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Colorado - Thu. 07/02/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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ALPINE BANK OPENS BENEFIT ACCOUNT FOR FIVE SNYDER FIRE FIREFIGHTERS
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Alpine Bank has established a dedicated benefit account to support the families of five firefighters impacted by the Snyder Fire, which remains active along the Colorado-Utah border in Mesa County. Three of the firefighters tragically lost their lives in the line of duty and two were critically injured and are in stable condition at this time. Alpine Bank is launching the effort with an initial $25,000 donation, to be split equally among the five families. The bank has a longstanding commitment to supporting the communities it serves, especially in moments of hardship.
“This hits close to home for all of us,” said Alpine Bank Regional President Tyler Dahl. “When something like this happens, you don’t hesitate. You show up. These firefighters were there for our communities and now it’s our turn to stand beside their families and support them however we can. That’s what neighbors do.” The benefit account is open for donations now through Aug. 31, 2026, with all funds going directly to the firefighters' families. Information on how to contribute can be found at alpinebank.com/snyderfire.
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NO FIREWORKS, NOT EVEN SPARKLERS, FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY IN MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
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Personal fireworks, including sparklers, are not allowed to be part of the Fourth of July festivities in most Colorado mountain communities this year due to the widespread drought and extreme fire danger. Routt, Summit, Grand, Eagle, Garfield, Pitkin, Moffat, Lake, Chaffee and Park counties are among the counties that have Stage 2 fire restrictions in place banning all fireworks. More than 50 of Colorado’s 64 counties have instituted some level of fire restrictions, according to the Dept. of Fire Prevention and Control. This Fourth of July, most mountain communities have also cancelled professional fireworks due to the high fire danger, leaning into other activities like parades, live music, drone shows and more.
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A DIFFERENT & COMPLICATED WILDFIRE EVACUATION
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Even with a low runoff from low snowpack this winter, it remains high season for rafting in Colorado and the 25-mile stretch of the Colorado River Loma to Westwater, Utah through Ruby Horsethief Canyon is particularly popular because it allows motorized boating as well as rafting, with many campsites. The popularity requires boaters to have permits in high season. There were more than 120 campers in Ruby Horsethief Canyon on Saturday evening when the Snyder Fire blew up joining with the Jones Canyon Fire as well as the Knowles and Gore fires. The fire at that time was growing at a rate of 5,000 acres per hour and by Saturday night, Mesa County Search and Rescue launched one of the largest evacuation missions it had ever done.
The rescue volunteers worked with Bureau of Land Management rangers, officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Mesa County sheriff’s deputies, Union Pacific Railroad workers and bus drivers with Grand Valley Transit to coordinate the nearly 12-hour mission. Union Pacific sent nine of its employees in hi-rail trucks, those with steel flanges to ride on train tracks as well as rubber tires for highways, which proved invaluable as without them, rescuers were looking at ferrying campers on motorboats 15-plus miles downstream to the Westwater Ranger Station. The winds were preventing even the motorboats from moving back upstream. Mesa County rescue officials estimate it would have taken another 5 hours to complete the evacuation with the hi-rail trucks. The rail-riding trucks hauled 123 campers and six dogs out of the canyon to waiting buses.
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COLORADO’S TOP EXPORT? MEATPACKING
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According to the U.S. International Trade Administration the top export industry in Colorado is meatpacking. Just what is meatpacking? It is the industrial process of converting animals into consumer-ready cuts and packages of meat. It encompasses slaughtering livestock, dividing animals into cuts and processing other parts, then packaging the meat for sale. JBS Foods, the largest beef and poultry producer and No. 2 pork producer in the world, operates its flagship beef-packing operation in Greeley. The plant there employs nearly 4,000 workers.
Another major player with a meatpacking plant in Colorado is Cargill, which has a large facility with nearly 2,000 workers in Fort Morgan. Colorado exported $1.96 billion in meat and meat products in 2025, according to the International Trade Administration. Those products included $754.3 million in fresh or chilled boneless beef; $281.1 million in frozen, boneless beef; $220.5 million in fresh or chilled boneless pork; and $164.8 million in frozen, bone-in beef.
According to the International Trade Administration, Colorado’s top exports outside of the meatpacking industry were:
- Nonferrous metal production and processing (excluding aluminum), $942 million
- Pharmaceuticals and medicines, $874 million
- Navigational, measuring, electromedical and control instruments, $780 million
- Semiconductors and other electronic components, $711 million
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KROGER ACQUIRES GIANT EAGLE IN $1.65 BILLION DEAL
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Grocery giant Kroger has agreed to purchase regional supermarket chain Giant Eagle in a deal valued at $1.65 billion. Kroger, the nation’s second-largest grocer behind only Walmart, looks to strengthen its presence in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions where family-owned Giant Eagle has nearly 200 supermarkets throughout western Pennsylvania, north central Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. The retailer also has 11 standalone pharmacies and has about $9 billion in annual sales. Kroger has over 1,200 stores in 16 states. The transaction is the first major acquisition for Kroger following the collapse of its $25 billion merger with Albertsons in 2024.
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WORLD HERITAGE SITE DESIGNATION: PRESERVATION BRINGS TOO MANY TOURISTS?
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Unesco’s World Heritage List is an ever-expanding listing of sites that were identified by an international United Nations committee as deemed to have “outstanding cultural or natural importance to humanity.” The first 12 sites were designated in 1978, but now the heritage list numbers 1,248 sites in 170 countries. The sites range from the famous, like Machu Picchu or Great Wall of China to lesser-known places such as Romania's Wooden Churches of Maramureș and the ancient Moroccan oasis settlements of Ait-Ben-Haddou. Unesco officials now acknowledge that tourism has "changed dramatically" over the past 10 to 15 years and increasingly social media adds exposure to more and more individuals. That exposure has led to increased tourism and added pressure on sensitive or protected areas. As a result, Unesco now asks sites to create visitor-management plans to prepare for tourism growth and find ways to reduce crowding and pressure on sensitive areas.
Even at that, some World Heritage Sites are seeking to revoke or eliminate their World Heritage designation. The latest are the tiny Slovakian village of Vlkolínec where some locals have argued that the designation and associated tourism have created more issues than they're worth and want to have the village delisted. Thousands of miles to the south, in Tanzania, the Maasai International Solidarity Alliance has also called for removing the wildlife-rich Ngorongoro Conservation Area from the World Heritage List. The area is home to pastoralist communities and some of Africa's most iconic safari experiences, but locals argue that conservation policies tied to its internationally protected status have led to residents being displaced from ancestral grazing lands.
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“I’LL HAVE A BOWL OF YOUR 50-YEAR-OLD SOUP”
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It is known as forever soup or perpetual stew or hunter’s pot, a broth that is simmered for days, weeks, months or even years. There is none that is more famous than a beef broth that has been simmering at Wattana Panich, a Thai restaurant, that uses the broth, simmering since 1974, for it signature beef noodle soup. The 52-year-old broth is four years older than its current guardian, Nattapong Kaweenuntawong. The restaurateur is the third generation of his family to run Wattana Panich. Kaweenuntawong’s grandfather created the family’s foundational broth for a simple reason: consistency of taste. No precise recipe has been handed down through the generations. Instead, yesterday’s broth serves as a road map for tomorrow’s batch, guided by family members whose identities have become intertwined with stewardship of the soup.
Kaweenuntawong has tended the broth for some 20 years, since his taking over and during the day it bubbles in a giant stainless-steel pot about 5 feet across and one foot deep, encased in lava-like concrete and heated by gas. He tweaks the flavor by adding fresh ingredients, including fish sauce, soy sauce, chunks of beef and sachets of Chinese herbs. At the end of the day, he and his wife strain out all the solid ingredients. The liquid is poured into a stockpot, brought to a boil and covered with a lid. No one touches it for five or six hours. In the morning, his mother boils it again before he adds fresh beef and other ingredients. The family takes five days off during Lunar New Year. The broth is frozen for four days and thawed on the fifth.
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2025 HAD A RECORD NUMBER OF GLOBAL MILLIONAIRES
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More than 440,000 Americans reached the status of being a millionaire in 2025, that is more than 1,200 a day. That total is nearly half of the new millionaires in the world last year, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report 2026, released Tuesday. UBS reported the number of global millionaires reached record levels in every market that UBS tracks.
Countries with the most millionaires, 2025:
- U.S.: 23.6 million
- Mainland China: 5.3 million
- Japan: 2.9 million
- Germany: 2.6 million
- U.K.: 2.4 million
- France: 2.4 million
- Australia: 1.6 million
- South Korea: 1.3 million
- Netherlands: 1.3 million
- Italy: 1.2 million
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SOME WORLD CUP NUMBERS IN ADDITION TO GOALS SCORED
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We are now three weeks into World Cup action, with the action really starting to pick up with knockout round games. The tournament’s new format this year, with an expanded 48-team field in group play, meant that 32 countries advanced to the knockout stage this week, which is double the number from the previous ten editions of the event.
Here are some of the numbers from this year's World Cup:
- 18 million: The average viewership on Fox for the United States’ opening victory over Paraguay, which is a record audience for an English-language American telecast of a men’s game. Telemundo and Peacock also made history for a Spanish-language broadcast with a total audience of 13 million for the tournament’s first game, in which Mexico took on South Africa. As of June 21, World Cup matches were averaging 5.9 million viewers on Fox and 5.5 million on Telemundo, more than double the figures from 2022
- $50 million: The prize money available for the team that wins the World Cup. All 32 teams that qualified for the knockout stage are guaranteed to receive at least $11 million, and the 16 that didn’t make it out of the group stage will still pocket $10 million each
- $3.8 billion: FIFA's budget for this World Cup
- $713,000: The approximate value of the 11 pounds of 18-karat gold in World Cup trophy
- $57.8 million: The tax money that Florida, Georgia and Missouri are reportedly forgoing on World Cup ticket sales. The states and cities made the concessions in 2022 as part of their bids to be selected as World Cup hosts by FIFA
- $221 million: The amount that FEMA distributed to U.S. cities and states hosting matches and training camps to protect against drone threats
- $32,970: The face value of premium tickets to the World Cup final released in May
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MARKET UPDATE - 07/01/2026 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 06/25/2026)
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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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