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Colorado - Mon. 03/03/25 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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VETERAN TEXAS LIVESTOCK MAN TAKES OVER AS CEO OF THE NATIONAL WESTERN
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Paul Andrews, the National Western Stock Show leader for 15 years, retired in January after seeing it through the event's 119th year. On Friday, the National Western Stock Show announced that Wes Allison will become the next CEO and president starting this spring. For more than 20 years, Allison served as the president and CEO of the Extraco Events Center, which is home to the Heart O’ Texas Fair and Rodeo. During his time there, Allison expanded operations and the Houston livestock habitats, advanced agricultural education programs and turned the event into a year-round, multi-event venue, the National Western Stock Show said. The leaders of the National Western stated that is exactly the direction of the National Western's future. He holds a Bachelor of Science in agricultural economics and a Master of Science degree in agriculture.
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ALREADY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 2025-26 SKI SEASON: INDY PASS RATES ANNOUNCED
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The 2024-25 ski season is looking forward to a longer spring as Easter is late this year, but already one of the multi-area ski passes has announced the sale of its 2025-26 pass. The Indy Pass, which includes 250 ski areas in North America and Europe, is now on sale. The Indy Pass offers two days of skiing at more than 230 resorts across three continents. Indy Pass has already announced the addition of five new areas for next season in Vermont, New Hampshire, Chile, Austria and Italy. The addition of Corralco Mountain Resort in Chile is the first for Indy Pass in the Southern Hemisphere.
Besides Loveland, Colorado ski areas that honor Indy Pass include Powderhorn, Sunlight, Granby, Echo, Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs and Hoedown Hill in Windsor. Indy Pass renewals for adults are priced at $349, while new passholders will pay $369. For those buying season passes at participating Indy Pass ski areas, an “add-on” pass good at other Indy Pass ski areas costs $279. The Indy Pass will be on sale for a short time at indyskipass.com. The Ikon and Epic passes normally go on sale early in March.
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DENVER-BASED FRONTIER AIRLINES: MAJOR EXPANSION OF SERVICE IN ATLANTA
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Denver-based low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines announced Thursday it will expand its flight operations out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with the addition of nine new routes and will enlarge its crew hub at ATL. The 40 percent expansion of Frontier flights will result in the addition of $111million in annual wages. The new routes, starting in late May and early June, will bring Frontier’s total number of destinations offered from Atlanta to 52. New routes will fly to Oranjestad, Aruba, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and domestically will connect to Oklahoma City; Kansas City; St. Louis; Jacksonville, Fort Myers and Palm Beach, Florida; and Columbus, Ohio. James Dempsey, president of the airline, said in a media release that Frontier’s fares are 60 percent lower on average than other carriers operating in Atlanta.
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PLATTE RIVER VALLEY HISTORIC STEAM PLANT FOR SALE
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Last week, Xcel Energy listed its historic, century-old, decommissioned Zuni Steam Plant building for sale for $7.5 million. There would be additional expenses tied to cleaning up the contaminated site for human use. The twin smokestacks on the property, situated along Interstate 25 south of Empower Field at Mile High, are recognizable, and symbols that some preservationists hope to keep. The power plant was built in 1901 in Denver’s La Alma Lincoln Park and Sun Valley neighborhoods, home to a large blue-collar and Latino population. Xcel stopped operating the Zuni plant in 2015.
Tearing down the Zuni power plant has been unpopular and Xcel has acknowledged it. But after years of talking about preserving the building, the energy company is ready to move on. Xcel did offer the property to the city of Denver, but Denver turned it down due to the high cost of environmental and structural work the building needed. If the energy company doesn’t find a buyer, Xcel said it would move on its already-approved decommissioning plan to tear down the plant and potentially use the site for electric energy infrastructure.
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EL RANCHO SITE JUST OFF I-70 PURCHASED BY QUIKTRIP
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The site of the landmark former restaurant El Rancho off Interstate 70 on the road into Evergreen has been purchased by Tulsa-based chain QuikTrip. The El Rancho site is two parcels totaling an exact five acres and QuikTrip paid $6.17 million for the property where it plans to build a gas station. The building was constructed in 1947 and was a landmark restaurant for tourists traveling to the mountains on U.S. Hwy. 40. In September 2022, the restaurant operation filed for bankruptcy. It was purchased by developers Travis McAfoos and Jack Buchanan and after another restaurant operation failed in 2024, the site was sold, but Buchanan is looking to move the building to land he owns across the street.
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$1 MILLION GRANT TO SUPPORT WILDFIRE MITIGATION EFFORTS IN GLENWOOD DRAINAGES
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Last week, the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program of the Colorado Dept. of Natural Resources announced grants from its Landscape Resilience Investment program. There were five grants announced, each of approximately $1 million, and included was a $1 million Wildlife Risk Reduction award to the Roaring Fork Valley Wildfire Collaborative and the Glenwood Springs Fire Dept. The grant will focus on two key zones in the Three Mile and Four Mile areas in south and directly south of Glenwood Springs, which were identified as high-risk in the Garfield County and Glenwood Springs Fire District Community Wildfire Protection Plans. These areas face significant wildfire threats due to dense vegetation, high hazard ratings, and vulnerable populations, including low-income families and senior citizens.
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MARCH BRINGS SPRING SKIING EXTENDED HOURS TO ASPEN
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Daylight Savings Time does not begin until Sunday, March 9, but the Aspen Skiing Co. last week announced that extended spring season hours would start Saturday, March 1. Special sunset skiing events are also slated at each mountain throughout March, as well as KickAspen Night Skiing at Aspen Mountain from March 21-22. Sunset skiing events will feature extended lift times beyond the daily operational hours. Sunset Skiing is currently scheduled for March 10 at Buttermilk, March 17 at Aspen Highlands, and tentatively March 28 at Aspen Mountain, and on a date to be announced for Snowmass.
- For Aspen Mountain: Lift 3 and Silver Queen Gondola will operate until 4 p.m. daily. The last ride down on Silver Queen Gondola will be at 4:30 p.m. daily.
- For Aspen Highlands: Lift 3 and Silver Queen Gondola will operate until 4 p.m. daily. The last ride down on Silver Queen Gondola will be at 4:30 p.m. daily.
- For Buttermilk: Summit Express will operate until 4 p.m. daily.
- For Snowmass: Sheer Bliss, Village Express and Elk Camp Gondola will operate until 4 p.m. daily, with the last ride down on Elk Camp Gondola at 4:30 p.m.
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FOR MID-WEEK SKIING $45 IS GREAT LIFT TICKET; SKI COOPER IS BOOMING
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Dan Torsell came to Ski Cooper in Leadville in 2012 from a ski area in Vermont and he instituted some of the programs that he used in Vermont to get skiers to come during the week, such as "Two-fer Tuesday" and "$30 Thursday." This winter, he continued the efforts to bolster mid-week ski numbers by slashing Monday-Thursday lift ticket prices by half: $45 for adults and $35 for kids. The result has been an increase in skier-visits Monday-Thursday by nearly 40 percent compared with the 2023-24 season. Lift ticket revenue is up more than 50 percent for the same days at the community-owned nonprofit ski area that grossed $6.5 million in revenue last year, $4.4 million of that from selling lift tickets. Since debuting the $45 midweek ticket, the Ski Cooper rental shop has seen early midweek revenue climb 73 percent. Revenue from ski lessons is up 80 percent. Folks are skiing more days and sticking around for a $45 Monday ski day after spending $100 a day on the weekend.
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DURANGO CLOSING MAJOR PORTION OF ANIMAS TRAIL IN TOWN UNTIL NOVEMBER
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The city of Durango announced that the Animas River Trail will be closed between Santa Rita Park and the DoubleTree Hotel for approximately 8 months to rebuild the trail and make overall improvements. The project is scheduled to begin today, March 3 and is projected to last through October. Planned upgrades include widening the trail to a minimum of 10 feet, replacing deteriorating asphalt with durable concrete, reducing grades, and adjusting curves to enhance visibility and ensure compliance with ADA guidelines.
Improvements will also feature the installation of trail lighting throughout, safety railings where necessary, and additional amenities to enhance user experience. There will be a detour in place between West College Drive and Santa Rita Park. Pedestrians and cyclists can follow the marked detour, which will be identified with directional arrows and signage. The detour will involve a longer commute, with some road crossings and a steep hill that may be challenging for some users. The city encourages the use of the city's transit system. Complete details on the trail work and detour are available at engage.durangoco.gov/animas-river-trail-improvements.
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COLORADO’S POPULATION: CHANGING DYNAMICS OF IN-MIGRATION
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Colorado has long been a leader in attracting people to relocate in the state, or net domestic migration, the statistic generated from the number of people moving into Colorado, minus those who leave. However, there was a significant change since the pandemic, as there has been a sharp drop in those moving to the state from other states, while there has been a major uptick in international migration, those moving to Colorado from another country. However, it is clear that international migration will sharply taper off during the second Trump administration. Whether that will be offset by in-migration from other states is very unclear.
One study, the U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) showed nearly 31,000 more people moved to Colorado than moved to other states in 2023, which ranked eighth highest. The state demographer, Kate Watkins, cautions that the ACS survey is not an exact headcount, relying instead more on the demographics of those moving in, not necessarily tallying how many are moving in. Watkins points to the latest “vintage estimates,” or those produced by the U.S. Census Bureau for the interim years between the ten-year census counts.
- The latest vintage numbers, for the 12-months through July 1, 2024, show the state’s net domestic migrations at 5,422 and international migration at 33,227.
- Net domestic migration in Colorado has remained fairly flat this decade per vintage estimates, moving from a high of 7,365 in 2020 to a low of 5,422 in 2024.
- Colorado ranked 17th last year for domestic migration using the vintage estimates, which shouldn’t be taken for granted given that nearly half of all states, led by California and New York, lost more residents to other states than they gained.
- Since April 1, 2020, Colorado has gained a net 31,172 people from other states per Census vintage estimates, below what it would attract during single years last decade. That softening is being driven by an increase in residents leaving the state.
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OSCARS 2025: 'ANORA' SWEEPS WITH FIVE WINS
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At an Oscars ceremony that capped off a particularly messy awards season, Sean Baker's "Anora," a Cinderella story gone wrong revolving around a Brooklyn sex worker, swept the major categories. It netted wins for best picture, best directing for Baker and best actress for star Mikey Madison, as well as best original screenplay and editing. See a full list of winners at the link below.
- Best Picture: "Anora"
- Best Actress: Mikey Madison, "Anora"
- Best Actor: Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist"
- Directing: Sean Baker, "Anora"
- Actress in a Supporting Role: Zoe Saldaña, "Emilia Pérez"
- Actor in a Supporting Role: Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"
- Original Score: "The Brutalist," Daniel Blumberg
- International Feature Film: "I'm Still Here," from Brazil
- Cinematography: "The Brutalist," Lol Crawley
- Documentary Feature Film: "No Other Land," Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham
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A COLORADO PLACE TO CELEBRATE ST. PATRICK’S DAY: LEADVILLE
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Although there are some more well-known traditions for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, i.e., Chicago dying the Chicago River green; Boston’s 300-year-old parade, some mining towns of the West are special places for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, from their Irish mining heritage. Butte, Montana labels itself the "most Irish place in the U.S." and has a big parade. In Colorado, that location is Leadville. During the 1880s silver mining boom, over 3,000 people born in Ireland called Leadville home. That is more than the town’s entire population today, which hovers around 2,600. The 5280 magazine offers these as choices to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Leadville:
- St. Patrick’s Day Parade: March 17 at 4 p.m., on 6 blocks of Harrison Avenue, ending at the Silver Dollar Saloon with corned beef and cabbage served by the Lions Club
- Irish Miners’ Memorial: at the Evergreen Cemetery, the statue “Liam” with a pickaxe and harp and facing Ireland honors the some 1,300 Irish immigrants buried in the paupers’ section of the cemetery
- The Unearthed Exhibit: at the Healy House Museum & Dexter Cabin, the exhibit from History Colorado, “Unearthed: Voices of Leadville’s Shanty Irish” $3, Wed-Sat., 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Leadville Railroad’s St. Patrick’s Day Ride: the St. Patrick’s Day Ride leaves the station at 1 p.m. with decorated cars, Guinness beer, and employees dressed in green, $83 per ticket
- Leprechaun Lane at Ski Cooper: St. Patrick’s Day celebration with slopes adorned with shamrocks, pots-of-gold, 4-foot-tall leprechauns, fish and chips and Irish pot pie at Katie O’Rourke’s - the highest -elevation Irish pub in North America
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MARKET UPDATE - 02/28/2025 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 02/27/2025)
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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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