|
Colorado - Mon. 06/23/25 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
|
|
View in Browser
|
|
|
| |
CU-BOULDER, OTHER STATE UNIVERSITIES PREPARING FOR REDUCED FOREIGN STUDENTS
|
| |
|
|
| |
There were more than 10,360 international students attending Colorado colleges and universities in the 2023-24 academic year, the latest year for data from the Colorado Dept. of Higher Education. The University of Colorado Boulder enrolls the most international students in Colorado, with some 2,200 international students on campus this past spring and around 750 non-students, including professors and researchers. The CDHE reports international students contribute more than $400 million to the state’s economy and support more than 3,800 jobs, making education the state’s sixth-largest export. All the state’s institutions of higher education are bracing for a significant reduction in international students following decisions to revoke student visas, issue travel bans and threats of detention/deportation from the Trump administration.
CU Boulder is projecting a 25 percent drop in international undergraduate enrollment this fall, along with a 15 percent decline in international graduate students. Colorado State University has the second-highest international student population in the state with more than 1,200 foreign-born students from more than 100 countries on the Fort Collins campus. CSU officials have not made a projection on the enrollment of international students for the 2025-26 academic year. There are more than 1,000 international students at the University of Denver, and although DU officials have not made a projection for the 2025-26 year, they predict a drop.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
HUGE CROWDS EXPECTED AS THE BROADMOOR HOSTS 45TH U.S. SENIOR OPEN
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
This Thursday, major championship golf returns to Colorado as The Broadmoor will host the 45th U.S. Senior Open Championship, with play on The Broadmoor’s East Course. This will be the ninth U.S. Golf Association championship at the resort. The Senior Open will run Thursday through Sunday, and it will be the third U.S. Senior Open held at The Broadmoor. The club is only one of seven to have hosted a U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Amateur. The U.S. Amateur Championship at The Broadmoor in 1959 is notable in that 19-year-old Jack Nicklaus won it. It was also at The Broadmoor in 1995 that Annika Sorenstam earned her first LPGA Tour win. Officials at The Broadmoor expect some 130,000 to attend this year’s Senior Open. When Colorado Springs hosted the Senior Open in 2018, it broke a record for sales tax generated in one week. For complete information and tickets, go to championships.usga.org.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
AAA: RECORD NUMBER OF AMERICANS EXPECTED TO TRAVEL OVER THE 4TH OF JULY
|
| |
|
|
| |
AAA projects 72.2 million people will travel at least 50 miles or more from home over the Independence Day holiday period from Saturday, June 28 to Sunday, July 6. This year’s domestic travel forecast is an increase of 1.7 million travelers compared to last year and 7 million more than in 2019. AAA’s Independence Day forecast includes two weekends instead of one to better reflect the flow of holiday travelers. AAA projects 61.6 million people will travel by car, a 2.2 percent increase over last year, and the highest volume on record. This Independence Day holiday period is expected to see an additional 1.3 million road travelers compared to 2024.
The number of people traveling by air is also projected to set a new record. AAA expects 5.84 million travelers will fly to their destinations - that’s 8 percent of all Independence Day travelers. This year’s projection is a 1.4 percent increase over the previous record set last Independence Day week of 5.76 million air travelers. Travel by other modes is expected to grow by 7.4 percent over last year. AAA projects 4.78 million people will travel by bus, train or cruise. This year’s number is just shy of the 2019 record of 4.79 million.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
WEST SLOPE SNOWPACK WAS AT 30-YEAR AVERAGE, BUT DROUGHT LINGERS
|
| |
|
|
| |
Western Colorado is home to some of the state’s best-known agricultural products, such as Palisade peaches, the wine produced in the Grand Valley and Olathe sweet corn. In addition, the areas of Paonia, Delta, Olathe and Montrose produce corn, onions, alfalfa and other crops. Water for this productive area comes largely from the Gunnison River Basin. This past winter the snowpack in the Gunnison River Basin seemed to be close to normal, as measured by the 30-year average, with a peak of over 90 percent in late March and then rising again to 84 percent after a small melt-off. However, that measurement may not tell the complete story.
David Harold, of the Tuxedo Corn Company, the state’s largest, sweet corn producer, said the fields of his farm were showing 30 percent less moisture than normal in February, noting although snowpack measured at normal levels in the high country, there was less snow at lower elevations. Harold’s evaluation is consistent with studies conducted by Bob Hurford, a water engineer for the Colorado Division of Water Resources in the Gunnison River area. Hurford refers to all the dams and reservoirs built in the last 75 years, such as Blue Mesa, Morrow Dam, Crystal Dam and others, as providing better water management, but the region remains in a drought now stretching more than 20 years. One study said the conditions since 2000 account for the driest 22-year period on record stretching back 1,200 years.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
NWS WARNS A “HEAT DOME” WILL COVER MUCH OF THE U.S.
|
| |
|
|
| |
The National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland is predicting there will be dangerously hot and humid weather covering a good portion of the Eastern U.S. for as many as five days this week as a phenomenon known as a heat dome will blanket nearly 200 million people. A high-pressure system is building in the Central Plains and is due to shift east over the Midwest over the weekend and by Monday, it will move into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.
A heat dome is an area of high pressure that traps hot air below it. Warm air builds on itself and can rise from Earth’s surface to 30,000 to 40,000 feet. As the high-pressure system expands, it diverts high-altitude jet-stream winds that might bring down temperatures on the surface. Heat domes can exacerbate humidity that is already present during the summer. Heat domes can remain stationary for days until conditions change and the high-pressure system moves on. Forecasters expect this weather pattern to dissipate on Thursday. “We are definitely talking about dangerous conditions,” said Jaime Madrigano, professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. “It’s not just direct heat-related illnesses that occur, but we see all kinds of exacerbations of chronic conditions.”
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
USFS RESCINDS HARD-SIDED CAMPER ORDER AT DIFFICULT CAMPGROUND
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
On Friday, the White River National Forest lifted the hard-sided camper requirement at Difficult Campground near Aspen. The decision follows close coordination with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and no further bear incidents at the campground since the order was put in place June 10. Tents, tent-campers and roof-top tents are allowed again at Difficult Campground. Each campsite at Difficult Campground has a bear-resistant food locker, and information about proper food storage is posted throughout the campground. The bears that have visited Difficult Campground this season have not acquired food from campers, which is typically a first step in a bear becoming a campground nuisance or danger. The White River National Forest has a food storage order in place for all its developed campgrounds and many dispersed camping areas to help prevent black bears and other wildlife from obtaining food from humans.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
DID LATER EASTER THIS YEAR HELP SALES IN ASPEN?
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
The city of Aspen’s finance department released data last week on sales in April and year-to-date sales figures for January to April. April is traditionally a slow month, but Easter was late this year, coming in the third week of April. Aspen had $61.9 million in taxable sales in April. That is 18 percent higher than the $52.6 million recorded in April 2024. Year-to-date taxable sales of $543.8 million produced by Aspen retailers, lodges and restaurants through April were 7 percent ahead of $509.3 million posted in the same period in 2024. April saw $1.6 million in sales fueled by short-term rentals, down 24 percent from April 2024. Year-to-date STR rental sales volume through April of $47.6 million was 3 percent higher than the same period last year.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
CONSTRUCTION ON U.S.160 THROUGH DOWNTOWN PAGOSA SPRINGS POSES PROBLEMS
|
| |
|
|
| |
The town of Pagosa Springs launched a two-year reconstruction project in March on U.S. Hwy. 160, not just a major highway, but the town’s main street. It is a major reconstruction replacing asphalt between Second and Eighth streets downtown, but also upgrading water, sewer, gas and geothermal lines, as well as communications, electrical conduits and storm drains. Above ground, the town will install new sidewalks, improved crosswalks, ADA-compliant ramps, shade trees and streetlights. The project will cover two years: westbound lanes are closed this summer; eastbound lanes will close in summer 2026.
The construction has resulted in the loss of storefront parking and getting around is more difficult, even for residents. There are 53 restaurants in town as well as many retail outlets on Hwy. 160, and to help offset the impact, the town has provided 200 temporary parking spots, as well as providing $5,000 in aid to businesses.
The town is also launching the Cone Zone Care Program to support downtown businesses during construction. The first phase of the Cone Zone Care Program encourages residents to eat and shop downtown, keep receipts and submit them online. Purchases over $100 qualify for a monthly raffle, where participants can win one of three $100 gift cards to local businesses. Pagosa is Open, a local business collaboration, is offering shoppers the Pagosa Passport – a coupon book full of discounts to shops and restaurants to encourage downtown visits. Passports are available at participating businesses and Sherpa Real Estate.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
COLORADO HOMEBUYERS FACE ADDITIONAL BURDEN
|
| |
|
|
| |
Those people interested in buying a home in Colorado now have another hurdle to overcome, and it is particularly burdensome to first-time buyers. A study by Cotality, the real estate research firm formerly known as Core Logic, said the national average escrow payment increased 17 percent in 2024. The escrow payment is the money that those homebuyers pay to lenders to cover future payments for the costs of insurance and property taxes. Lenders then hold that advance payment “in escrow” to cover the future payments. Colorado experienced widespread and dramatic increases in residential property values between mid-2020 and mid-2022, which resulted in nation-leading property tax increases.
In addition, the state has experienced substantial increases in natural disaster claims, resulting from large hailstorms and wildfires, such as the 2021 Marshall Fire. As a result, Colorado led the country with a 31 percent increase in escrow payments. Higher escrow payments strain existing homeowners, leaving them more vulnerable if there is a downturn or other economic disruption. Even more critically, higher escrow costs can keep first-time buyers from even considering entering the real estate market by reducing the amount they can borrow to purchase a property. That appears to be showing up in a dramatic increase in the number of unsold homes seen in metro Denver and across the state.
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
AAA’s TOP DOMESTIC DESTINATIONS FOR JULY 4TH HOLIDAY
|
| |
|
|
| |
Based on current bookings, these are the top domestic destinations for the July 4th holiday:
- Orlando, FL
- Seattle, WA
- New York, NY
- Anchorage, AK
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Honolulu, HI
- Denver, CO
- Miami, FL
- Boston, MA
- Atlanta, GA
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
ARE COLORADANS KIND? A NEW STUDY SAYS YES
|
| |
|
|
| |
Study of 1,000 Americans in April by corporate gift-giving website Ready Set Gift ranked states by studying their trends related to gift giving, volunteering and charitable donation. The study then cross-referenced the results against Google trends data on how often people in each state searched for topics such as “appreciation,” “charities near me” and "volunteering." Colorado ranked in the Top 10 at No. 6.:
- Washington, D.C.
- Washington
- Arizona
- Wisconsin
- Maryland
- Colorado
- Nevada
- Oregon
- Idaho
- Minnesota
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
WHICH CITIES WERE MOST AFFECTED BY INFLATION
|
| |
|
|
| |
After the COVID pandemic, the U.S. inflation rate hit a 40-year high but has cooled considerably since and in May 2025, the year-over-year inflation rate stood at 2.4 percent. However, inflation rates differ across the country, and WalletHub compared 23 major MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) across two areas of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation. WalletHub compared the CPI for the latest month for which BLS data is available to two months prior and one year prior to get a snapshot of how inflation has changed in the short and long term. These cities ended up with the highest rates:
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
- St. Louis, MO-IL
- Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
- San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
- Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
- Urban Honolulu, HI
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
MARKET UPDATE - 06/20/2025 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 06/18/2025)
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
*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. |
| © 2026 Alpine Bank. |
| |
|
|
