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Colorado - Fri. 07/31/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COLORADO!
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Can you pronounce sesquisemiquincentennial? If not, you have a little more time to practice before the state’s 150th anniversary this weekend. The tongue twister is a term used to describe a simultaneous celebration of a 150th anniversary (Colorado) and a 250th anniversary (the United States). Colorado Day marks the induction of Colorado as the 38th state officially on Aug. 1, 1876, with dozens of celebrations happening across the state. While events have been happening throughout the year, this weekend brings an extra layer of festivities to the Centennial State. Museums offer free admission and street fairs featuring local vendors can be found in nearly every corner of the state. Check out a round-up of events happening near you, many of which are free and family-friendly. A complete list of all community events across the state can be found online at celebrate.colorado.gov by searching for your specific community.
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BIRKENSTOCK OPENS ITS FIRST COLORADO STORE IN BOULDER
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The iconic sandalmaker Birkenstock has expanded to Colorado. Birkenstock opened its first official store in the state in Boulder’s Twenty Ninth Street Mall on Thursday. The store is located at 1750 29th St. and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays to Saturdays, and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Birkenstock was founded in 1774 in Germany. The company prioritized function over fashion and its comfortable shoes with cork footbeds have become a classic style that is now synonymous with the company’s name. In addition to Boulder, the company also opened another store in Florida’s West Palm Beach. The two stores mark the 21st and 22nd retail locations Birkenstock owns in the U.S.
The store will sell Birkenstock products including its sandals and clogs, sneakers, shoes, boots and other footwear items. It also has foot and body care products and Birkenstock’s new plant-based nail polish collection. “Opening our doors in Boulder and West Palm Beach is a meaningful step in Birkenstock Americas’ retail journey,” David Kahan, President of Birkenstock Americas, said. “These two cities embody the values at the heart of our brand — an appreciation for quality, and a commitment to living well. We’re proud to bring the Birkenstock experience to both and look forward to becoming part of their communities.”
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THE BROWN PALACE HOTEL & SPA AWAITS NEW OWNER
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There are the famous chapters in the Brown Palace Hotel and Spa’s history many know: presidents who stayed in its suites, political campaigns run from its meeting rooms and visits from the railroad barons and tycoons who helped build Denver. But many intriguing discoveries are still coming to light. In June, for example, historians learned the Brown Palace had purchased what they believe was the first barrel of Scotch whisky legally sold outside Europe in 1910. In April, research into a little-known 1911 visit by Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen led to an entirely new historical exhibit inside the hotel’s Coronet Room. Historians employed by the hotel sift through guest books, documents and photographs in search of new stories hidden within the 134-year-old landmark’s walls. As the team continues digging up new stories from the past, the Brown Palace itself is awaiting its next chapter.
The nine-story, 243-room hotel’s owner, Fort Worth, Texas-based Crescent Real Estate, has put the hotel up for sale after purchasing it for over $125 million in 2018. Over Crescent’s ownership tenure, the company has reemphasized the hotel’s history, which is a key selling point for the property’s guests. Crescent expanded the hotel’s historian team and increased the frequency of historical tours, which attract about 10 to 20 guests, from once per week to daily. The company also led the hotel through an extensive 2021 multimillion-dollar renovation of its eighth and ninth floors, including its three famed presidential suites, its Palace Arms restaurant, meeting spaces and the club lounge. The Brown Palace has traded hands more than a dozen times since opening in 1892, surviving the Great Depression, two world wars, the Covid-19 pandemic and dramatic activity shifts in downtown Denver.
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STATE DECLARES TINY SOUTHEAST COLORADO TOWN ABANDONED
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The beleaguered town of Hartman may soon be no more. The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Wednesday that it had approved a resident’s petition for abandonment — effectively transferring all town business and assets to Prowers County. Hartman, a tiny community of 30 people in southeast Colorado, had been stuck in a legal limbo with no analog in recent state history since all of its elected officials resigned from their posts earlier this year. That occurred amid petty squabbles, fraud allegations and a physical altercation following a Board of Trustees meeting. With no government, the town cannot hold elections or address a deepening crisis surrounding its water supply. The town has been on a boil order for the past year, and its water tower has needed serious repairs for years. The imbroglio reached the state Capitol, where lawmakers in this year’s session passed a bill specifically written to address Hartman’s unique situation.
That legislation, Senate Bill 157, makes it easier for residents and counties to declare a town abandoned — and for the state to assist dissolved municipalities with failing water systems. "Importantly, not determining that the town of Hartman is abandoned ... would leave the residents in further legal limbo during a health hazard, with no authority to conduct business, hold elections, or fix their water infrastructure so that clean water can be delivered to the town residents," the state's 15-page order states. "Abandonment is the only legal mechanism in Colorado statute that creates an avenue for residents of the area to receive clean water." Barring any appeal of the ruling, Prowers County will now assume control over all streets in Hartman, along with all town-owned property, including its water infrastructure. The county, then, will transfer control of the water system to a water operator.
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OFFICIALS TO NEARLY DOUBLE WATER RELEASE FROM RUEDI RESERVOIR FOR DOWNVALLEY DROUGHT
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To bolster the Colorado River’s flow downvalley through historic drought, water authorities will be increasing the flow out of the Ruedi Reservoir through August. That water will flow into the Fryingpan River, increasing its currents to levels likely unsafe for fly-fishing, said Colorado River District ‘s Brendon Langenhuizen. Water will then flow into the Roaring Fork River, then down the Western Slope, where populations in the Grand Valley are in “dire need,” he said. Traditionally, the Western Slope relies heavily on the Green Mountain Reservoir — about 17 miles south of Kremmling — to sustain a steady Colorado River flow. But due to the state’s dry, warm winter, that reservoir struggled to fill over the spring. The administrators of Green Mountain Reservoir found that low water levels and fast releases were exacerbating a slow-moving landslide on its banks, so they limited how much water could be released out of the reservoir to half a foot a day.
Ideally, the Western Slope would draw more than triple that. “The river’s been working pretty normally to date, but in about a week … those reservoirs are going to run out,” Langenhuizen said. “The Grand Valley will be in dire need of help at that point.” That’s where the Ruedi Reservoir comes in. The Colorado River’s Grand Valley, which holds Grand Junction and Palisade, is already running with 25 percent less water than what water rights entitle them to, and they expect to further lessen demand by the end of August. Increasing flow out of Ruedi will help the Grand Valley get through the dry season. It will also help preserve fish populations in the Roaring Fork and Colorado rivers, which have already seen restrictions on fishing due to high temperatures.
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LODGING OCCUPANCY, BOOKINGS STILL UP SLIGHTLY IN VAIL, BEAVER CREEK EVEN AS STATE TOURISM SOFTENS
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Vail and Beaver Creek are still having a decent summer for lodging occupancy, even as the region and the state as a whole has seen a softening of tourism spending compared to the rest of the nation. “Occupancy (is up a) little bit over last July, like single digits over last July,” Vail Valley Partnership President and CEO Chris Romer said Wednesday. “Vail is pacing stronger than Avon, Beaver Creek, but both are up. When we look at occupancy for the whole summer, May through October, the non-ski months, occupancy is up about 1 percent or 2 percent. As of June 30, coming off of the winter we had, there was a little bit of a rebound, a little bit of a mixed bag month by month,” he said. “Looking ahead at August it’s a little softer, but about flat overall to last year. So, July up, August flat, September … up a little bit.”
Statewide, the Colorado Tourism Office announced this week that tourism contributed a record $29.2 billion to the Colorado economy in 2025, “despite ongoing headwinds.” Tourism indicators from 2025 and early 2026 “continue to suggest that increasing competition, uncertainty related to federal policy changes and weather-related challenges are contributing to slower growth of Colorado’s tourism industry.” The record $29.2 billion in traveler spending represented only a 2 percent increase over $28.5 billion in spending in 2024. Nationally, tourism spending grew by more than 4 percent in 2025. Tourism in Colorado supported 187,860 jobs across the state, a decline of 0.6 percent, while worker earnings rose 1.6 percent to $10.5 billion. Tourism generated $1.91 billion in state and local tax revenues in 2025, an increase of 1.9 percent over 2024, while visitation to Colorado increased by 1.4 percent, from 95.4 million visitors in 2024 to 96.8 million visitors in 2025.
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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS FACES LIKELY SLOWER SALES TAX GROWTH IN 2027 BUDGET PREVIEW
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Steamboat Springs Finance Director Kim Weber gave City Council a sobering preview of the 2027 sales tax budget last week, setting the stage for 2027 to potentially be the city’s slowest-growth year in nearly a decade. At council’s meeting on July 21, Weber proposed a budget flat to the current budget year. She said currently, the city is roughly $463,000 down from projected 2026 revenues. Weber is suggesting starting the 2027 budget at $40.6 million of sales tax, or about $300,000 lower than the current budget year. Every July, Weber is charged with bringing council the finance department’s preliminary projections on sales tax revenue for the upcoming year. The budget itself is not formally passed until October.
Unlike last year, Weber’s projections for 2027 revenue are not exactly conservative, but not aggressive, either, which largely has to do with an expected increase in inflation and a better snow year than that of the 2025-26 season. “As you know, sales tax makes up 60-67 percent of the general fund budget,” said Weber. “So, a 1 percent change in what that projection is, changes that balanced budget quite significantly.” Miscellaneous retail makes up the largest portion of sales tax at around 23 percent, followed by lodging at 21 percent and restaurants at 16 percent. The rest encompasses construction and home improvement, utilities, sporting goods, and liquor stores and marijuana, in that order. Other considerations for the 2027 budget include increasing inflation, snow forecasts and media reports on expectations for mountain tourism numbers.
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DEADLINE TODAY FOR THE VOC CAIRN PROGRAM 2026-27
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The Cairn Program is an award-winning high school program that guides and challenges students to become caretakers of Colorado’s natural resources. Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado is currently accepting both high school student and adult mentor applications now through July 31, 2026. Founded in 2008, the Cairn Program engages 20 students throughout the school year in monthly outdoor activities and stewardship projects across the Front Range. For more information and to apply as a student or mentor, visit voc.org/cairn-program.
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BEST STATES TO LIVE IN FOR 2026; COLORADO DROPS IN ANNUAL RANKINGS
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A new report by U.S. News and World Report ranked all 50 states, weighing several factors, to determine how well states perform for their residents. The 2026 list shows Utah, South Dakota and Minnesota in the top three spots. Utah has held the No.1 spot for four consecutive years. While Utah has held the top spot, other states have seen boosts in the rankings. Colorado was ranked at No. 17, falling from No. 11 in 2025. South Dakota soared from No. 8 in 2025 to No. 2 this year. Minnesota moved up one spot from No. 4 to No. 3 this year. While the top of the list saw some shuffling, the bottom of the rankings remained largely unchanged, with Louisiana holding the "worst state" spot. Alaska, Mississippi and New Mexico round out the rankings at No. 49, No. 48 and No. 47, respectively.
Top Twenty Best States 2026:
- Utah
- South Dakota
- Minnesota
- North Dakota
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- Idaho
- Florida
- Washington
- Vermont
- Massachusetts
- Iowa
- North Carolina
- Delaware
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Virginia
- New Jersey
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THESE U.S. CITIES ARE AMONG THE HAPPIEST DESTINATIONS IN THE WORLD
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Disneyland is known as the Happiest Place on Earth, but travelers may have somewhere else in mind. Irish travel insurance specialists JustCover analyzed more than one million online reviews of tourist venues in 155 global destinations to see where visitors felt happiest. Based on how often travelers expressed joy and happiness in reviews of places like local attractions, restaurants and hotels, the study named Tulum, Mexico, as the happiest destination worldwide and ranked Las Vegas highest in the U.S.
Where people feel happiest on vacation:
- Tulum, Mexico
- Soufrière, Saint Lucia
- Oaxaca, Mexico
- Las Vegas
- Maui, Hawaii
- New York City
- Cappadocia, Turkey
- Rio de Janeiro
- Chicago
- Toronto
- Maldives
- Austin
- New Orleans
- Bora Bora, French Polynesia
- Positano, Italy
As much as travelers appear to enjoy these destinations, it's worth noting the State Department advises Americans to exercise increased caution in many of those international locations, due to safety concerns. A worldwide caution was also issued earlier in July, amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. Travelers can find the latest travel advisories and country-specific guidance on the State Department's website.
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COLORADO SAW RECORD-HIGH TOURISM SPENDING LAST YEAR
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Colorado’s tourism industry set a new record in traveler spending for 2025, thanks in part to increased visitation to Denver and western mountain towns. However, economic and environmental challenges emerging in 2026 could spell challenges for the tourism industry going forward, experts warn. Colorado tourism contributed a record $29.2 billion to the state’s economy in 2025, according to a Tuesday release by Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Tourism Office. Colorado welcomed over 96 million visitors in 2025, an increase of 1.4 percent from last year.
- Traveler spending was 2 percent higher than the $28.5 billion from 2024. Denver and the surrounding metropolitan area remained Colorado’s largest travel economy at roughly $14.2 billion, nearly half (48.5 percent) of all travel spending in the state. Other top travel markets included California, Texas, New York and Florida.
- Travel generated $1.91 billion in state and local tax revenue and supported roughly 187,860 jobs across the state, a decline of 1,160 jobs compared to 2024, though worker earnings rose 1.6 percent to $10.5 billion. Every $1 million in travel-related spending resulted in approximately 6 jobs for the industry.
- Although Colorado’s 2 percent growth in visitor spending is consistent with other Western states like California, which saw an increase of 1.7 percent in 2025, it lags considerably behind the 4.2 percent increase in U.S. travel spending as the competition over travelers intensifies across the country.
- Colorado’s domestic overnight market share has also continued to decrease, dropping from a high of 2.3 percent in 2019 to 1.79 percent in 2025. So far in 2026, the research also indicates that some of the fluctuations in visitation are related to weather challenges, including a historically low snowfall and growing wildfires. Some mountain resort destinations have experienced seasonal declines in visitation as high as 40 percent due to these conditions.
- The “Rockies Playground Region” — consisting of tourism hotspots like Glenwood Springs, Aspen, Vail and Breckenridge — recorded the second-highest visitor spending in 2025 at $4.5 billion, roughly 15 percent of the state’s overall spending. Pitkin, Summit and Eagle counties were among the counties in the region with the greatest contributions to tourism spending. Eagle County brought in $1.7 billion, consistent with 2024. Others saw modest growth, including an 8.7 percent hike to $1.2 billion in Summit County and a 5.6 percent increase to $1.1 billion in Pitkin County.
- Other counties saw lower visitor spending compared to 2024. Spending in Garfield County dropped 1.5 percent to $316.8 million, while Routt County dropped 0.2 percent to $668.8 million.
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MARKET UPDATE - 07/30/2026 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 07/30/2026)
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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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