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Colorado - Thu. 01/15/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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STAN KROENKE TAKES OVER AS LARGEST LANDOWNER IN U.S.
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The Land Report 100, the primary reference for landholding in the U.S., in its Jan. 13, 2026, issue, identified Stan Kroenke as America's largest landowner. Kroenke, in December, purchased 937,000 acres of noncontiguous land in New Mexico, making it the largest single land purchase in the U.S. since 2011 and nudging his total holdings to more than 2.7 million acres dotted across the American West and Canada. Kroenke also owns roughly 60 million square feet of commercial space, including sports venues in Inglewood, Calif., and Denver. He also owns the teams that play there, which include the Rams, Avalanche, Nuggets and PLL’s Colorado Mammoth, as well as the Colorado Rapids and Arsenal’s men’s and women’s soccer teams. Kroenke’s ever-expanding empire of grazing ground encompasses much of the American West and extends into Canada.
In Wyoming, he owns the largest single ranch in the Rocky Mountains, the 560,000-acre Q Creek Ranch. In Montana, Kroenke acquired the 124,000-acre Broken O Ranch in 2012 from the heirs of Bill Moore, the founder of the nation’s largest privately-owned paint company, Kelly-Moore. At the time of the sale, the Broken O ranked as the state’s largest private water-rights owner. The purchase of Singleton Ranches vaulted Kroenke Ranches from No. 4 in 2025 to No. 1 in 2026, ahead of California’s Emmerson Family with 2.44 million acres, Liberty Media chairman emeritus John Malone with 2.2 million acres, and CNN Founder Ted Turner with 2 million acres. View the top 100 at landreport.com/land-report-100#top-100.
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JOHN FIELDER’S PHOTO FEATURED ON USPS FOREVER STAMP
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The U.S. Postal Service will hold a free, public “first-day-of-issue” presentation on Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Colorado History Center, 1200 Broadway in Denver, to launch its release of a Forever Stamp featuring a John Fielder photo of Jagged Mountain, located in the San Juan Mountains, with design by Derry Noyes. The release of the stamp is part of Colorado’s celebration of its 150th anniversary, according to the USPS. The USPS release coincides with the opening of History Colorado’s John Fielder exhibit, “Mountains Majesty: On the Summit with John Fielder.” History Colorado’s 6,000-image Fielder collection can be accessed for free at historycolorado.org/john-fielders-colorado-collection. To RSVP for the Jan. 24 event or get more information on collector’s versions of the 20-stamp sheets, visit usps.com/coloradostamp.
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DAVOS: "A SPIRIT OF DIALOGUE" WILL HAVE BIG U.S. PRESENCE
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The World Economic Forum’s 56th Annual Meeting Jan. 19-26, in Davos, Switzerland will host leaders from business, government and civil society under the theme "A Spirit of Dialogue." WEF26 organizers say U.S. President Donald Trump will return to this year's conference, leading a record-large U.S. delegation. A total of 850 CEOs and chairs of the world's top companies will be among the 3,000 participants from 130 countries expected in the Alpine resort this year, along with the U.S. delegation, headed by the president and including five Cabinet secretaries and other top officials.
Forum President Borge Brende says six of seven G-7 leaders, including Trump, will attend, as well as presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Ahmad al-Sharaa of Syria and others. A total of 64 heads of state or government are expected so far, which is also a record, though that number could increase before the start of the event. China's delegation will be headed by Vice Premier He Lifeng, Beijing's top trade official.
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SAKS FILES CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY
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Saks Global, the company that owns Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, filed for bankruptcy protection late Tuesday, barely a year after an ambitious bet on luxury department stores brought the two storied retailers together in what was supposed to be a powerhouse deal. The filing is the latest sign that America’s luxury department stores are becoming an endangered species. Saks said it had secured roughly $1.75 billion to help finance the company through bankruptcy, much of it coming from its bondholders. Saks said it intended to emerge from bankruptcy later this year, and it expects to honor all customer programs, make payments to vendors and continue to pay employees.
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FINALLY, A TURN IN HOME SALES? DECEMBER SALES HIGHEST IN TWO YEARS
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Existing home sales increased 5.1 percent in December, marking the largest monthly gain since February 2024 and the fourth consecutive monthly rise. The increase in sales, reported by the National Association of Realtors Wednesday, was more than double what economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected, reflecting easing mortgage rates and slower growth in home prices. The December sales rate was the highest since February 2023. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has hovered around 6.2 percent in recent weeks, down from the start of last year when rates were close to 7 percent. Home-price growth is also slowing. The national median existing-home price in December was $405,400, a 0.4 percent increase from December 2024, according to NAR.
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AVLT, EAGLE & PITKIN COUNTY OPEN SPACE AGENCIES PRESERVE 4,200-ACRE RANCH
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It took well more than a year and the concerted, cooperative efforts of Eagle County, Pitkin County and the Aspen Valley Land Trust, but the Three Meadows Ranch, the 4,251-acre property located in Missouri Heights along Cottonwood Pass in Eagle County, has been acquired and a planning period is underway to determine the best path forward to ensure its conservation. All parties worked swiftly to complete the transaction as it was considered a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity as the threat of development became immediate and critical when the property was listed for sale. The property had already been divided into 33 legal parcels, including a platted 12-lot subdivision, according to Marcia Gilles, director of Open Space and Natural Resources for Eagle County.
The Three Meadows Ranch is the largest conservation acquisition, both in terms of financial investment and size for Eagle County Open Space; is the largest fee simple acquisition for Pitkin County in terms of acreage; and its cross-jurisdictional partnership is a "new model for conservation." The total acquisition cost was $27.7 million, or approximately $6,516 per acre, with a $12,500,000 contribution from Eagle County, a $7,700,000 contribution from Pitkin County, and a $7,500,000 contribution from AVLT, provided by a Wexner Family Charitable Fund donation.
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NEW POSTMARK IN EFFECT: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
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As the new year began, there was a new postmark rule in effect from the U.S. Postal Service. The new rule took effect Dec. 24, 2025, and detailed that mail is postmarked when it reaches a postal service processing facility, not on the date it first comes into contact with the USPS mail delivery system. USPS officials say this is not a change from previous operations, but instead it is designed to educate the public on the meaning of a postmark. For those dealing with time-sensitive mailings, it is critical information. The Grand Junction Post Office, for instance, is a processing center for a majority of the Western Slope. At the GJ Post Office, it has, for years, not postmarked mail received from the Western Slope until it is processed in Grand Junction.
The only change is a result of the Regional Transportation Optimization Plan, or RTO, which reduced the use of afternoon mail trucks. That means mail at area post offices now typically waits until the following morning for shipment to Grand Junction’s processing center, where it’s postmarked. Previously, deliveries were sometimes processed and postmarked in Grand Junction the same day they arrived at their respective post offices in surrounding towns across the 814, 815 and 816 area codes. For mail users who need same-day, formal documentation on the shipment of their letters and packages, items can still be postmarked at any mail counter by speaking with a clerk before dropping them off.
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MONTROSE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE POSSE NEEDS CONTRIBUTIONS
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In 2025, the all‑volunteer Montrose County Sheriff’s Office Posse took part in a wide range of operations, from routine duties to major emergency responses. Among its largest undertakings was establishing and staffing barricades during the massive wildfire that shut down Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park last summer, as well as patrolling evacuated neighborhoods to protect empty homes. The posse also coordinated access to evacuation areas and assisted motorists stranded by vehicle breakdowns or stuck in the backcountry. Members remain on call for crime‑scene security, parade patrols and numerous other assignments.
Although the county does not fund the posse, maintaining operations still costs a minimum of $40,000 annually. Expenses include equipment purchases and maintenance, training, and overhead for the posse building. On Jan. 9, the posse mailed its annual fundraising letters to county residents. Donations may be mailed to the Montrose County Sheriff’s Posse, P.O. Box 717, Montrose, CO 81402, or made online at mcspi.org.
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NUSANTARA: INDONESIA'S METROPOLIS EMERGING FROM THE JUNGLE
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Travelers to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, will attest to the massive traffic issues, and pollution, which plague the city. Three years ago, Joko Widodo, then-president of Indonesia, had the idea of building a new capital...from scratch...about 800 miles away in a remote corner of Borneo. Work began building Nusantara, which means "archipelago" in old Javanese and recognizes the diverse islands and people of Indonesia. Nusantara is projected to cover nearly 1,000 square miles, roughly twice the size of Los Angeles. It is designed to be a "10-minute city," meaning that anyone should be able to reach their destination by walking, cycling or using public transportation within 10 minutes. Electricity is supplied through a combination of solar power and the power grid, but the long-term goal is for the city to run fully on clean energy. Residents ride electric shuttle buses and are permitted to drive only cars that are deemed to be environmentally friendly.
However, progress is very slow as of now, the area is mostly trees. Vast empty spaces dominate. There are limited options for restaurants and groceries, although a traditional market is being built. And for all of its greenery, there is very little shade, making the midafternoon heat unbearable. The most visible figure overseeing the city is the 250-foot-tall and nearly 600-foot-wide monument to Garuda, the mythical bird that is Indonesia’s national symbol. For now, Nusantara remains a frontier outpost and although officials say its current population is some 155,000, the area surrounding the Garuda monument and the new presidential palace is home to only 10,000 people, the vast majority of them construction workers.
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FINAL NUMBERS FOR INTERNATIONAL VISITORS TO U.S. 2025
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The U.S. International Trade Administration released data derived from the International Air Travel Statistics Program, which is generated electronically from all U.S. and foreign flag carriers who operate United States international arrival or departure flights, with Canada included as of 2011. The APIS-based I-92 system provides air traffic data on the following parameters: number of passengers, by country, airport, scheduled or chartered, U.S. Flag, foreign flag, citizens, and non-citizens.
For non-U.S. citizens arriving to the U.S. in 2025:
- Only the months of January and April showed a higher number of arrivals in 2025 than 2024
- In total there were 57,197,935 arrivals in 2025, down 4.3 percent from the 59,727,209 arrivals in 2024
- In terms of U.S. citizen departures to foreign countries, there were 75,591,771 departures, a 2.9 percent increase over the 73,426,281 in 2024
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MARKET UPDATE - 01/14/2026 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 01/08/2026)
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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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