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Colorado - Mon. 02/09/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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RICO MUNN: NAMED SOLE FINALIST FOR CHANCELLOR OF CSU SYSTEM
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On Feb. 6, the Governing Board of the Colorado State University System named Rico Munn as the sole finalist to become the new chancellor of the CSU System. Munn is currently CSU’s vice president for Metro Denver Engagement and is based at the university’s Spur Campus in Denver. Colorado statute requires a mandatory 14-day waiting period following the announcement of a sole finalist before the CSU System Board of Governors can enter into an employment agreement with the finalist. If an agreement is reached with Munn, he will replace current Chancellor Tony Frank following Frank’s planned retirement June 30, 2027. In his retirement announcement, Frank said he would work closely with his successor to ensure a smooth transition. Specifics on the new chancellor’s job title and pay prior to June 30, 2027, would presumably be part of the employment agreement.
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POPE LEO NAMES BISHOP JAMES GOLKA ARCHBISHOP OF DENVER
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Archbishop of Denver Samuel Aquila submitted his retirement request to Pope Leo XIV on his 75th birthday Sept. 25. On Saturday, Feb. 7, Pope Leo announced that Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs will be installed as Denver’s sixth archbishop in a Solemnity of the Annunciation Mass on March 25. Aquila introduced Golka, who was named bishop of the Diocese of Colorado Springs by Pope Francis in April 2021, during a news conference at the John Paul II Pastoral Center in Denver on Saturday morning. The Archbishop of Denver oversees more than 600,000 Catholics in metro Denver, included in 148 parishes with 31 Catholic schools.
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CDOT APPROVES $12 MILLION IN FUNDING TO 20 AIRPORTS
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There are 76 public-use airports in the state of Colorado, including 14 with commercial operations. The Colorado Dept. of Transportation funds the state’s airport via the Colorado Aeronautical Board and that board awarded $9,064,332 in state funding to 20 Colorado airports, which will be boosted in local matching grants of $3.5 million, to provide $12.6 million across the state for airport improvements, including: pavement maintenance, airfield snow removal and maintenance equipment, aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) equipment and facilities, airfield lighting and navigational aids, unleaded aviation fuel infrastructure and other essential airport improvements. A complete list of projects is available at codot.gov.
Some of the larger projects are:
- Colorado Air and Space Port (formerly Front Range Airport): $1.9 million for unleaded aviation fueling infrastructure
- Centennial Airport: $1.4 million for runway maintenance equipment and design of a community observation area
- Durango-La Plata Airport: $1 million for pavement maintenance
- Telluride Regional Airport: $1 million to purchase an airfield rescue and firefighting truck
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VILLAGE SMITHY SALE SLATED FOR FEB. 24
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After more than 50 years as a Carbondale institution, The Village Smithy is preparing to change hands as co‑owners Charlie Chacos and Jared Ettelson finalize a sale aimed at preserving the restaurant’s long‑term future. Chacos, whose parents opened the breakfast spot in 1975, and Ettelson, who began working there as a teenager, said the decision was driven largely by the building’s need for a major remodel that became financially unfeasible after construction costs surged following COVID. The business and property are being sold together through a private pocket listing handled by Compass Realty, with the deal scheduled to close Feb. 24.
The buyers, Samantha and Craig Cordts‑Pearce of CP Restaurant Group, plan to operate the restaurant as a turn‑key business, with the menu, staff and name expected to remain intact. Owners said finding buyers committed to maintaining the Smithy’s history and community role was a priority, acknowledging that some change is inevitable but emphasizing their goal of ensuring the restaurant’s longevity for future generations.
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WARM TEMPERATURES, NO SNOW FORCING RESORTS TO REDUCE EMPLOYEE HOURS
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Colorado’s resorts are suffering from one of the worst winters for snowfall on record, and now the employees at the resorts are suffering as the resorts have been forced to cut worker hours due to the lack of work. Vail Resorts communications director John Plack said, “This season’s record-low snowfall in the Rockies has limited our ability to open terrain, which unfortunately does have an impact on the number of hours available for employees in some roles at our mountains, including lift operations and food and beverage roles.” Plack went on to say that Vail Resorts provides those workers whose hours have been reduced with complimentary meals and groceries as well as some financial support through the EpicPromise Foundation as well as mental health support through its employee assistance program.
Copper Mountain, which says “operational adjustments have been necessary,” offers employees free monthly dinners, additional free food, free mental health counseling, and athletic club memberships. Steamboat Resort also provides access to wellbeing programs, free counseling, rental assistance, an employee food pantry and free meals in the employee dining room.
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THE GUNNISON VALLEY PROMISE: FREE TUITION AT COLORADO WESTERN FOR LOCALS
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Last week, Brad Baca, president of Colorado Western University, announced the Gunnison Valley Promise, a program that offers free tuition for all high school graduates in Gunnison and Hinsdale counties. The program will launch this fall semester and cover tuition costs for all local students including those who have been home schooled, in hopes of encouraging more students to stay in the region and help pump its economy. It includes students from Gunnison, Crested Butte and Lake City. The guarantee of free tuition, regardless of family income, is funded through a $4 million endowment. The school has $1.5 million for the program through contributions from private donors and municipalities.
After being accepted at Western, students enrolling in the program must complete federal financial aid forms and also apply for the Colorado College Opportunity Fund, through which eligible undergraduates can receive a stipend that goes toward in-state tuition. Students can also apply for an Earn to Learn scholarship to help with other expenses, including books, fees, transportation and housing.
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IF YOU ARE FORTUNATE, YOU ARE ABLE TO INHERIT A HOME IN COLORADO
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Last year, about one in eight homes that traded hands was an inheritance. That is only slightly less than the homes purchased by new homeowners, according to real estate research firm Cotality. The firm reported that in 2025, inheritance transfers totaled 11,945 in the state, or 12 percent of all transfers. That compares with new home sales of 12,755 in 2025. A primary factor for such a high percentage of inheritance transfers over the past few years is the soaring prices of new homes. The high prices, coupled with high mortgage rates, have resulted in fewer sales.
Because home sales have fallen off so much, the “inheritance” share of all home transfers has nearly doubled in Colorado. It was 6.2 percent in 2021, advanced to 9.9 percent in 2023 and hit a record 11.9 percent in 2025. Nationally, the market share of inherited homes went from just under 5 percent in 2021 to 6.8 percent in 2023 and 8.7 percent in 2025. As high as Colorado’s share of inherited home is, it is no match for California, where 18 percent of home transfers involved an inheritance.
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PRCA HEADQUARTERS AND HALL OF FAME MOVING TO WYOMING
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The Board of Directors of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) has approved a “memorandum of understanding” to relocate the association’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, along with the PRCA Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy, to Cheyenne, Wyoming. PRCA officials said Cheyenne has offered to build a Hall of Fame and an administrative building to host its national headquarters with upgraded office space, conference rooms and other amenities. The move is contingent on the approval of project funding by the Wyoming Legislature, and if secured, the move is expected to occur by 2029. In the announcement, the PRCA said, "The relocation represents a strategic move for the PRCA and underscores Wyoming's deep-rooted connection to western heritage, rodeo and the cowboy way of life."
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AFTER DAYS OF SELLOFF, DOW HAS HUGE TURNAROUND TOPS 50000 FOR 1ST TIME
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 50000 for the first time on Friday, the latest milestone in a yearslong run showing the strength of the U.S. economy. The upward swing of 1200 points, or 2.5 percent, on Friday came at an unlikely time as a slump in software stocks had resulted in a selloff that battered the tech sector in days before the turnaround. The S&P 500 gained 2 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2.2 percent. While the 30 firms of the Dow don’t have the number of tech stocks like the Nasdaq or the increasingly AI-heavy S&P 500, investors have returned to the Dow pouring money into banks, industrial firms and other sectors more directly linked to the real economy.
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JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER TAKAICHI SECURES STUNNING ELECTION VICTORY
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Conservative Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took a big gamble by holding an election Sunday just 110 days after she became the country’s first woman to serve as prime minister. The gamble of the snap election returned massive dividends as Ms. Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party won in a landslide, securing an absolute majority in Japan’s 465-member House of Representatives, the lower house of Japan’s bicameral Parliament. As of early Monday in Japan, the party had won at least 310 seats, up from 198. The two-thirds supermajority it now enjoys in the lower house will allow Takaichi’s party to override votes in the upper house of parliament and to propose amendments to the constitution.
Sunday’s remarkable result also means Takaichi’s party and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, will have the numbers to chair all lower house committees. The conservative prime minister had an endorsement from President Donald Trump and has seen high approval ratings in her first four months in office. She has won over the public with her strong work ethic, savvy social media game and charisma, marked in viral moments such as a recent impromptu drum session to K-pop hits with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
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THE COORS REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN GOLDEN UNEARTHS HISTORICAL TREASURES
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There is not a business more associated with a location/town in Colorado than Coors is to Golden. Now, even though the actual Coors Brewery is part of Molson, the six-block area in Golden that has housed many Coors operations is being redeveloped into a new, mixed-use district called Clayworks. The Coors family has owned the property since 1884, and it is the site of CoorsTek, a manufacturer of high-performance technical ceramics for industries like aerospace, defense, and automotive. But the company has cycled through multiple identities over time: Coors Porcelain Company, Herold China and Pottery Company, and, initially, Colorado Glass Works. When AC Development, the real estate arm of the Coors family, began the redevelopment of the 14-acre site for Clayworks, the demolition and excavation revealed a virtual historical treasure of items related to the Coors’ history on the site.
Crews discovered a large area filled with glass bottles and shards made by Colorado Glass Works, a short-lived Coors enterprise from the late 1800s. Noting that there were very few bottles from the Glass Works that the Coors family had, Melanie Keerins, Coors archivist and historian, said the archive collections did not have any and, “It was really amazing to be able to find bottles that we made in 1887 and 1888, intact on-site with our stamps.” Unique finds include glass jars and bottles from the Colorado Glass Works era, industrial chemical labware such as mortar and pestle pieces, and grinding media that was produced on the property for 60 to 70 years. Some of the labware recently dug up at the property even boasts a “Coors USA” stamp. The Coors family plans to publicly display these pieces at Clayworks, and some will even be used in the construction of the building, including bricks from an old kiln.
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ISN’T LOVELAND ENOUGH? DOES HOW DOES COLORADO RANK WITH ROMANTIC CITIES?
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It was almost 80 years ago, in 1947, the city of Loveland, Colorado began remailing Valentine Day cards with a special postmark from “Loveland.” Over the next 80 years, Colorado became known for its romantic approach to Valentine’s Day. Now, Denver-based The Shane Co., a jeweler and engagement ring firm, has ranked the most romantic cities in the U.S. The Shane Co. ranked 50 cities by looking at the number of romantic restaurants and hotels, the cost of a three-course meal for two, search volumes for romance-related terms, marriage rates by state, and the number of florists and jewelry stores per capita to compile its list. Denver was ranked in the Top 10, with the only other Colorado cities making the list: Colorado Springs, No. 36 and Aurora, No. 42.
The Top 10:
- New York
- Las Vegas
- Miami
- Atlanta
- Chicago
- Denver
- Washington, D.C.
- Minneapolis
- Los Angeles
- San Francisco
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MARKET UPDATE - 02/06/2026 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 02/05/2026)
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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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