced that over the past year, they had collected more than 2,100 pieces of art, including paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture that are forged works of famous artists such as Gustav Klimt, Salvador Dali, Picasso, and Andy Warhol, among others. The art theft squad has worked to break up a Europe-wide network of art forgers and dealers accused of selling counterfeit pieces to unsuspecting buyers. Thirty-eight people have been placed under investigation on suspicion of conspiracy to deal in illegal goods, and of the forgery and sale of illegal artworks. The case has involved suspects in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain. Many of the works were attributed to the artist Banksy, the elusive street artist. An entire “Banksy” exhibition in the central Italian town of Cortona was shut down after Carabinieri officers determined that all the pieces were fake.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FIGURES FOR AUGUST HIGHLIGHT AMERICANS GOING OVERSEAS
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
According to data recently released by the National Travel and Tourism Office show that both international visitor arrivals to the U.S. and outbound international Americans in August had significant increases over 2023 numbers. Total non-U.S. resident international visitor arrivals to the U.S. in August reached 7,527,819, which was a 7.8 percent increase over August 2023 numbers. Americans headed outbound to international destinations totaled 9,812,982 in August, a whopping 10.5 percent over August 2023. The destination with the highest number of U.S. outbound travelers was Mexico, with 3,104,115, or 31.6 percent of the total outbound travelers in August. Europe was the second largest market for outbound U.S. travelers, with 2,335,864, or 23.8 percent of the total outbound travelers. Outbound visitation to Europe in August 2024 confirmed what many travel experts had forecast, by registering a 20.1 percent increase over August 2023.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
THE NEVERENDING STORY WILL HAVE A SURVEY: THE ENTRANCE TO ASPEN, PART ??
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
The question that dates back to the 1980s, maybe earlier, should there be a change to the entrance to Aspen, the bridges over Maroon Creek and Castle Creek and the S-turns to bring Colorado Hwy. 82 down Main Street. This week, the Aspen City Council worked with Probolsky Research to determine the final wording on 30 questions for a community survey on what should be done with the Castle Creek Bridge. The survey combines live phone interviews and an online platform and aims to assess whether public opinion still aligns with bridge plans originally developed in the 1990s. A community vote in 1996 approved a single lane in and out of Aspen along an easement on the Marolt Open Space, also allowing for a potential light rail. That resulted in the production of the 1998 Record of Decision. Since then, several elements of the preferred alternative outlined in the ROD have been implemented, however, one that remains unfulfilled is building a second bridge over Castle Creek.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
U.S. 50 MIDDLE BRIDGE OVER BLUE MESA FULLY OPEN FOR 2-WAY TRAFFIC
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
The U.S. 50 bridge over Blue Mesa Reservoir fully reopened to two-way traffic on Wednesday. The U.S. 50 Lake Fork Bridge, five miles west of the Middle Bridge, is still single-lane travel, with work expected to finish in December. State and federal officials discovered structural defects in the steel bridge supports in April and the bridge was closed. The Colorado Dept. of Transportation, with Kiewit Corporation, worked on repairing the bridge for months, installing 250 tons of steel plate. Each of the plates is 23 feet long, 2.5 feet wide and 2.5 inches thick, weighing about 9,000 pounds. Crews worked from temporary scaffolding suspended from the side of the bridge to install the steel plate repairs, completing initial repairs sufficient to allow one-lane, limited traffic July 3, with expanded opening times over Labor Day. On Oct. 16, all legal loads were allowed over the bridge in single-lane travel while the temporary work platform was removed.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
EGE ON TRACK FOR A RECORD YEAR
|
| |
|
|
| |
Eagle County Aviation Director David Reid Tuesday gave an update to the Eagle County commissioners on the Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE). The original estimate for the year was a 10 percent increase in annual enplanements over a year earlier. That has already been shattered with numbers closer to a 30 percent increase. Enplanements increased 43 percent over the summer of 2023, along with a 51 percent increase in seat capacity. That increase in seat capacity came from the addition of summer service to Chicago and Houston by United, and United also added a fourth daily flight to Denver. Currently, there are five carriers serving EGE, either on a seasonal or year-round basis:
- American Airlines (year-round)
- Alaska Airlines (starting in December)
- Delta Airlines (seasonal)
- Frontier Airlines (seasonal)
- United Airlines (year-round)
For more information, go to flyege.com.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
SILPHIUM, AN ALTERNATIVE FOR S.W. COLORADO, HAS TEST PLANTING IN YELLOW JACKET
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
The Southwestern Colorado Research Center in Yellow Jacket recently planted an acre of a promising perennial crop called silphium. It is native to Kansas, but it has interest as an alternative crop in southwest Colorado because of its potential as an oil seed crop; it requires little tillage, little water and is not damaging to the soil. Silphium is basically a perennialized sunflower, hence its potential for producing oil, and it has a big root mass, as do most perennials, allowing the plant to die off in the winter and resprout in the spring. In terms of water, a forage crop like alfalfa takes as much as 22 inches of water, silphium takes 2 to 3 inches. Other locations on the Western Slope where silphium is growing - Steamboat Springs, Kremmling and Grand Junction. Other properties of silphium: it produces squalene, which is used in skin and hair products; it produces grain; and it has a long, extended flowering for honeybees.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
TRAIL TO BOULDER FALLS CLOSED DUE TO ROCKSLIDE
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
The City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) Dept. has temporarily closed access to Boulder Falls in Boulder Canyon, located around 11 miles west of Boulder, due to a recent rockslide that damaged the trail, according to a press release from the department. The release did not indicate when the slide occurred, but there was some 14 inches of snow in the Boulder area last week. OSMP is currently assessing the trail damage to determine future repairs and maintenance work that might be necessary. There is no estimated timeline for when the area may reopen, barring the initial assessment. Travelers can visit OSMPTrails.org to view current trail closures.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
RIVIAN, VW BROADEN PARTNERSHIP WITH JOINT VENTURE AND $5.8 BILLION INVESTMENT
|
| |
|
|
| |
German carmaker Volkswagen, the world’s largest auto manufacturer behind Toyota, announced it will increase its investment in Rivian, the California-based maker of electric trucks and SUVs, from $5 billion to $5.8 billion. The investment will also include a 50 percent stake in a joint venture to move beyond working together on vehicle software to jointly develop technology for electric vehicles, possibly including battery modules and other technology. Volkswagen has struggled to develop software for electric vehicles and its sales of electric cars in the U.S. have lagged behind General Motors and Hyundai-Kia. VW had just a 3.4 percent share of the EV market in the U.S. in the third quarter, with its Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche brands.
In February, Volkswagen announced a partnership with Chinese electric vehicle company Xpeng, aimed at helping it to develop electric cars for China, where it has been steadily losing market share. Rivian electric pickups and SUVs have received excellent reviews from the automotive press, but the company simply has not sold enough of them to become profitable. Rivian reported last week that it had lost $1.1 billion in the third quarter. However, a continuing problem with getting parts caused deliveries in the quarter to drop to 10,000 vehicles, down from 15,600 a year earlier. The new joint venture will be known as Rivian and VW Group Technology and will be led by Wassym Bensaid of Rivian and Carsten Helbing of Volkswagen. Its headquarters will be in Palo Alto, Calif.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
OVERSEAS INBOUND TRAVEL TO THE U.S. IN AUGUST
|
| |
|
|
| |
Top five tourism arrivals for August:
- U.K.: 357,539
- Japan: 188,788
- Germany: 188,244
- Italy: 179,063
- France: 174,513
Top five business arrivals for August:
- India: 34,781
- U.K.: 30.399
- Japan: 24,904
- Germany: 18,501
- South Korea: 14,729
Top five student arrivals for August:
- China: 98,867
- India: 74,825
- South Korea: 18,429
- Vietnam: 9,521
- Brazil: 8,676
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
MARKET UPDATE - 11/13/2024 Close
|
| |
|
(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
|
| |
|
Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
|
| |
|
|
|
|
30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 11/07/2024)
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
|
| |
|
| |
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.
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Make changes to your subscription or unsubscribe here. |
| © 2024 Alpine Bank. |
| |
|
|
