Economy
Colorado’s COVID-19 rent assistance program sees delays, fraud as eviction moratorium is set to end Saturday
Some tenants and landlords were approved for COVID-19 rental relief months ago but have still not received a payment.
As drought in the West worsens, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in Colorado faces a dwindling water supply
Hay and corn production is down, and the Ute Mountain Ute Farm & Ranch Enterprise had to let go 50% of its employees, half of whom are tribal members who live in Towaoc, the tribe's headquarters and main town on their reservation.
Colorado Tourism Office’s new director will stay the course on sustainability, mitigating visitor impacts
Timothy Wolfe replaces Cathy Ritter, who was ousted from her six-year position in April by Pat Meyers, Colorado’s new director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade
As Colorado drought cuts hay crop, cattle ranchers face decision about culling their herds
As the drought worsens across the West and ushers in an early fire season, cattle ranchers are among those feeling the pain
How is Colorado’s new farmworkers’ rights bill being received by migrant farmworkers? With a shrug.
In fields hours away from the political pressure cooker of the Colorado legislature, Senate Bill 87 is stoking a different kind of debate.
What’s Working: Coloradans talk about worker shortages and livable wages
This week’s column explores what readers think about the current job and unemployment environment. See results of our poll in charts!
Can televised Russian face-slapping save Denver’s sports bars?
Tavern owners answer COVID-19 lull with high-tech gadgetry and quirky new offerings
What’s Working: As federal unemployment ends in 7 weeks, Colorado businesses are optimistic about their pandemic recovery
Department of Labor reveals how many unemployment accounts are on hold, businesses still struggle to find workers and a CU business school report finds that sales are back to pre-pandemic levels at half of businesses surveyed
Colorado business chambers prepared for the worst during coronavirus. It turns out things weren’t so bad.
Rampant business closures did not happen among members of local business chambers. Some say membership rose as businesses received federal aid and looked for help weathering the COVID storm.
Billionaire Phil Anschutz and his wife are suing Colorado for a tax refund. How much they want is a secret.
Anschutz and his wife, Nancy, claim that changes in the federal tax code made through the CARES Act entitle them to lower taxes in previous years
What’s Working: When a 6% unemployment rate feels like 2.5% — is there a labor shortage in Colorado?
Plus: Job perks and flexible schedules point to employers doing more to attract workers; the PUA reset; housing crises on Western Slope; and Colorado Jumpstart pays $4.1 million to the newly employed
Colorado sees claims for unemployment benefits double in June. Officials suspect fraud.
State steps up review of fraud as 26 other states end some or all federal unemployment benefits early. Colorado labor officials believe the increase is from folks in those other states.
What’s Working: The benefits of employing remote workers living in Colorado’s rural communities
Plus: More companies are excluding Coloradans from their jobs, interesting unemployment trends and a survey showing What’s Working readers are finding work.
Supporters of Colorado’s pay-transparency law eye protections for workers “blackballed” by national employers
Some big companies are refusing to hire remote workers in Colorado because of the 2019 Equal Pay Act. A Wall Street Journal article last week put a spotlight on the issue.
Struggling renters get one more month — likely the last — to postpone monthly rent payment
The national eviction moratorium was set to end on Wednesday. But even as Colorado’s rent-assistance program pays rent for the unemployed, the program has thousands still waiting.
Colorado reaches 91% rural broadband coverage as efforts to improve internet for Ute Tribes move forward
The state’s Broadband Office is also working with other rural projects, including one on the Eastern Plains that would provide gigabit fiber to more than 50,000 customers
PERA’s investments generated billions in 2020. But the Colorado pension’s financial condition worsened.
Banner stock market generated 17.4% returns on PERA’s investments. But it wasn’t enough to cover $3.1 billion in new costs the pension expects following a demographic study.
What’s Working: Colorado asks how much does that job pay? Some out-of-state employers don’t like it
A site tracking job listings that exclude Coloradans saw a 25% increase in one day. Plus: state unemployment rate shrinks to 6.2%, unemployment fraud continues, and PUA folks must prove employment.
Colorado’s economy has recovered so quickly that the legislature will have to refund taxpayers under TABOR
While state coffers have recovered and employment is increasing, low-income, Black and Hispanic workers still lag in job recovery
Off-highway vehicles are revving up locals (in a bad way) in Colorado’s remote mountain towns
Inundated with by go-anywhere motorized vehicles, local governments are struggling to find a balance between welcoming the spending by “motorheads” and keeping their towns from resembling sets for a Mad Max movie.
