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Colorado - Fri. 11/22/24 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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M.I.T. TO OFFER FREE TUITION TO FAMILIES EARNING LESS THAN $200,000
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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced on Wednesday that it would eliminate tuition costs next fall for all undergraduate students whose families earn less than $200,000 per year. For students whose families earn less than $100,000 per year, the university will also cover all other costs, including housing, dining, fees and an allowance for books and personal expenses. M.I.T., the private research university based in Cambridge, Mass., is ranked among the best higher education institutions in the world. Tuition for the 2024-2025 school year was roughly $62,000. The full cost, including housing and other fees, is just under $86,000 per year.
M.I.T. joins a long list of universities that have reduced their price tags for students from families of limited means. On Thursday, the University of Texas system approved a plan to wipe out tuition and associated costs for undergraduate students from families earning $100,000 or less a year beginning next fall. Families whose income is above $200,000 can still be eligible for financial aid.
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BUTTERFLY PAVILION RELEASING HUNDREDS OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIES TODAY
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The Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster will release hundreds of monarch butterflies at their large "Wings of the Tropics" conservatory today, Nov. 22, at 10 a.m. “Monarch Magic” seeks to educate visitors about the critical role monarchs play in maintaining a healthy ecosystem, which is necessary for the survival of all life on earth. The event is being hosted in collaboration with the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council. Monarch butterflies play a significant role in the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, as their arrival is believed to be the spirits of those who have passed away. The exhibition is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is included with daily admission to the Butterfly Pavilion.
Monarchs have typically graced the Rocky Mountains as part of their 3,000-mile migratory journey but have seen a major population decline for the past 20 years. East of the Rocky Mountains, their numbers have dropped between 48 to 69 percent, but west of the Rocky Mountains populations have dropped 99 percent. In Mexico last year, the population of monarchs was recorded at its second lowest value ever, falling below the threshold needed to ensure their survival in the wild. For more information, visit butterflies.org.
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STUCK AT DIA? SEASONAL LAYOVER LOUNGE HAS HOLIDAY COCKTAILS, SANTA VISITS
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Santa’s Layover Lounge is taking over the B Concourse’s Lounge 5280 Wine Bar at Denver International Airport through Jan. 6, 2025, with seasonal offerings meant to lessen the anxiety of holiday travel. The kid-friendly setup will have hand-crafted festive cocktails, holiday-inspired food, a hot chocolate bar and “surprise appearances from familiar holiday characters,” including Santa. The Lounge will donate a dollar from every purchase, up to $5,000, to the Make a Wish Foundation. That means you can drink your Polar Expresso Martini, Rumpumpum Punch, or Muletide Carol with do-gooder confidence.
The airport has in recent years deployed roaming, Dickens-style carolers and live piano-playing in the center of the Great Hall. It has also seen success with other creative promotions, such as a talking gargoyle statue — playing off of DIA’s renowned public art collection, specifically the “Notre Denver” sculptures — a sport-trivia night where Peyton Manning made a surprise pop-in, and goat yoga.
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BUDGET AIRLINE TO ADD ROUTES AT DIA, FLY TO COLORADO SPRINGS
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Budget airline Allegiant Travel Co. will add Colorado Springs Airport to its network next year as part of a major route expansion. The Las Vegas-based carrier announced 44 new nonstop routes across the nation, including three routes serving Colorado Springs and two new routes to Denver International Airport. Beginning next February, Allegiant will add flights between Colorado Springs and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, John Wayne Airport in Orange County and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport in Florida. From DIA, Allegiant will fly to Idaho Falls, Idaho and Stockton, California beginning in May. In all, the added flights expand the airline's network in 51 cities. The airline will add Gulf Shores International Airport in Alabama and Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina to its growing network. Allegiant has about 0.2 percent of the market share of flights out of DIA.
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DOUGLAS & ARAPAHOE COUNTIES OPEN LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY FOR HOMELESS FAMILIES
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Douglas and Arapahoe county officials celebrated the opening of an upgraded residential facility focused on helping homeless families. The facility's mission includes serving families that entered through Douglas County’s homeless program. The long-term care facility is operated by Colorado nonprofit The Family Tree, an agency focused on working with domestic abuse, child abuse and family-related homeless cases. It's located in Aurora. The new residential care center for homeless families is called the GOALS facility, which stands for "Generational Opportunities to Achieve Long-Term Success." The care program can last between four to nine months. Although The Family Tree's existing program normally sees individuals exit to independent/permanent housing within six months. GOALS programs include early childhood education, adult education, employment training, finance and parenting classes, substance abuse peer groups and other wraparound services.
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NUGGETS, AVS OWNER INKS PARTNERSHIP WITH NYC-BASED TEAM STORE PARTNER
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Denver-based Kroenke Sports & Entertainment has reached a five-year partnership with Legends, a company that offers merchandising, retail and stadium operations for sports and entertainment companies. The partnership is meant to create a “best-in-class online shopping experience” at AltitudeAuthentics.com for fans of the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, the Colorado Mammoth, the Colorado Rapids and on-site teams at KSE-owned venues Ball Arena and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Legends gains exclusive right to manage, operate, sell and distribute all Nuggets, Avs, Mammoth and Rapids merchandise and will run the official team store, which will still be named Altitude Authentics. Legends already manages and operates food and beverage sales for Ball Arena, Paramount Theatre and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. It has handled that business since 2019. Legends was founded by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
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PITKIN COUNTY APPROVES AIRPORT LAYOUT PLAN, 30-YEAR FIXED-BASE OPERATOR LEASE
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Pitkin County commissioners approved the Aspen-Pitkin Airport Layout Plan, 30-year fixed-base operator lease, and 2025 rates and charges Wednesday. Commissioners approved the airport’s 2025 rates and charges, which will bring the county $7.2 million in revenue, in a 4-1 vote. The Airport Layout Plan, returned from the Federal Aviation Administration in October with no material changes, also received unanimous support from the commissioners. It will now be sent to the secretary of the FAA. After the secretary signs the new ALP, it will officially be approved for the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport. Another unanimous vote approved the 30-year fixed-base operator lease with Atlantic Aviation at the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport. Atlantic Aviation has already given financial commitments of $136.5 million in one-time capital investments and contributions, as well as an estimated $879 million in total estimated payments of rents, fees, and charges over the course of the lease.
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DURANGO CITY COUNCIL APPROVES SALE OF PARKING LOT
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Durango City Council approved the sale of a city-owned parking lot on west College Drive purchased from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in 2002 for $2.5 million. The city leased the parking lot back to the railroad for about $100,000 per year. Now, the city is ready to sell the parking lot back, and the railroad is primed to purchase it. Councilor Gilda Yazzie said the catastrophic 2002 Missionary Ridge Fire hurt Durango businesses, including the railroad, which approached the city for a bailout. “As a good neighbor, we did,” she said. “And now … we’re at the point where we can get this property back to the railroad and finish up our good neighbor deal.”
Yazzie acknowledged sentiments that the city could make more money if it pursued a public bidding process but said that would be complicated by the fact the railroad still owns the access point to the parking lot, and anyway, the original plan was to sell the property back to the railroad. She added the sale revenue would bolster the Durango Transportation Dept., which faces a budget deficit come 2026. The city agreed to sell the property back to the railroad for $4,375,000.
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COMMUNITY DINNER TO FEED MORE THAN 700 PEOPLE THIS THANKSGIVING
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The United Way of the Yampa Valley’s community Thanksgiving dinner takes place from 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 28 at the Steamboat Springs Community Center. The dinner is open to everyone in Routt and Moffat counties. The event has plenty of volunteers to prepare and serve the food for this year’s dinner but is still looking for folks willing to donate mashed potatoes, mixed greens, salad dressing and sweet potatoes. Interested individuals can visit unitedwayoftheyampavalley.org. Organizers, expecting to see more people this year, are set up to serve 750 people. Jennifer Bruen, interim executive director of United Way of the Yampa Valley, sees the community dinner as a place for the community to come together and celebrate the holiday season in Steamboat Springs. Bruen noted that all people need “love and comfort, especially on the holidays.”
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THANKSGIVING DINNER COSTS ARE DOWN AGAIN
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Americans stocking up for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner will see a dip in their grocery bills for the second year in a row. The 39th annual American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Thanksgiving dinner survey finds that the classic feast for 10 will run you $58.08, down 5 percent from last year. However, this is still 19 percent higher than five years ago. Thanksgiving staples are not the only things that vary as you move across the United States. For those celebrating in the West, your grocery bill will be at least 14 percent steeper than the rest of the country: $67.05 for a party of 10.
Thanksgiving Dinner Cost by Region 2024
- West, $67.05
- Midwest, $58.90
- Northeast, $57.36
- South, $56.81
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COLORADO HITS THE TOP 10 IN THE COUNTRY'S $1.2 TRILLION OUTDOOR REC ECONOMY
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Colorado leads the country’s ski economy, with winter sports contributing $1.6 billion, more than two times more than the next busiest ski state, California. Colorado finished in the top 10 states for economic activity around outdoor recreation. The fastest growing recreational activities in the U.S. in 2023 were biking, which increased by nearly 27 percent and snowsports, which grew by 25 percent. The largest contributors to the national recreation economy in 2023 were boating and fishing, which delivered a $36.8 billion impact. The country’s surging outdoor recreation economy reached $1.2 trillion in economic output in 2023, up from $1.1 trillion in 2022, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Since 2012, the outdoor recreation economy has grown by 36 percent. The seventh annual report from the federal government shows:
- The outdoor recreation economy is bigger than agriculture, extractive industries and utilities, accounting for 2.3 percent of the nation’s total economic activity.
- Recreation accounts for 5 million jobs, or 3.1 percent of all U.S. workers.
- The 3.6 percent annual increase in the outdoor recreation economy in 2023 surpassed the 2.9 percent overall growth in the U.S. economy.
- Outdoor recreation jobs in Colorado increased 4.4 percent to 132,594 jobs in 2023, with those workers earning $8.6 billion, averaging nearly $65,000 a year per outdoor recreation job.
- Of those 132,594 jobs, the BEA counted 37,000 in retail shops, 31,000 in arts, entertainment and recreation businesses, 30,000 in lodging and food service and 4,200 in manufacturing.
- Outdoor recreation contributed $17.2 billion to the Colorado economy, accounting for 3.2 percent of the state’s economic activity.
- In 2022, outdoor recreation in Colorado generated $13.9 billion in spending, which supported nearly 130,000 workers who earned $6.9 billion.
- In 2021, outdoor recreation in Colorado generated $11.6 billion in spending, which supported 125,244 workers who earned $6.1 billion.
- In 2020, outdoor recreation in Colorado generated $9.6 billion in spending, which supported 120,000 workers who earned $5.7 billion.
- In 2019, outdoor recreation in Colorado generated $12.2 billion in spending, which supported 149,140 workers who earned $6.47 billion.
- In 2018, outdoor recreation in Colorado generated $11.3 billion in spending, which supported 146,178 workers who earned $6 billion.
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MARKET UPDATE - 11/21/2024 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 11/21/2024)
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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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