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Colorado - Wed. 01/29/25 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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DENVER BRONCOS PROVIDE NEW FOOTBALL HELMETS TO EVERY COLORADO H.S. PROGRAM
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Denver Broncos co-owner and CEO Greg Penner asked a question that inspired the largest charitable investment in franchise history. What would it take to provide every Colorado high school football player with a new state-of-the-art helmet? The Broncos answered with a generational gift revealed Tuesday morning - the Walton-Penner ownership group has committed nearly $12 million to a new initiative, 'ALL IN. ALL COVERED.’ that will provide every tackle football program in Colorado with Riddell Axiom smart helmets under a four-year plan starting this fall.
A total of 277 in-state schools (from 6-man to Class 5A) will receive 25 percent of their total helmets each year based on the average roster size of their team classification. They are equipped with Riddell's personalized fit using 3D imaging and sensors that report impact data. The total number of helmets donated will exceed 15,500. The Broncos will host six caravan sites through Colorado starting in February to answer questions about the new helmet rollout. They will begin distribution in May for use in the 2025 CHSAA football season. More information can be found at allinallcovered.com.
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DENVER-AREA COMPANY'S EXPERIMENTAL JET BREAKS SOUND BARRIER THREE TIMES
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An aircraft built by Centennial-based Boom Supersonic broke the sound barrier three times Tuesday morning over California’s Mojave Desert, passing a key milestone for a company developing passenger airliners to fly faster than the speed of sound. Founder and CEO Blake Scholl wants to bring back consumer plane flights at supersonic speeds, an ambitious goal that no company has achieved since the shuttering of the Anglo-French Concorde program in 2003. Tuesday’s flight of the XB-1, a plane the size of a fighter jet, was the first time an independently developed plane broke the sound barrier.
The XB-1 is also the first civilian supersonic jet made in the U.S. After XB-1 landed, Scholl announced that his company is roughly four years from putting supersonic passenger planes in the sky. Boom is about 18 months away from beginning to build the first Overture plane, the passenger model. Construction was completed on a North Carolina Overture factory last year. The company expects the facility to be able to build 66 Overture planes annually.
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BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE GENERATED $2.6 BILLION FOR LOCAL ECONOMY IN 2024
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The Buckley Space Force Base generated $2.6 billion of local economic impact in 2024, $50 million more than the impact seen last year. The base, located in eastern Aurora, celebrated the fifth anniversary of the U.S. military branch's genesis on Jan. 23 with a State of the Base Address, including the presence of 200 elected officials, civic and base leaders.
During the address, Space Base Delta 2 commander Col. Heidi Dexter announced the economic impact on the local community, noting that the number was due to a "wide range" of expenditures, including construction projects, materials, supplies, services and disbursement of salaries for the installation's workforce.
- Buckley has also created more than 20,000 job opportunities in the region.
- The base, created in 2021, employs roughly 3,100 active-duty members, some 4,000 National Guard personnel and reservists, another 2,400 civilians, and about 2,500 contractors.
- Estimates put Buckley's contribution to the local economy at $1 billion a year, with both 2023 and 2024 soaring above those numbers and increasing from the $1.38 billion impact the base reported in 2022.
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CU BOULDER OPENS STOREFRONT SELLING SURPLUS, SECONDHAND ITEMS
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Chairs, toolboxes, staplers, books, posters, art, laptops and exercise bikes are some of the items available for purchase at the University of Colorado Boulder’s new surplus store at 3300 Walnut St., Unit A in Boulder. The university opened the storefront on Monday to sell its used extra equipment to the general public. “The public can come and get a cheaper computer, cheaper chair, cheaper desk, cheaper table,” CU Boulder Property Services Program Manager Denise Worthington said. “Our number one goal is to keep stuff out of the landfill. We don’t want to throw it away if we don’t have to.”
Most of the items at the store come from different departments at CU Boulder, from English to physics to engineering. Worthington said the store also works with the Colorado School of Mines and CU Denver. The revenue from the sales is split between the department it came from and Property Services. The surplus store is open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, visit cubouldersurplus.com.
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MESA COUNTY RANCHER NAMED LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY LEADER OF THE YEAR
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Mesa County rancher Janie VanWinkle was named the 2025 U.S. Livestock Industry Leader of the Year earlier this month at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. “Of course, I’m very honored and humbled,” VanWinkle said. VanWinkle said on Facebook her family has been showing cattle at the National Western Stock Show since 1918. VanWinkle, who has been ranching in Mesa County for more than 40 years, is a past president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, the third woman to lead the organization. She has served on the board of the Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce and currently serves as President of the Grand Valley Power Board and on CMU Tech’s Agriculture advisory board. In 2019, VanWinkle and her husband Howard were named Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Landowners of the Year.
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EAGLE COUNTY BREWERY WINS AWARDS AT INAUGURAL COLORADO BREWERS CUP
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Eagle River Brewing Company in Gypsum was recognized on Jan. 24 with two awards at the Colorado Brewers Guild’s inaugural craft beer competition that showcases the exceptional quality of craft beer in Colorado. Held at the Colorado Craft Brewers Summit in Aurora, the Colorado Brewers Cup awarded beers that ranged from lagers and ales to experimental and specialty brews. The beer competition drew 650 entries from 134 craft breweries from across the state. The Colorado Brewers Cup winners were selected by a panel of 58 beer judges from six states that judged beer for 26 award categories with 78 medalists in the Colorado Brewers Cup.
In the Amber Lagers category, Eagle River Brewing Company won a gold medal for its ERB Oktoberfest and a silver medal for its Free Stone Lager. A few other ski town breweries won awards: Aspen Brewing Company and Telluride Brewing Company claimed a medal each and Hideaway Park Brewery in Winter Park earned two medals. To see a list of winners, go to ColoradoBeer.org/Brewers-Cup.
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CMC TO HOST FREE BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY SKILLS SESSION
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Colorado Mountain College’s School of Business is offering free sessions on business technology skills online and in-person at the college’s Spring Valley campus, Glenwood Center, Breckenridge and Steamboat Springs locations during the last week of January. The sessions will address data analytics and cybersecurity, how to obtain Microsoft Word and Excel certifications, and career opportunities in the technological industry. The online-only livestream session will be held today, Jan. 29, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. An in-person session will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30 at CMC’s Steamboat Springs campus at 1275 Crawford Ave. To register, visit coloradomtn.edu/critical-business-technology-skills or call Kristy Brooks-Olk at 970-625-6992.
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CLIMAX MINE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT FUND AWARDS $367,000 TO LOCAL GROUPS
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The Freeport-McMoRan Foundation has announced that it recently awarded $367,000 to local groups as part of its 2024 Climax Mine Community Investment Fund. The foundation awarded a total of $3 million between 66 projects in its 12 operating communities in the U.S., which include Colorado, Arizona, Iowa, New Mexico and Texas. Locally, the following projects in Summit County received funding:
- Keystone Science School, Inc. – Summit Day Camp; $10,000
- Smart Bellies – Summit and Lake Counties Kids Weekend Food Program; $25,000
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DEATHS IN COLORADO'S CONSTRUCTION ZONES NEARLY DOUBLE, MOTORCYCLIST DEATHS JUMP 23%
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The number of people killed in highway construction zones nearly doubled last year and motorcyclist deaths also jumped, as the overall number of people killed on Colorado’s roads decreased slightly from 2023. Out of the 684 traffic deaths in 2024, 31 people were killed in construction zones, up 94 percent from 2023, and 162 motorcyclists were killed, which was a 23 percent increase. Motorcyclist deaths accounted for nearly a quarter of Colorado’s traffic fatalities in 2024. September was the worst month for overall traffic deaths with 84 people killed.
Preliminary data also showed decreases in traffic deaths in the following categories:
- 371 passenger deaths (a 10 percent decrease from 2023)
- 210 impaired driving deaths (7 percent decrease)
- 183 unbuckled seat belt deaths (15 percent decrease)
- 120 pedestrian deaths (12 percent decrease)
- 14 bicycle deaths (30 percent decrease)
The highest number of fatalities was recorded in Adams County, where 84 people were killed (up 38 percent from 2023), followed by El Paso County with 78 deaths (unchanged from 2023), Weld County with 67 deaths (20 percent increase) and 61 in Denver (21 percent decrease.) CDOT and the state patrol said the agencies have a goal of reducing the number of traffic deaths and serious injuries by 22.5 percent by the fiscal year of 2027, compared with the same month in the fiscal year 2023.
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AMERICA'S SAFEST CITIES FOR 2025
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MoneyGeek has issued its fifth annual report on the safest cities in America, analyzing FBI crime data alongside the economic costs associated with crime, to give a comprehensive look at urban safety. MoneyGeek evaluated 292 cities with populations over 100,000, comparing factors such as violent and property crime rates. By integrating these figures with research on the societal costs of crime, the report calculated a per capita cost of crime for each city.
These are the safest cities in the U.S. with a population over 100,000:
- Ramapo Town, New York
- Frisco, Texas
- Irvine, California
- Fishers, Indiana
- Lakewood Township, New Jersey
- Cary, North Carolina
- Pembroke Pines, Florida
- Elk Grove, California
- Surprise, Arizona
- Sterling Heights, Michigan
- Port St. Lucie, Florida
- Gilbert, Arizona
- Pearland, Texas
- Scottsdale, Arizona
- Coral Springs, Florida
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SUPER BOWL AIRFARES SKYROCKET; LAST MINUTE FLIGHTS ADDED
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The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles advanced to the Super Bowl over the weekend. Following Sunday’s championship play-offs, airfares for flights from Kansas City and Philadelphia to New Orleans spiked. Chiefs fans are seeing an average of $1,064 per round-trip ticket to the Big Easy, while Eagles fans are seeing $224 per round-trip ticket, on average. Roundtrip airfare costs more than double with a Monday return. The cheapest combination is to depart Feb. 8 and return Feb. 12.
- Southwest Airlines is adding 31 nonstop flights, a total of 5,425 seats, between Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Kansas City and Philadelphia
- That consists of 15 flights over the two days before the Feb. 9 game day, and 16 return flights the day after the event.
- Legacy carriers American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines are adding a combined 31 nonstop flights from Kansas City and Philadelphia to New Orleans and back again.
- JetBlue Airways is adding nine flights between New York City area’s Newark International and John F. Kennedy International airports and New Orleans
- Frontier Airlines has added two flights—one from Philadelphia to New Orleans on Feb. 8 and the return flight on Feb. 10
- Nonstop tickets to New Orleans from domestic airports are averaging $979 per round trip ticket already, significantly higher than the average domestic airfare of $294 per round trip ticket
- Hotel stays in New Orleans over the Big Game weekend are currently averaging $1,212 for overnight stays on Feb. 9
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MARKET UPDATE - 01/28/2025 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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