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Roaring Fork - Fri. 12/20/24 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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WEEKEND
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FRIDAY
- Vaudeville Holiday Show, 6 to 9 p.m., Glenwood Vaudeville Revue, gvrshow.com, 970-945-9699
SATURDAY
- Winter Solstice
- The Nutcracker, 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., Basalt Middle School, 970-987-4880
SUNDAY
- Glenwood Springs Community Center Sunday Opening, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Glenwood Springs Parks & Recreation, gwsco.info/3U4assj
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DENVER IS GETTING ITS FIRST NONSTOP FLIGHTS TO ROME IN 2025
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United Airlines will add a route between Denver and Rome next year, making it the first nonstop route between the Mile High City and the Italian capital. The new flight will be a seasonal route running daily on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner through peak summer travel. Flights between Rome and Denver International Airport will launch May 1 and run until Sept. 24. United's added route from DIA will come just as Italy expects to see a surge of tourists in 2025. The Vatican is hosting the Jubilee 2025, a yearlong celebration held every 25 years to invite Catholics around the world to visit Vatican City and Rome’s holiest sites. The Jubilee begins Christmas Eve and lasts until Jan. 6, 2026. An estimated 35 million pilgrims are expected to visit Rome for the Jubilee. United announced seven more new routes to Denver: Buffalo, N.Y.; Pensacola, Fla.; Peoria, Ill.; North Bend, Ore.; Redding, Calif., Wilmington, N.C., as well as Regina, Saskatchewan in Canada.
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COLORADO'S BUDGET DEFICIT FORECAST TO BE SMALLER THAN PREDICTED
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Colorado’s state budget deficit next year is forecast to be about $250 million smaller than previously anticipated. Nonpartisan Legislative Council Staff and the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting, which presented their quarterly budget and economic forecasts Thursday to the Joint Budget Committee, said the state budget hole is more like $750 million, if not lower. That’s down from the roughly $1 billion hole originally estimated for the fiscal year that begins July 1 if the JBC maintained its current spending plans.
The deficit is being caused by a number of factors, including decreasing inflation leaving less for spending growth under Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which caps the annual amount the government can spend. Also weighing on the budget are repeated tax cuts, a cooling job market and growing spending on education and health care, namely Medicaid. The reason for the reduction in the predicted deficit is that economists now believe the state will collect less revenue subject to the TABOR cap, which is calculated by annual increases in inflation and population growth, next fiscal year.
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MEXICAN AIRLINE ADDS FLIGHTS AT DENVER AIRPORT
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Mexico City-based Aeromexico will add two flight routes at Denver International Airport just ahead of the Christmas holiday. The airline will launch flights from Denver to Guadalajara and Monterrey, in Mexico, beginning Dec. 21. Both routes are seasonal for peak travel times, but the airport may ask Aeromexico to expand to other months of the year if the routes perform well. Aeromexico will offer flights to Guadalajara, in western Mexico's Jalisco state, on Saturdays through April 19 and to Monterrey, in northeast Mexico, on Saturdays and Sundays through April 20.
From DIA, Mexican low-cost airlines Volaris and Viva already operate year-round service to Guadalajara and Monterrey, respectively. The bolstered Mexico routes build on other direct international routes coming to DIA next year - Irish airline Aer Lingus will increase the number of flights between DIA and Dublin Airport, in Ireland, from four to six days per week starting in May, and Turkish Airlines is poised to boost its nonstop flights between Denver and Istanbul to every day of the week beginning in July.
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WHAT IT WILL COST TO SKI OVER THE HOLIDAY
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Prices for single-day lift tickets at some mountain resorts are set to surge heading into the end-of-year holiday period, with two resorts charging more than $300. Between Saturday, Dec. 21, through Sunday, Jan. 5, a one-day, adult lift ticket at Vail Mountain will cost $329. Tickets purchased in advance will cost $313 through Dec. 25 and $295 through Jan. 5. Same-day prices are identical at neighboring Beaver Creek. The two resorts maintain the highest-priced, single-day lift tickets of any ski area in the state, eclipsing prices last December when same-day lift tickets reached $299 at both mountains over the holiday period. Here’s where peak prices stand for a same-day, adult lift ticket at these ski areas between Dec. 21 and Jan. 5:
- Breckenridge Ski Resort: $299
- Steamboat Ski Resort: $299
- Keystone Resort: $292
- Winter Park Resort: $267
- Aspen Snowmass: $264
- Copper Mountain Resort: $264
- Arapahoe Basin Ski Area: $189
- Loveland Ski Area: $149
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WRNF SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON WILDLIFE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
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The White River National Forest is inviting public comment on a proposed update to its Aspen-Sopris Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project. Originally approved in 2011, the update aims to enhance flexibility in using prescribed fire and mechanical treatments to improve wildlife habitat and reduce wildfire fuels across designated areas. Since its inception, the project has utilized prescribed burns and mechanical vegetation treatments to benefit wildlife habitat in the Roaring Fork Valley, Crystal River Valley, Fryingpan River Valley, and Glenwood Canyon. The efforts have treated over 12,000 acres through prescribed fires and approximately 900 acres through mechanical methods. The Forest Service is conducting a supplemental environmental assessment of the proposed update, now open for a 30-day public comment period. Those interested can review the assessment and submit comments by Jan. 17. For more information, visit fs.usda.gov/project/whiteriver/?project=67247.
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NOT JUST CANDY...A TRADITION
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Ray and Amy Genrich clutched a basket filled with Christmas-wrapped boxes as they inched in the line toward the checkout counter at Enstrom Candies. “Colorado crack. That’s what we call it,” Amy said, nodding at the boxes. “Our friends from Florida get so excited when we bring them the real thing.” “Colorado crack” is the buttery, nutty, chocolatey confection four generations of Enstrom family members have made for nearly a century. The “real thing” is toffee purchased at the Enstrom mothership in downtown Grand Junction.
Enstrom candy makers now produce half a million pounds of hand-made toffee annually. That’s a whopping 1.2 million calories. “We are a tradition. We aren’t just a candy,” said Enstrom vice president of sales Jim Simmons, representing the latest generation of the Enstrom family to take up the sweet business of running a company their great-grandfather Chet Enstrom started in 1929. Enstrom Candies also turns out another 50,000 pounds or so of handmade bonbons and chocolate novelties each year. Enstrom-brand toffee is now sold in Costco, on the QVC network, in five-starred Amazon listings and from grocery store coolers.
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SHARING MINISTRIES FOOD BANK SEEKS DONATIONS
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Sharing Ministries Food Bank has seen a dramatic increase in some populations coming through the doors. “Right now, we have a lot of people who are homeless. In the last three years, we have seen an increase of 120 percent of homeless (clients) coming through our doors. We’ve seen an increase of 143 percent of first-time visitors since 2021. So, the need is great. We have a very giving community, and we appreciate everyone’s help, but it takes a lot of man-hours to do that,” Sharing Ministries Executive Director Oneda Doyal said, asking the community to donate money, food, or volunteer time to help the food bank meet critical needs. Sharing Ministries can purchase food and other goods for pennies on the dollar from Food Bank of the Rockies, and what it gets will reach local tables in Montrose, Delta, San Miguel and Ouray counties.
There is also a constant need for new socks for men, women, and children in all sizes, and for diabetic compression socks. Sharing Ministries has worked for years to fill this need, donating more than 60,000 pairs of new socks since 2019. Sharing Ministries provides food to anyone in need and also administers specific programs with individual requirements. Distribution of monthly food boxes is from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday – Friday at 49 North First St., behind Shelter Distilling. Learn more about Sharing Ministries at 970-249-8685 or sharingministries.com.
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SUMMIT COUNTY'S TAMARA POGUE IS 2024 COMMISSIONER OF THE YEAR
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Colorado Counties Inc. named Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue as the 2024 Commissioner of the Year. The award recognizes a commissioner who has made outstanding contributions to Colorado Counties Inc. and has gone above and beyond in their service for the greater good of all counties in Colorado. Colorado Counties Inc. is a nonprofit organization that assists county commissioners, mayors and council members in their work and encourages the state’s county governments to work together on common issues. Pogue was first elected to the Summit Board of County Commissioners in 2020 to a four-year term. Summit County voters reelected her to another four-year term in November. She is a 16-year resident of Summit County. In 2021, Pogue received Colorado Counties Inc.’s Freshman Commissioner of the Year award, recognizing her “leadership in driving evidence-based policy to improve accessibility to affordable housing, behavioral health services and transportation.”
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RECORD HOLIDAY TRAVEL EXPECTED TO END A BUSY YEAR
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A record number of holiday travelers are expected to close out an already busy year at airports and on roads across the U.S.:
- More than 119 million Americans are projected to travel during the Christmas and New Year's holiday period, narrowly surpassing the previous record set pre-pandemic in 2019.
- The TSA expects to screen nearly 40 million people moving through airports over the holidays — a more than 6 percent increase from last year.
- The projections round off a year that set holiday travel records for Memorial Day, July Fourth and Thanksgiving.
- 119.3 million people are projected to travel 50 miles or more from home over the year-end holiday period from Saturday, Dec. 21 to Wednesday, Jan. 1. That's three million more travelers compared to last year. The domestic travel projection narrowly surpasses the previous record set in 2019 by 64,000 travelers.
- Nearly 90 percent of holiday travelers will be driving to their destinations.
- That's 107 million people expected to be on the roads — 2.5 million more than last year.
- Travel times on the roads could be up to 30 percent longer during the holiday period.
- The worst traffic delays are expected the weekends before Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Sunday, Dec. 22 is projected to be the nation's worst day to travel.
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WHAT TOP COLLEGE SPORTS PROGRAMS ARE WORTH
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With major college sports programs collectively generating billions in revenue each year, private investors are looking to get a piece of the action. But how much is a college sports program worth? CNBC ranks the 75 most valuable college athletic programs. Ohio State University is the most valuable athletic program, worth an estimated $1.32 billion. The Buckeyes had $280 million in revenue in 2023, the most of any school. Other factors that helped propel the Buckeyes to the top of the rankings are an alumni base of over 600,000, a fan base of more than 11 million, boosters that donated nearly $60 million last year, and a football team that routinely has attendance of over 100,000 at its games.
It isn’t surprising that the top of the list is dominated by SEC and Big Ten schools — due largely to each conference’s massive media rights deals. In aggregate, the SEC is worth $13.3 billion, an average of $832 million per school; followed by the Big Ten at $13.2 billion, an average of $734 million per school; the ACC at $9.6 billion, or $562 million per school; and the Big 12, at $6.7 billion, or $420 million per school.
College Athletics Valuations 2024 – University: Valuation; Revenue; Conference; City Public/Private
- Ohio State University: $1.32 billion; $280 million; Big Ten Columbus, OH; public
- University of Texas at Austin: $1.28 billion; $271 million; SEC; Austin, TX; public
- Texas A&M University: $1.26 billion: $279 million; SEC; College Station, TX, public
- University of Michigan: $1.06 billion: $230 million Big Ten Ann Arbor, MI public
- University of Alabama $978 million: $200 million; SEC Tuscaloosa, AL public
- University of Notre Dame: $969 million: $224 million; ACC; Notre Dame, IN, private
- University of Georgia: $950 million: $210 million; SEC; Athens, GA; public
- University of Nebraska: $943 million; $205 million; Big Ten; Lincoln, NE; public
- University of Tennessee: $940 million: $202 million; SEC Knoxville, TN; public
- University of Oklahoma: $928 million: $199 million; SEC; Norman, OK; public
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MARKET UPDATE - 12/19/2024 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 12/19/2024)
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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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