|
Colorado - Tue. 12/24/24 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
|
|
View in Browser
|
|
|
| |
NOTICE OF HOLIDAY CLOSURES FROM ALPINE BANK
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
All Alpine Bank branches will be closed at 3 p.m. today, Dec. 24 and all-day Wednesday, Dec. 25 as well as Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. We invite you to use Alpine Online or the Alpine Mobile app for 24/7 banking access, even when we are closed. Learn more at the link below. Have a safe and happy holiday!
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
NORDSTROM FAMILY REACHES $4 BILLION DEAL TO TAKE RETAILER PRIVATE
|
| |
|
|
| |
The founding family of Nordstrom clinched a $4 billion deal to take the struggling department-store chain private. Pete and Jamie Nordstrom, along with other members of the family, are being joined by Mexican retailer El Puerto de Liverpool to acquire all of Nordstrom’s outstanding stock at $24.25 apiece in cash. The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year, subject to approval from regulators and two-thirds of Nordstrom’s shareholders. Including debt, the companies said the deal had an enterprise value of $6.25 billion.
Nordstrom shares slipped 1.1 percent to $24.25 shortly after the opening bell on Monday. The stock had gained 33 percent year to date when the market closed last week at $24.70, giving the company a market value of a little over $4 billion. The Nordstrom family, including Chief Executive Erik Nordstrom and President Pete Nordstrom, controls about a third of the company’s shares. The family is expected to have a majority ownership stake in the department-store chain after the deal closes.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
POETS ROW APARTMENTS IN DENVER'S CAPITOL HILL ACQUIRED FOR $37.5M
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
An iconic apartment complex in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Denver is now under new ownership. Poets Row, along Sherman Street between 10th and 11th avenues, was acquired for $37.5 million by two LLCs associated with California-based Cohen Rojas Capital Partners. The property, made up of seven contiguous multifamily buildings, includes six historic apartment buildings, each named after famous poets including Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott and Robert Frost. The sale also included Lincoln Heights, a building on the northeast corner of 10th Avenue and Lincoln Street. The majority of the buildings were developed in the 1930s. They total 217 apartments and highlight art deco and art moderne designs. Denver-based RedPeak sold the property for 22 percent less than it spent buying it, having purchased Poet's Row for $48.5 million in 2019.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
ASPEN COLLECTS $85.5 MILLION IN TAXES THROUGH NOVEMBER
|
| |
|
|
| |
The city of Aspen collected $85.5 million in tax payments through November of this year, pacing 8 percent ahead of the $79.1 million it received through the first 11 months of 2023, based on a monthly tax report the city issued last week. Those figures represent the overall amount of collections the city drew from taxes placed on retail sales, lodging, short-term rentals, real estate transfers, properties, tobacco and building and construction materials. Additionally, the amounts reflect the city’s share of Pitkin County’s 2 percent sales tax.
Aspen’s 2.4 percent sales tax accounted for $25.5 million in collections, making it the top-producing tax-revenue source for the city through November. Those figures do not include November sales. One of the slower months of the year for business, October held its own against the same month from 2023, generating $61.5 million in taxable sales through Aspen’s retail economy. That amount paced 6 percent ahead of the $57.9 million produced in October 2023.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
COLORADO SEES RECORD-HIGH ENROLLMENT IN HEALTH INSURANCE FOR 2025
|
| |
|
|
| |
Colorado saw a record number of individuals enrolling in health insurance for 2025 through its marketplace. Connect for Health Colorado reported that over 256,000 individuals enrolled in coverage that starts on Jan. 1, a 21 percent increase from the same period last year and nearly 19,000 more than enrolled for coverage for the entire 2024 plan year. This increase was also seen in Colorado’s Western Slope counties where the rate of uninsured individuals has historically been the highest in the state. As of Dec. 18, open enrollment for individuals in Eagle, Garfield, Pitkin, Routt and Summit counties had already surpassed enrollment for the entire period in 2024.
While open enrollment has closed for coverage that starts Jan. 1, individuals and small employers looking to purchase health insurance have until Jan. 15 to receive coverage by Feb. 15. Six health insurance providers — Anthem, Cigna, Denver Health, Kaiser Permanente, Rocky Mountain Health Plans and Select Health — are offering individual and small-employer health insurance plans through Connect for Health Colorado in 2025.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
KSUT TO PAUSE FOUR CORNERS FOLK FESTIVAL IN 2025
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
KSUT Public Radio Executive Director Tami Graham announced Friday that the station will pause the annual Four Corners Folk Festival in 2025, citing a series of factors that have sprung up since the radio station acquired the festival and Pagosa Folk ‘N Bluegrass Festival from FolkWest in October 2019. Graham and the rest of KSUT are looking into solutions to “recover from the significant revenue losses as a result of producing the festivals,” a press release said. “KSUT plans to announce ways festival attendees and other donors can contribute to the station’s general operations. Once the station’s general ledger is back in the black, fundraising activities for the Four Corners Folk Festival will commence.” For more information, contact KSUT Festival Director Jill Davis at festivaldirector@ksut.org or 970-563-5788 or Executive Director Tami Graham at tami@ksut.org or 970-563-5780.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
WINTER PARK RESORT REOPENS GONDOLA THAT MALFUNCTIONED
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Winter Park Resort’s communications team has confirmed the gondola is back up and running two days after a malfunction occurred Saturday, Dec. 21. While the incident that stranded 182 passengers is still under investigation, according to the Colorado Tramway Safety Board, the agency said resortgoers were allowed to board the gondola at 1:11 p.m. Monday, Dec. 23. The lift was closed after the lift’s system identified an issue, and the resort found a crack in a metal support on the lift. Winter Park ski patrollers evacuated people stuck on the lift via a rope system that was attached to each cabin. The incident didn’t result in any injuries. The president of Winter Park Resort and lift mechanics were among the first to ride the lift before it reopened for guests. Agencies that assisted in the incident included the lift manufacturer, Leitner-Poma, and the U.S. Forest Service.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
DID YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW GET MARRIED IN 2024?
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
The IRS has provided a checklist to help newlyweds avoid mistakes that could cost them at tax time. How you file depends on your marital status on Dec. 31. The married-filing-jointly status is typically the most beneficial for married couples. Still, taking a what-if look at filing separately is a good idea. Did your name change? To avoid delays, report changes to the Social Security Administration. And if you have a new address, inform the IRS and the U.S. Postal Service. Also, within 10 days of getting married, provide your employers with new Forms W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Certificate). For more details: https://bit.ly/3ZIvS06
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
A WHITE CHRISTMAS FOR COLORADO'S MOUNTAINS?
|
| |
|
|
| |
Colorado’s Rocky Mountains continue to slog through an extended dry period, with only a smattering of light snowfall keeping mountain areas refreshed in recent weeks. Chances for more snow could increase heading into the final days of December, including Christmas Day. Following dry and sunny conditions on Christmas Eve, Wednesday morning is expected to be mostly cloudy with light snow developing later in the day. The storm is anticipated to hit most mountain areas, bringing around 2-5 inches of accumulation that day. Multiple waves of snow could return this weekend, with a first round delivering a few inches Thursday night in the northern mountains, with some accumulation possible also in central mountain areas. A second wave is possible on Friday night, bringing between 3-8 inches, with northern mountain areas favored to receive the highest amounts.
Here’s what OpenSnow is predicting for snow totals at major ski areas through Friday:
- Steamboat Ski Resort: 12 inches
- Aspen Snowmass: 8 inches
- Vail Mountain: 7 inches
- Beaver Creek Resort: 7 inches
- Winter Park Resort: 7 inches
- Arapahoe Basin Ski Area: 6 inches
- Loveland Ski Area: 6 inches
- Breckenridge Ski Resort: 5 inches
- Keystone Resort: 5 inches
- Copper Mountain Resort: 5 inches
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
CEO OF THE YEAR: ELIA WALLEN
|
| |
|
|
| |
Elia Wallen has been named the 2024 ColoradoBiz CEO of the Year. Wallen, 41, dropped out of college after a semester and went into real estate in Florida in the early 2000s. He saw an opportunity in corporate housing and launched Travelers Haven in 2008. Wallen moved the business to Denver and ultimately grew it into the third-largest corporate housing company in the country before its acquisition in 2023.
He launched Engine (then branded Hotel Engine) in 2015 as “an internal booking tool” for Travelers Haven customers. He spun Engine off as a separate company in 2018. After closing on a Series A funding round of $16 million a year later, Wallen moved to Engine full-time in early 2020 when it was about 60 employees. In 2021, the company closed on a Series B round of $65 million for a $1.3 billion valuation, followed by a $140 million Series C in 2024 that upped the valuation to $2.1 billion. Engine now employs 700 people, 300 of them based at the company’s Denver headquarters, and Wallen expects both numbers to continue to grow.
Finalists included:
- Phil Washington, CEO, Denver International Airport, Denver, flydenver.com
- Walter Isenberg, CEO, Sage Hospitality, sagehospitalitygroup.com
- Dan Holt, co-founder and CEO, BillGO, Fort Collins, billgo.com
- Shawn Thomson, CEO, RMC, Basalt, rmcdmc.com
- Cory Kwarta, CEO, Swisslog Healthcare Translogic Division, Broomfield, swisslog-healthcare.com
- Dr. Amanda Kelly, CEO, Firefly Autism, Lakewood, fireflyautism.org
- Mark Frank, co-founder and CEO, SonderMind, Denver, sondermind.com
- Bob Chastain, president and CEO, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs, cmzoo.org
- Marco Antonio Abarca, CEO, Ready Foods, Denver, readyfoods.biz
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
CRUISE LINE OFFERING UNLIMITED PASS FOR $120,000
|
| |
|
|
| |
The demand for cruises continues to rise, and Virgin Voyages has found a unique way to get travelers to choose them. In December, the adults-only cruise line launched an unlimited cruise pass for 2025 sailings with a base fare of $120,000. With this pass, travelers can hop onto any ship, at any time, from anywhere — for an entire calendar year. The pass can be purchased for a start date of Jan. 1, Feb. 1, March 1, or April 1 and is valid for one full year after that date. Passholders must still pay taxes and fees for the cruises they book. Virgin Voyages also announced that the annual pass may be purchased using bitcoin.
- Travelers can board any of the three Virgin ships currently sailing and the fourth ship, Brilliant Lady, which will launch in September 2025.
- The annual pass allows holders to book a Sea Terrace Cabin with a balcony and iconic red hammock.
- Other perks include complimentary laundry, a $100 bar tab credit per voyage, unlimited premium Wi-Fi, priority boarding, and exclusive events and experiences onboard.
- As a bonus, annual pass holders are welcome to add a plus one to their cabin and can swap that person out throughout the year.
The pass will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Travelers must be 21 and book the pass by inquiring via Virgin’s “Contact Us” page by March 31, 2025. Travel advisors who sell the annual pass will earn a commission of $10,000. In addition to the annual pass, Virgin Voyages offers an unlimited seasonal pass. This pass allows travelers to take cruises for 24 to 40 nights, starting at $14,999 for two travelers.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
COMPANIES WHERE WORKERS ARE HAPPY WITH THEIR PAY?
|
| |
|
|
| |
Paycom, an HR and payroll tech company based in Oklahoma City, was named the No. 1 company for best compensation, according to the latest analysis from employee review site Comparably. The Comparably ranking considers 20 million anonymous employee reviews from the last year and recognizes top employers based on workers’ evaluations of their total compensation package, including how happy they are with their salary, raises, bonuses, benefits, stock and equity. Here are the top 10 companies where workers are happiest with their pay and benefits, headquarters and business:
- Paycom; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; HR and payroll technology company
- Boston Consulting Group; Boston, Massachusetts; Consulting firm
- Adobe; San Jose, California; Software company
- Waste Connections; Spring, Texas; Provides waste collection and disposal services
- Salesforce; San Francisco, California; Cloud-based software company that provides customer relationship management services
- Workday; Pleasanton, California; Provides cloud-based enterprise applications for finance and HR management
- Elastic; San Francisco, California; Platform for search-powered solutions
- Calix; San Jose, California; Software provider
- Squarespace; New York, New York; Website-building and ecommerce platform
- Hubspot; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Customer platform to support businesses in sales, marketing and customer service
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
MARKET UPDATE - 12/23/2024 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 12/19/2024)
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
*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. |
| © 2025 Alpine Bank. |
| |
|
|
