The Colorado Sun — tamara@coloradosun.com
Tech+Business+Economy
What’s Working: Labor shortage or meager pay? The Colorado debate has begun.
Plus: Amazon and national fast food chains up the ante on lower-wage jobs, how much one trucking company pays drivers and ID.me’s troubled Step 6
Do you know who’s tracking your online activities and storing your data? You could soon in Colorado — maybe.
The proposed Colorado Privacy Act, which borrows from California and Virginia’s laws, gives consumers the right to tell companies not to track their personal data and delete existing information. But that doesn’t necessarily mean companies will.
What’s Working: How ID.me navigates face masks and social engineering to battle Colorado unemployment fraud
Plus: The state Department of Labor and Employment is cracking down on unemployed workers who don’t show up for job interviews or respond to job offers.
How a court ruling undoing the CDC’s eviction ban affects Coloradans waiting for rental assistance, recovery
The latest ruling that the CDC overstepped with a national eviction moratorium echoes similar legal decisions, but tenant advocates say the bans are still needed as renters wait for financial relief.
Why Antarctica relies on Centennial to find plumbers, electricians and other seasonal staff
Colorado's many links to Antarctica include a national hiring program and two Denver contractors designing McMurdo station to improve efficiencies -- and require fewer support staff in the future.
What’s Working: Colorado’s construction industry is short on workers as housing prices skyrocket
Plus: What construction jobs pay, Goodwill celebrates jobs and training and how to get a job in Antarctica this summer.
Record lumber prices are adding $35,000 to the sale price of a new home, further crunching Colorado’s housing market
A number of factors have forced lumber prices up, but many of them were around before the pandemic began.
Amazon’s first electric vans started delivering packages in the Denver area this week
The metro area is one of 16 cities planned for new Rivian delivery vans. But the EVs will stay close to distribution centers because of their limited 150-mile range.
What’s Working: Why there are at least 2,314 new technology jobs in Colorado
Plus, the latest on federal aid for restaurants and entertainment venues, fraud updates, and overpayment issues for the unemployed.
Students designed a net-zero solar home in one of Colorado’s coldest mountain towns that could help a housing crisis
The challenge started on a lark during the Solar Decathlon hosted in Denver in 2017. University of Colorado students persisted with novice crew -- and through COVID-19 -- to build a sustainable option to the lack of affordable housing in resort communities.
What’s Working: The top occupations hiring in Colorado, plus a job where “you’ll never not be employed”
Occupations with the most number of job openings tell economists one main thing: Those industries are constantly looking for workers.
A Denver community forms around murals to find hope in art, friendship and “mutual aid”
New window murals on retailer Hope Tank’s storefront bring attention to social issues while benefiting the artist, female entrepreneurs and local merchants.
What’s Working: Gig companies want workers back and are paying bonuses in Colorado
Plus: Where to find a job in Colorado, how the unemployed are getting IDme’s attention, and why small businesses shouldn’t wait to apply for another Paycheck Protection loan.
Thousands of new openings post to Colorado’s official job board each week. Here’s where they come from.
Not all jobs end up on Connecting Colorado. But finding a job or hiring for one in Colorado will always require a multi-search strategy to suss out who’s qualified and what jobs are legit.
What’s Working: Colorado’s big BYE week for unemployment, the $10,200 tax question and our ongoing economic recovery
It’s been nearly a year since the state saw a record 104,217 Coloradans file for unemployment in a single week. Here’s a look at the where we are now.
Coloradans face hours-long delays as unemployment ID verification system is required for everyone receiving benefits
As fraud runs rampant, the state is now requiring those who haven’t been verified by the IDme tool to go ahead and do so in order to continue receiving jobless benefits.
Colorado’s unemployment fund is nearly $1 billion in debt. Small businesses are worried about paying the tab.
State lawmakers have taken steps to reduce the shock among employers who must pay back the massive federal loan, but other states are pursuing alternative strategies.
Colorado faces a 20,000-applicant backlog in requests for rent help as federal eviction ban is extended
The national eviction ban was extended to June 30, and that could calm some worries of Coloradans who have been waiting months for state rental assistance.
What’s Working: Colorado sees more jobs return as some federal coronavirus aid programs are set to end
Small businesses get more time to apply for forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans, while those with reduced incomes face the March 31 end of an eviction moratorium.
Colorado’s mortgage relief program will pause after funds are used up
The state has started a separate rent-assistance program to utilize new federal relief, which provided no assistance for homeowners.
