The pressure was on. Someone, somewhere, was attacking computer systems so customers couldn’t reach certain websites. In a windowless room in Denver, Zack Privette had worked all morning with his security team to figure out what the cyber strangers were up to. “What’s happened is that we have an attacker who has been going through […]
Tamara Chuang
The Colorado Sun — tamara@coloradosun.com
Tech+Business+Economy
Email: tamara@coloradosun.com Twitter: @gadgetress
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Housing, News
What’s Working: Colorado’s economic data shows a robust recovery. Coloradans, however, are uneasy.
The signs pointing to Colorado’s recovering pandemic economy are optimistic. All the lost jobs have returned — and then some. The state’s unemployment rate is now at its lowest in two years. Businesses continue to move here, new business filings are still near record levels and the number of businesses in good standing is at […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Growth, News
What’s Working: Colorado’s blood-plasma industry grew by 170,000 square feet this week
A decline in global plasma donations during the pandemic has one Colorado company hoping to reverse the trend in order to help people with rare and chronic diseases. Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies opened a new manufacturing plant this week and plans to hire several hundred workers. But first, in economic news, two Colorado counties […]
Posted inBusiness, Equity, News, Technology
How some low-income Colorado households are getting gigabit-internet service
Federal funding to pay for internet service took off in the pandemic with programs that provided up to $50 a month to Americans who couldn’t otherwise afford a broadband connection. But even before COVID, many local internet providers had taken it upon themselves to lower the cost of broadband. There’s a push to address digital […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Transportation
What’s Working: Colorado has some of the lowest high gas prices in the U.S.
‘Twas a brutal week for the U.S. economy, especially for those with money to invest (stop checking your stocks already and distract yourself with this Dirty Dancing/Muppets Show mashup instead). In Colorado, the economic news seemed a little more upbeat. The state’s unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in April, the lowest since before the pandemic. […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Transportation
What’s Working: Colorado needs transit and truck drivers. How’s a $5,000 bonus sound?
More people are finding work and employers appear to be closer to fulfilling their job openings, but there’s still a shortage of drivers in Colorado. Of course, there’s long been a need for drivers. It’s not just a pandemic thing. A 2019 report from the American Trucking Associations laments the shortage but notes that the […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Technology
A federal program gives people $30 a month for internet. Less than a third of eligible Coloradans participate.
A federal program offering $30 to $75 each month to offset the cost of broadband internet service has attracted less than 30% of eligible users in Colorado since it launched in January. But that fraction includes 132,060 Colorado households who have enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, as of May 9. The program, which started […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Politics and Government
What’s Working: The politics of unemployment debt in Colorado
There are just a few days left of Colorado’s legislative session as lawmakers push through a flurry of bills before the session adjourns on May 11. One of the more relevant proposals to impact employers and workers statewide — and touches on why this weekly column even exists — is Senate Bill 234, which passed […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What happened when a bright star in Denver’s startup scene started to fade
This week, Liz Polizzi Oertle handed over her baby to another female founder. Not her real babies. Her kids are 8 and 10 now. It’s her other baby, her startup Nanno, which she cofounded in 2016 when her children “were tiny and I really needed babysitting,” said Polizzi Oertle, whose company provided vetted babysitters on […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: Unpacking Colorado’s “muddled” economy
Colorado may have recovered the 375,000 jobs lost in the first two months of the pandemic, but we’re not back to peak employment yet. And while new business creations remained high so far this year, delinquencies and dissolutions are growing. These and other trends were made clearer after the Secretary of State’s quarterly Business & […]