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Colorado - Mon. 11/18/24 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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GOVERNOR ROLLS OUT PLAN FOR COLORADO 150 PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY AT CIVIC CENTER
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Gov. Jared Polis announced plans for the Colorado 150 Pedestrian Walkway which would create a pedestrian walking path and bridge connecting the state’s Capitol complex and the Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park timed with the celebration of Colorado’s 150th birthday in 2026. State officials outlined two phases of the project, with the first connecting the Capitol to Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park starting and finishing construction in 2026. It’s not clear when construction on the second walkway and bridge between the Lincoln Veterans Memorial Park and Civic Center Park will start.
The state is paying $1.5 million for the concept, design, engagement and construction bidding process, with the rest of the project funded by “a combination of public and private donations.” The proposed walkway, which would connect Civic Center with the Capitol, over Broadway and Lincoln, and through Lincoln Veterans Park, would feature stories of the state, with themes like agriculture, outdoor recreation, Indigenous people, natural resources and music.
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STUDY OF DENVER HOLIDAY SEASON SHOPPING
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Deloitte Consulting surveyed 442 Denver residents and 45 Denver retail executives in a study of holiday shopping this year. The study showed that the average Denverite’s overall holiday shopping will drop 6 percent from last year. The average spending this year is projected to be $1,782, in line with the national average of $1,778. Spending on experiences, like concerts and movies, is expected to increase 7 percent to $818. More than 70 percent of Denver shoppers prefer to shop online, and almost half plan to shop on their smartphones. Last year, over half of Denver shoppers purchased holiday gifts for themselves, but only a third plan to this year. Seventy-six percent of the 45 retailers polled believed consumers value lower prices over brand loyalty. Denver shoppers also had a higher propensity for giving handmade gifts, with 32 percent favoring handmade gifts, compared to 23 percent nationally.
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DENVER ENERGY EXECUTIVE SELECTED TO BE ENERGY SECRETARY
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Chris Wright, CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, was selected Saturday by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as Secretary of the Dept. of Energy. Wright, who grew up in Colorado, earned an undergraduate degree at MIT and did graduate work in electrical engineering at the University of California-Berkeley and MIT. In 1992, he founded Pinnacle Technologies, which helped launch commercial shale gas production through hydraulic fracturing. He later served as chairman of Stroud Energy, an early shale gas producer, before founding Liberty Resources in 2010.
Wright will also serve as part of a new Council of National Energy, which the president-elect unveiled on Friday, saying that it "will consist of all Departments and Agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, of ALL forms of American Energy." Trump selected North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as the head of the Council of National Energy as well as his pick to be interior secretary.
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COLORADO RURAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS GET BOOST FROM FEDS
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The rural fire departments in Colorado have vast areas to cover with volunteer firefighters using equipment that is donated or retired from larger departments. In addition to the actual firefighting, the departments also have to deal with communication problems as cell service is limited and many depend on hand-me-down radio units. The state has received a $1.3 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program. That grant will be split between Rock Creek Volunteer Fire Dept., headquartered near McCoy, in Eagle County, along with the Hotchkiss Fire District, Crawford Fire District, Paonia Fire District, the Yampa Fire Protection District, Rocky Ford Fire Dept., Palisade Fire Dept., 4 Mile Fire Protection District and Upper Pine Fire Protection District. The grant will cover funding for gear, including radios, insurance, the cost of training, and other needs.
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DOLA OPENS PRE-APPLICATIONS FOR RENTAL ASSISTANCE TODAY
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The Colorado Dept. of Local Affairs’ November round of rental assistance will open for pre-applications starting at 11 a.m. today, Nov. 18. Pre-applications will be open to the public until 5 p.m. on Nov. 20. Emergency rental assistance funding is available for Coloradans who have fallen behind on their rent, meet income limits and other qualifying factors, and are at risk of eviction or displacement. Those facing eviction will continue to be prioritized. Once the pre-application window closes, all applicants will be entered into a random selection. Selected applicants will receive an email invitation to complete a full application on the online portal within seven days. To be considered for assistance, applicants must be eligible for assistance and submit the completed application and all required documentation before the deadline. All eligible applicants who submit a pre-application by the deadline will be entered into the random selection process.
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MORE HOUSES SOLD FOR LESS THAN ASKING PRICE, BUT MEDIAN PRICE STAYS HIGH
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Colorado homebuyers did receive slight relief in mortgage rates over the past two weeks, but, in general, home prices remained the same or increased slightly. However, compared with the booming sales of the past few years, more home sellers were accepting less-than-full price offers for the sale of their homes. Colorado’s median sales price inched up 2.3 percent to $583,000 while the Denver metro area remained at $625,000 from a year ago. In Denver, median condo sale prices dropped 6.5 percent to $402,000 while the number of sales fell 12.9 percent. Statewide, condo prices fell 4.5 percent and sales dropped 5.1 percent. Reflecting the change in sales prices versus asking price, in the Denver metro area, sellers were getting just 98.5 percent of their asking price. The average sale price was 105.5 percent above the asking price in May 2021. Statewide, houses were selling for 98.3 percent of the asking price.
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ASPEN MOUNTAIN, SNOWMASS WILL OPEN EARLY
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The Aspen Skiing Company announced that Aspen Snowmass and Aspen Mountain will open on Saturday, Nov. 23. That is five days earlier than the scheduled opening of Nov. 28. Further information on available terrain, lift operations, and lift ticket pricing will be released this week in anticipation of Opening Day. Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk are slated to open on Dec. 14. Skico crews will be actively working to prepare slopes for the opening, and uphilling on Aspen Mountain will be prohibited from Nov. 18-23. Once the mountains open, an uphill pass will be required for those heading uphill. Visitors are reminded to use designated routes, follow all mountain guidelines, be mindful of early-season conditions, and yield to snow vehicles and snowmaking equipment. Keep up to date with reports at aspensnowmass.com/four-mountains/mountain-announcements, or the Aspen Snowmass App.
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KIDS…GET FREE TICKETS TO THE X GAMES
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The Aspen Skiing Company will give out 500 tickets to the X Games, on a first-come, first-served basis, to Roaring Fork Valley high school students at Buttermilk for each day of the events. X Games will hold events and concerts from 5-11 p.m., Jan. 23; 10 a.m.-11 p.m., Jan. 24; and 10 a.m.-11 p.m., Jan. 25. Local high schoolers must show up in person at the base of Buttermilk with a valid student ID to get a General Admission ticket for the events. Students can pick up tickets when the venue opens each day. Roaring Fork Valley locals can claim 50 percent discounted single or multi-day general admission tickets, and GA + SuperPipe tickets at xgamesaspen.frontgatetickets.com with the promo code XGA25RFV. There are a limited number of discounted tickets available.
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CMU TEAM WINS $5 MILLION WORLD COMPETITION IN RAINFOREST SCIENCE
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Tom Walla is a biology professor at Colorado Mesa University and several years ago he assembled a team to enter an international competition designed to develop better ways to assess biodiversity in rainforests. The competition, XPRIZE Rainforest was launched in 2019, and Walla’s 52-member team had many setbacks when they started. However, the CMU-led team, Team Limelight Rainforest, qualified for the semifinal’s competition in Singapore in 2023. The finals were held in the Brazilian Amazon and Limelight was one of the six finalists to travel to Brazil, along with picking up $330,000.
At the finals in the Amazon, each team had 24 hours to deploy their technologies to remotely survey a 247-acre rainforest plot without entering the test area and then had 48 hours to analyze the test results and produce a biodiversity report. XPRIZE officials said, “During Finals testing, Limelight identified over 250 different species and 700 unique taxa across both the animal and plant kingdoms from observations recorded during their 24-hour deployment, the highest amount of biodiversity observed by Finalist teams.” That secured the first prize for Team Limelight Rainforest. The CMU-led team bested about 300 other teams from 70 countries to win the XPRIZE Rainforest competition and the $5 million top prize.
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DILLON AMPHITHEATER HAS STRONG SUMMER
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The town of Dillon events and recreation director Jessie Klehfoth gave a presentation on the Dillon Amphitheater to the Dillon Town Council last week, and outlined what an outstanding summer season it was, with the town’s venue hosting more live music events than ever before.
In the summer of 2024, the Dillon Amphitheater hosted 44 live music events, up from 26 in the 2023 summer. Of those 44 shows, 28 were paid events, up from 21 paid shows in 2023 and 17 in 2022. This year, the venue also hosted the Lake Dillon Beer Festival, two free movie nights, 11 country dancing classes, 10 yoga evenings and a Teton Gravity Research movie night. The Dillon Amphitheater sold more than 88,000 live music tickets this year, generating about $6.4 million in gross revenues, up from the 69,000 tickets that it sold last year, generating about $4.5 million.
The venue hosted over 115,000 concert attendees, an increase from the 95,000 attendees that visited in 2023 and the 76,000 people that attended shows in 2022. That is a 22 percent increase in live music attendance from 2023 to 2024 and a 51 percent increase over two years. The amphitheater generated a net profit of more than $400,000, which is the most it has in the five years since its construction. The average paid performance in Dillon this year netted $58,555 in income after accounting for expenses, or about $1.6 million throughout the year. Last year, the average paid performance generated about $55,000 in income after expenses or about $1.2 million, while in 2022 the average paid performance generated about $44,000 in income with a yearly total of about $750,000.
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FOR SOMETHING TO DO FOR YOU AND VISITORS: ENJOY A HOTEL AMENITY PACKAGE
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An online marketplace, called ResortPass, allows hotels and resorts to lay out their day-pass offerings so that locals (and travelers staying elsewhere) can enjoy pools, hot tubs, spas and other amenities during certain hours instead of booking a room for the night. To use it, search for the city you’re interested in and add the date to see available options. Here are the options for Denver:
- The Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, 6700 N. Gaylord Rockies Blvd. in Aurora, has three options: a day pass, a spa and pool day pass, and a cabana pass. The day pass, $55, includes access to the steam room, fireside lounge and fitness center; a $100 spa and pool pass adds access to the outdoor pool, lazy river and waterslide; and a $400 cabana pass for up to six people has full waterpark access with a dedicated server for any food and drink orders. The Gaylord has holiday activities as well.
- The Ritz-Carlton, 1881 Curtis St. in Denver, has a $75 spa pass giving you access to a steam room, fitness center and hot tub, as well as 15 percent off on any food and beverage purchases. Of course, you can add on any spa treatments too.
- Knowing the variability of winter weather, if you find yourself stuck at Denver International Airport, go to the Westin Denver International Airport which has $25 adult and $15 child day passes. They include access to the indoor pool and hot tub, fitness center and complimentary Wi-Fi. There is also a $230 day pass for up to four people to share a room between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. for those who need a comfortable snooze between flights. •
- Check out spa passes at the Catbird Hotel in the RINO Art District; the Exhale Spa at the Hyatt at Beaver Creek; The Westin River Resort and Spa in Vail; and the W Aspen, at resortpass.com.
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RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION GIVES OUT ITS 2024 HOSPYS
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The Colorado Restaurant Association gave out its annual food hospitality awards at a gala ceremony at the Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Performing Arts Complex on Nov. 6. The awards, the HOSPYS, recognize hospitality workers across the state and demonstrate the scope and breadth of the state's hospitality industry. The 2024 HOSPY Award winners:
- Front-of-House Employee of the Year: Jenne Harris, Maître d’, Stone Cellar Bistro (Arvada)
- Back-of-House Employee of the Year: Ricardo Tyrell, Line Cook, Salt & Lime (Steamboat Springs)
- Bartender of the Year: Keith Webber, Mountain Standard (Vail)
- Manager of the Year: Angelina Allen, Assistant General Manager, 626 on Rood (Grand Junction)
- Food Truck of the Year: Pali Thai (Palisade)
- Operator of the Year: Chris Schmidt, Craftsman Brew Co., Bird Craft, and Il Mago (Edwards, Frisco)
- Newcomer Restaurant of the Year: Sắp Sửa (Denver)
- Pastry Chef/Baker of the Year: Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos, Poulette Bakeshop (Parker)
- Chef of the Year: Penelope Wong, Yuan Wonton (Denver)
- Restaurant of the Year: Annette (Aurora)
- Legacy Employee of the Year: Miranda McFarlan-Garcia, Richard Sandoval Hospitality (Denver, Snowmass)
- Community Partner of the Year: US Foods (Centennial)
- Philanthropists of the Year: Jessica and Richard Fierro, Atrevida Beer Co. (Colorado Springs)
- Richard P. Ayers Award for Distinguished Service: Catherine Cooney, Cooney Consulting and Recruiting (Denver)
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HOLIDAY SCHEDULE FOR THE DENVER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
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For complete details and tickets, go to denvercenter.org/tickets-events:
- Hamilton: Oct. 16 - Nov. 24, Buell Theatre
- Elephant and Piggie's "We Are in a Play": Oct. 18 - Dec. 22, Randy Weeks Conservatory Theatre
- MONOPOLY LIFESIZED: Travel Edition: Oct. 22 - Jan. 5, 2025, DCPA Off-Center at Broadway Park
- Gutenberg! The Musical!: Nov. 2 - May 4, 2025, Garner Galleria Theatre
- A Christmas Carol: Nov. 22 - Dec. 29, Wolf Theatre
- Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical: Nov. 29 - Dec. 1, Buell Theatre
- Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert: Dec. 2, Buell Theatre
- Mannheim Steamroller Christmas by Chip Davis: Dec. 6 - 8, Buell Theatre
- Funny Girl: Dec. 10 - Dec. 22, Buell Theatre
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MARKET UPDATE - 11/15/2024 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 11/14/2024)
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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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