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Colorado - Fri. 01/24/25 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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GOV. POLIS AWARDS 5 COLORADO LEADERS WITH GOVERNOR'S CITIZENSHIP MEDALS
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Gov. Jared Polis and nonprofit CiviCO honored recipients of the Colorado Governor's Citizenship Medals at a ceremony Thursday. The medals have gone to various leaders, organizations, nonprofits and businesses working to improve the state since 2015. This year, medals will go to five leaders from a variety of fields, including aerospace, education, healthcare and community advocacy. The winners:
- The Vanguard Legacy Medal - Ed Dwight: Dwight is a "trailblazer in art and aerospace." He was invited by President Kennedy in 1961 to become the first African American astronaut and missed selection but later became a sculptor whose work celebrates Black history. He is the creator of the Martin Luther King Jr. monument in Civic Center Park and, last year, took a space flight with Blue Origin at the age of 90.
- The Emerging Community Leader Medal - Rayan Elhanan: Elhanan, a recent graduate of DSST Montview in her first year at Stanford University, founded the Healing Hands Collective at her school, was selected for the Medical Career Collaborative during her sophomore year of high school, and has a vision to contribute to the reconstruction of Sudan's healthcare system and enhance diversity in American medicine.
- Growth and Innovation Medal - Vinay Nair: Nair, the founder of technology and finance platform TIFIN, has helped create innovative approaches to wealth management using AI and machine learning to change how people interact with finance services.
- Public and Community Service Medal - Katy Anthes: Anthes, Colorado's commissioner of education from 2016 to 2023, led the state's K-12 system through "significant reforms" and the COVID-19 pandemic. Now she focuses on bridging partisan divides in education with the Public Education and Business Coalition.
- Corporate Citizenship Medal - Tory Bruno and United Launch Alliance: United Launch Alliance, led by President and CEO Tory Bruno, drives technological advancements in aerospace while investing in community engagement and education.
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NEW COLORADO WOLF MAP SHOWS EXPANDING TERRITORY
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One of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves wandered farther southeast over the last month, exploring territory not yet traveled by any of the state’s collared wolves. A female traveled in watersheds in Chaffee, Park and Fremont counties in January, according to a monthly tracking map released Wednesday by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The new watersheds it traveled span a large swath of mountains, hills and high prairie stretching from Leadville to Salida, Fairplay and Cañon City. The map shows where the state’s now 29 wolves traveled between Dec. 22 and Jan. 21.
The map is the first to include the movements of the 15 wolves captured in Canada and released in Colorado earlier this month. Those wolves were released in Pitkin and Eagle counties and the map shows wolves traveled in areas west of Aspen as well as north of Eagle. Outside of the female wolf roaming south of Leadville and the wolves west of Aspen, all other wolves remained concentrated in Summit, Grand, Jackson, Routt and Garfield counties.
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HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO SEE FOUR PLANETS AT ONCE
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A celestial event on Saturday evening should be a cool show if the sky is clear. An hour after sunset, Venus and Saturn will be visible in the southwest, with Mars and Jupiter in the east. All four will be visible to the naked eye. Venus and Saturn will be seen low in the southwestern sky with Saturn below Venus. Venus passed Saturn last week. Two other planets will fall along that arc. Uranus should be visible with binoculars. Neptune will be on that arc, but probably too faint to see. The next celestial event of note will be a total lunar eclipse, visible in Denver the night of March 13-14. Track interesting celestial events for amateur sky gazers online at whenthecurveslineup.com.
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NEW DENVER COMMUNITY CENTER, COFFEE SHOP, DONATION-BASED GROCERY STORE
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A new community center intended to be a hub for southwest Denver is set to bring food stalls, a coffee shop and sweeping mountain views to the Loretto Heights campus by 2026 — with help from a recent $20 million federal grant. Loretto Heights, a former college campus known for its sandstone clocktower, is under a major redevelopment after Westside Investment Partners purchased the campus for $15.8 million in 2018. The new community center, which will be operated by a nonprofit group called Commún, will also offer a wide swath of services, including a donation-based grocery store, a childcare center, and a community market.
While the Loretto Heights Community Center will provide some services for lower-income residents, it’s intended to be a space for anyone in the community to connect with their neighbors. The $20 million grant was awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency in a climate-focused program. It will only partially fund the remodeling of the 1950s-era building known as Machebeuf Hall — a 45,000 square feet structure that formerly operated as a cafeteria. The full project’s budget is $41 million, with other funding coming from the Colorado Trust, the Gates Foundation, the Sisters of Loretto, and some government tax credits.
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SHORT-TERM RENTALS IN PITKIN TRENDING DOWN, LICENSING CHANGES PROPOSED
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Short-term rental licensing fees and other program parameters may relax in unincorporated Pitkin County as a result of downward trending prevalence. Proposed changes to the county’s STR licensing program include reducing fees and a closer look at code compliance. The number of STR licenses issued by the county declined from 93 in 2022 to 73 in 2023, and 74 in 2024. The program has three tiers of licenses. The seasonal STR license allows 61-120 rented nights, the limited license is for 21-60 nights, and otherwise limited is for 20 nights or less.
Currently, the fee associated with the license is calculated by multiplying the 2022 total actual value of the property by 0.07 percent, 0.06 percent and 0.05 percent for the seasonal, limited and otherwise limited licenses, respectively. Staff proposed reducing that fee multiplier by 0.01 percent and using a combination of actual property and improvement value, which includes the monetary value of all structures and additions built on a piece of land, like buildings, fences or landscaping. Staff also proposed a 50 percent reduction for applicants who live in their unit and rent out some of the rooms.
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COUNCIL APPROVES SNOWMASS CENTER REDEVELOPMENT
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Snowmass solidified their plan to purchase land for workforce housing Tuesday. Town Council unanimously approved a Snowmass Center redevelopment design, presented by owners Eastwood Snowmass Investors. The approval enables the town to purchase over three acres of land behind the center for $12.5 million to use for up to 130 units of workforce housing. The design increases the total footprint of the center by 24 percent, expands Clark’s Market, and doubles the size of the post office. But the approval comes with conditions by council to ensure public usage, safe traffic patterns, and attempts to facilitate the longevity of existing businesses in the space. The current food and beverage tenants may extend their lease with Snowmass Eastwood Investors as the building is redeveloped. Clark’s can extend their agreement until 2054, Taster’s and the Daly Diner can extend until 2041, and Sundance can extend until 2044.
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SILVERTON STANDARD, OLDEST PAPER IN WESTERN COLORADO, UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP
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The Silverton Standard and The Miner has been sold. DeAnne Gallegos, a third-generation Silvertonian, purchased the weekly periodical for an undisclosed sum from Jennifer Brill in a deal finalized Saturday. The transfer begins another chapter in the paper’s storied history, which began in 1875 when the La Plata Miner was founded. The Silverton Standard began publishing in 1889, and the two papers merged into The Silverton Standard and The Miner in 1922. In 2011, the paper was named a historic site in journalism by the Society of Professional Journalists. It is the oldest continuously published paper on the Western Slope. The Standard has five employees, including its new owner and publisher, and a newly acquired office on Greene Street. Like many in the town of 700, Gallegos wears multiple hats. In addition to writing for the Standard, she is the executive director of the Silverton Area Chamber of Commerce and the spokesperson for San Juan County.
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FLOODING SHUTTERS BAYFIELD TOWN HALL
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A burst pipe in Bayfield Town Hall on Tuesday flooded the upper floor of the building where several conference rooms and offices are located. The building is closed until further notice. The La Plata County Clerk and Recorder’s office on the main floor of the building, which is typically open Tuesdays and Thursdays, is closed until further notice. A leak in the fire suppression system caused somewhere between 1 and 2 inches of water to accumulate on the second story of the building. Contractors were already on site beginning to clean up the mess, although the extent of the damage was unknown Tuesday afternoon. The second story of Town Hall contains the town manager’s office, the community development department and several conference rooms. In a separate incident, a fire suppression system at Lumien Apartments, an affordable housing complex in Durango, also sprung a leak Tuesday. Details were not immediately available as to the cause or extent of the damage.
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MIKAELA SHIFFRIN ANNOUNCES RETURN TO WORLD CUP SKI RACING
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The Vail Valley’s favorite hometown hero is back on the World Cup circuit. Mikaela Shiffrin announced her return to competitive skiing Thursday on her social media page and during a morning segment on “Today.” The 99-time World Cup winner will compete in the night slalom in Courchevel, France, on Jan. 30. Shiffrin decided to return on Monday after running giant slalom gates for the first time since the injury.
The Edwards skier has been inactive in 2025 due to an injury she suffered on Nov. 30, 2024, during her second giant slalom run in Killington, Vt. The 29-year-old had a 0.32 first-run lead and was on her way to her 100th World Cup win when she slipped onto her inside hip and crashed into a gate. She suffered what she described as “a seven-centimeter-deep puncture wound, or stab wound in my obliques.” The puncture required surgery in mid-December after the racer reported chills, fever and “weird symptoms.” Shiffrin plans to focus on the slalom and giant slalom for the World Championships, which are Feb. 4-16 in Saalbach, Austria.
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FISH CREEK WATER TREATMENT PLANT BACK IN ACTION
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The water is flowing freely again after completion of the latest round of improvements to the Fish Creek Treatment Plant, which returned to service in mid-December. Additionally, the Yampa Wells water facility is on track to complete enhancements Jan. 31 and return to full operation before the start of the summer irrigation season. The Fish Creek Treatment Plant was shut down for three months, Sept. 16 to Dec. 16, as part of Phase 2B of the water-improvement effort. The project consisted of implementing new chemical feed systems and water quality monitoring equipment at both locations to comply with Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment’s approved optimal corrosion control treatment (OCCT).
The Yampa Wells were called upon for a second time within the same year to act as the sole water source for potable water needs for the city and district during the Fish Creek project. The Yampa Wells performed efficiently and further bolstered confidence in utilizing them for an extended period of time during an emergency situation.
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XCEL ENERGY UNVEILS PROJECT TO CUT GAS USE & EMISSIONS IN TARGETED MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES
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Earlier this month, Xcel Energy Colorado proposed the Mountain Energy Project, a first-of-its-kind initiative to reduce natural gas use and emissions while ensuring affordable energy for customers in Grand, Lake, Eagle, and Summit counties. The estimated $155 million project, Xcel’s largest non-pipeline alternative portfolio to date, focuses on alternatives like energy efficiency, conservation, and beneficial electrification programs, paired with modular liquid and compressed natural gas equipment, to back up projects during times of increased demand. The project is said to reduce natural gas use and emissions for customers served by its Eastern Mountain Gas System.
The company said it selected the lowest cost portfolio option among the ones evaluated for the project, which will allow the company to address customers’ natural gas needs while keeping their bills lower than the national average. Along with helping to meet the state of Colorado’s clean energy goals, the project supports Xcel Energy’s vision of delivering net-zero natural gas service by 2050. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission will review the proposal, with a decision expected by the end of 2025.
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IN 2024, DIA HIT 80 MILLION PASSENGERS FOR FIRST TIME
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Denver International Airport announced Wednesday it had another record year, counting more than 80 million passengers for the first time within a full year. Denver recorded 82 million passengers in 2024, according to DIA, up from 2023’s record by nearly 6 percent. In 2024, 11 months set new records. All 12 months set records in international travel as the airport expanded with new nonstop routes such as Dublin and Istanbul. DIA also had its busiest single day ever in 2024 on July 7, when the airport had more than 90,000 passengers go through its checkpoints. The airport was originally built to accommodate 50 million passengers and DIA officials have invested in upgrading its infrastructure to be able to sustain 100 million passengers a year as early as 2027.
- DIA is one of the largest economic institutions in the state and generates about $36 billion annually.
- The airport has been steadily growing in the last five years. The overall growth since 2019 is up nearly 20 percent.
- The airport is seeing about 13.3 million more passengers in a year than it did before the pandemic.
- DIA is the third-busiest airport in the U.S. and the sixth busiest in the world, according to Airports Council International.
- Denver’s largest carriers are United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Frontier, according to DIA. United and Southwest both had record Denver passengers in 2024. United accounted for nearly half of Denver’s market share, capturing 47 percent of passengers. Southwest had 31 percent and Frontier made up 10 percent.
- International travel surged the most for Denver in 2024. The number of passengers travelling internationally grew 15 percent year-over-year, hitting 4.6 million travelers. It’s up more than 46 percent from pre-pandemic travel in 2019. Domestic travel, on the other hand, grew 18 percent within the same time frame.
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THE BEST & WORST AIRLINES OF 2024
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There’s been enough drama in the past year to knock U.S. airlines off their game. An Alaska Airlines blowout grounded dozens of planes. There was a failed JetBlue-Spirit merger and Spirit’s bankruptcy. A summer tech outage crippled Delta. Southwest Airlines faced investor pressure and said it’s switching to assigned seating. All the planes remained packed and air traffic congested.
The good news for fliers: Carriers held it together relatively well. They lost fewer bags. More than three of four flights arrived on time, on par with 2023. Cancellations were flat. Bumping and tarmac delays were weak spots. And the best airline is…Delta took the crown again in The Wall Street Journal’s 17th airline scorecard, standing out in nearly every category. This is Delta’s fourth consecutive win and seventh in eight years.
Some findings from the 2024 scorecard:
- Delta involuntarily bumped exactly one passenger in 2024, down from three in 2023. That compares with over 13,200 passengers at American. Delta lures passengers to volunteer by offering cash or vouchers.
- JetBlue frequently finishes last in our rankings but placed sixth this year. It posted the second-best baggage-handling rate and third-lowest cancellation rate. Last year it had the worst cancellation rate. The airline says it prioritizes completing flights over on-time performance and considers itself the “most improved” in this year’s ranking.
- United had the second highest on-time arrival rate for the year. This from the airline with a major hub in chronically congested Newark, N.J. The airline says it focused on aircraft turnaround times and reducing controllable cancellations, and notes that its United Express operation had 88 days with zero cancellations, up from 75 in 2023.
- American hasn’t gotten baggage handling under control, coming in last, as it has for several years. It mishandled bags at a slightly lower rate than in 2023 but admits “there is work to be done.”
- Budget carrier Allegiant, specializing in flights from smaller cities to vacation hubs, has had the industry’s best baggage-handling rate every year since 2019.
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MARKET UPDATE - 01/23/2025 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 01/23/2025)
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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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