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Colorado - Thu. 02/13/25 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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KATHLEEN SGAMMA, HEAD OF WESTERN ENERGY ALLIANCE, NOMINEE TO HEAD BLM
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President Donald Trump has nominated Denver resident Kathleen Sgamma to head the Bureau of Land Management. Sgamma is currently the president of the Western Energy Alliance, an oil and gas trade group. As president of Denver-based WEA since 2006, Sgamma represented and advocated for oil and gas producers that operate on federal lands in the West. She led the WEA last year in joining petroleum associations in New Mexico, North Dakota, Wyoming and Utah in a lawsuit challenging the BLM’s new leasing rules that increased the royalty rates, minimum bids, rental rates and bonding requirements for companies drilling for oil and gas on federal land.
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PRESIDENTS’ WEEKEND: SKI TIME, GREAT SNOW, TOO?
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Wednesday and Wednesday night brought bitter cold to northern Colorado and the Front Range after some relatively light snowfall amounts in the central mountains. However, there is a major Pacific Storm forecast to bring heavy rains to northern California on Thursday, with powerful winds and snow of up to 2 to 5 feet in the Sierras. That storm is also forecast to bring heavy snow to the Colorado mountains on Friday and Saturday, with accumulations forecast to be: 14 to 24 inches in the northern mountains; between 18 to 28 inches in the central mountains and between 20 to 30 inches in the southern mountains. The National Weather Service has placed most of the mountains on the Western Slope under a Winter Storm Watch from Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon. For skiers heading to the mountains for the holiday weekend, stay aware of road conditions at cotrip.org.
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DIA’S GREAT HALL TO GET ANOTHER MASSIVE PIECE OF PUBLIC ART
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It was just a few weeks ago that Denver artist Thomas Evans, aka “Detour,” assembled and unveiled his massive work of art, "It's Not What You Take, It's What You Bring Back," featuring hundreds of pieces of donated luggage on the ceiling at Concourse B at Denver International Airport. On Monday, the Denver City Council approved a $3.5 million contract to build and install an enormous piece of public art at the south end of Jeppesen Terminal at DIA. The Lipski Group Inc., led by artist Donald Lipski, has the contract to fabricate and install "The Stars and the Cottonwood Tree," a 60-foot-tall Cottonwood tree replica draped with over 30,000 crystals, which will create rainbow prisms of light throughout the terminal. The base of the tree will feature Colorado rock fashioned into a seating element to create an easily identifiable meeting place for passengers.
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“PROJECT SPREAD HOPE” PERFECT FOR VALENTINE’S DAY WITH HEARTS EVERYWHERE
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Her step-grandfather, Herbert Bayer, a leader in the Bauhaus movement, is legendary as an artist living in Aspen, but now Koko Bayer has left her own impact on Colorado. Koko Bayer was born in France and never knew of American-style Valentine’s Day until she moved to Evergreen when she was 7. Now her “Project Spread Hope,” is a virtual symbol of Valentine’s as well as paying homage to her step-grandfather. She has now created some 1,000 large, eye-catching yellow-magenta-pinstriped hearts and placed them all around the state. The 6-foot by 6-foot heart murals are called pink lemonade hearts and have the word “hope” in what is the “Universal Font” of Herbert Bayer and the color is known as Bayer Blue.
Koko Bayer launched “Project Spread Hope” in April 2020, after the imposition of the COVID-19 lockdown. She said it was her way of doing something to make people “feel just a little bit better.” She started pasting them up in Denver, including one at the Denver Botanic Gardens when she had an indoor exhibit to open the Freyer-Newman Center at DBG. Following that, she pasted “hundreds” at schools, health care facilities and sites of tragedies, like the Marshall fire of 2021. She now has designed hearts with “hope” translated into French, Italian, Spanish and Vietnamese. Beyond Colorado, there are hearts pasted in New York City, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis and Miami, as well as in London and in Mexico.
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CONSUMER PRICES RISE SHARPLY IN JANUARY, PROMOTING THE FED TO HOLD THE LINE
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics Wednesday reported the consumer price index, a broad measure of costs in goods and services across the U.S. economy, accelerated a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3 percent. The January increase was the largest monthly increase since August 2023 and well ahead of economists’ expectations for a milder increase of 0.3 percent. Markets reacted swiftly, with investors dialing back their expectations for rate cuts. Stocks fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting 400 points on the news, while bond yields jumped.
The sharp January increase provides a further incentive for the Federal Reserve to hold the line on interest rates. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the CPI rose 0.4 percent on the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 3.3 percent. That compares with respective estimates for 0.3 percent and 3.1 percent. The annual core rate also was up 0.1 percentage point from December.
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HAWAII’S KILAUEA VOLCANO ERUPTS AGAIN
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Kilauea volcano began erupting and shooting lava into the air once again Tuesday on the Big Island of Hawaii. The latest release of molten rock began at 10:16 a.m. with lava flowing onto the floor of Halemaumau Crater. A half-hour later, a vent shot lava about 330 feet high. By early Wednesday morning, officials said lava fountains were reaching 16 to 200 feet high. Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has been erupting on and off for nearly two months since it burst to life on Dec. 23. The eruption has been taking place at the volcano's summit crater inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. No residential areas have been threatened by lava.
This is the ninth episode of eruptive activity since Dec. 23, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said. Earlier episodes have lasted 13 hours to eight days, with pauses in between. Last month, Kilauea put on a brief spectacular show with a 26-hour eruption, with live cameras showing a mixture of volcanic gas emissions and steam from the rain at the summit. People have been flocking to overlook sites inside the national park for views of the eruption.
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SUPER BOWL BLOWOUT STILL HAS HIGHEST TV VIEWERSHIP EVER
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Super Bowl LIX certainly was not a nail-biter, but nonetheless, the National Football League’s championship game attracted a record 127.7 million viewers on Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research. Sunday’s Super Bowl aired on Fox Corporation’s broadcast network, as well as its Spanish-language cable network Fox Deportes and NBCUniversal’s Telemundo. Fox also offered the Super Bowl on its free, ad-supported streamer Tubi, and it was also available on the NFL’s digital properties. Fox also reported that the Super Bowl broke another record when it came to streaming. The game on Tubi, Telemundo and the NFL’s digital offerings garnered 14.5 million viewers, while Tubi alone had 13.6 million viewers, according to Tubi first-party data and Adobe Analytics. This was the first time the Super Bowl was available on the app. The Super Bowl’s viewership peaked at an audience of 137.7 million from 8 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. ET, during the second quarter, according to Nielsen.
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DURANGO OPENS APPLICATIONS FOR FOOD TAX, UTILITY REBATES
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Applications are being accepted now through July 7 for the city of Durango’s annual food tax rebate and utility refund programs. The refund program is open to Durango residents who earn 50 percent of the area median income or less. The income threshold is based on family size: Families of four or more household members who earn up to $55,250 are eligible for the programs. Their food tax rebate is valued at $149; households of three earning up to $49,750 are eligible for a rebate of $280; households of two are eligible if they earn up to $44,200 and they can receive a $316 rebate; households of one individual are eligible if they earn up to $38,700 and will receive a $378 rebate. Applications are available at Durango City Hall at 949 East Second Ave., the Durango Transit Center at 250 W. Eighth St. and the La Plata Senior Center at 2424 Main Ave., or online. The city received 209 applications for rebates and refunds in 2024 and paid out $40,385 through both programs.
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YOUR NAME ON THE EAGLE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS? COUNTY TO GIVE NAMING RIGHTS
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Last year, the Eagle County commissioners hired Apex Marketing Group to help find naming rights partners for the facilities at the Eagle County Fairgrounds, including the grandstands, the Eagle River Center, and the exhibit hall. The Eagle County Fairgrounds’ facilities don’t pay their own way, and the naming-rights partner could help cover the costs of operating the facilities. The Eagle County Fair and Rodeo is almost a moneymaker, recovering about 90 percent of its costs. Aside from that, only about 25 percent of the costs are covered by users. Naming rights would be separate from the Eagle County Fair and Rodeo. The rules for the name partner include: no alcohol, marijuana or tobacco advertising will be allowed, and the county is seeking a partner to sign a 10-year agreement. The county has the right to rescind any deal.
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JAPAN HAS ALL-TIME HIGHS IN NUMBERS OF FOREIGN WORKERS, RECRUITING MORE
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Japanese companies over the past few years have made a complete reversal in dealing with workers coming from overseas. Foreign workers were effectively barred from working in Japan for centuries, but now Japanese companies are actively recruiting workers, beginning with the recruitment of foreign students, to alleviate labor shortages, as well as facilitate ventures abroad. In October, the number of foreigners working in Japan surged by 250,000 in a year, with 2.3 million working for Japanese companies. That is the largest one-year increase since records began in 2008. Foreigners now account for 3.4 percent of the total workforce in Japan.
Japanese companies and local governments have expanded their efforts at recruiting and hiring foreign students as a way to secure talented personnel. A survey in December by Tokyo-based job information business Career-tasu found that 25.6 percent of companies in Japan hired foreign students in fiscal 2024, while 38 percent said they plan to do so in fiscal 2025. The movement has given rise to companies like Gowell, a firm that connects skilled foreign workers to employers. Gowell offers translation and interpretation services and runs language schools. A year ago, in February 2024, the company launched Gowell Career, which helps businesses bring in foreign employees, from establishing hiring plans to ensuring retention.
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CHINESE FILM “NE ZHA 2” SETS ALL-TIME BOX OFFICE RECORD IN CHINA, $1.23 BILLION
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At the start of the Lunar New Year, Jan. 29, the Chinese-made animated film, “Ne Zha 2” opened and in the two weeks since opening it has established an all-time box office record, bringing in $1.23 billion so far. It is a sequel to the original Ne Zha film released in 2019 and is the continuing saga of a young boy battling demons and gods, based on a famous 16th-century novel and very loosely on Chinese mythology. The top ten highest-grossing films in China:
- Ne Zha 2, 2025: $1.23 billion
- The Battle of Lake Changjin, 2021: $790 million
- Wolf Warrior 2, 2017: $780 million
- Hi, Mom, 2021: $740 million
- Ne Zha, 2019: $690 million
- The Wandering Earth, 2019: $640 million
- Full River Red, 2023: $620 million
- Detective Chinatown 3, 2021: $620 million
- Avengers: Endgame, 2019: $580 million
- The Battle of Changjin II, 2022: $560 million
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INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND TRAVEL-RELATED REVENUE REBOUNDED STRONGLY IN 2024
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According to data released by the National Travel and Tourism Office, international visitors spent more than USD$253.9 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services in 2024. Here are total spending figures for U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors:
- 2019: $239.04 billion
- 2020: $84.29 billion
- 2021: $84.50 billion
- 2022: $172.08 billion
- 2023: $225.88 billion
- 2024: $253.90 billion
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MARKET UPDATE - 02/12/2025 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 02/06/2025)
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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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