“Talk to a person, not a building,” says Alpine Bank’s president. Plus: Companies are STILL hiring, reader’s economic outlook, and more!
banking
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado’s overlooked but mighty small businesses still have time to grab a lifeline
Working for one of Colorado’s oldest family foundations, we heard panic from our community lending partners almost immediately as the COVID-19 pandemic began forcing closures: The smallest local businesses — the ones without bankers on speed dial, many nonprofits and those owned by minorities, women, veterans, immigrants — were falling through the cracks. These businesses […]
Posted inCOVID, News
Cash or card? Coronavirus further shifted society away from currency, toward digital payments
As a young bartender reliant on tips, Josh Rivero developed an early affinity for cash and envisioned one day opening his own bar, complete with ATM, that would operate on nothing but legal tender. Times changed, and when he and his wife, Anna, opened the Fika Coffee House in 2008 in downtown Parker, he noticed […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Politics and Government
5 charts showing where federal coronavirus loans went in Colorado, which industries benefited the most
More than 104,000 Colorado small businesses received $10.4 billion in federal Paycheck Protection Program loans to help tide them over during the coronavirus. The U.S. Small Business Administration, which oversaw the $660 billion federal relief program, released the data on approved loans, and The Colorado Sun spent time crunching the numbers to find out more […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
With days left to apply for a Paycheck loan, there’s still more than $126 billion available to small businesses
With four days left to apply, there’s still $126 billion available to small businesses that could benefit from a forgivable loan, or at least a low-interest one, to recover from the havoc of shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic. But are there any more businesses that want one? It’s been crickets at many Colorado banks and […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Coloradans facing threat of eviction, foreclosure cry out for relief
Despite Gov. Polis’ forceful encouragement to local governments, county courts and landlords to halt evictions, tenants still are getting threats to pay now or get out! It’s no wonder people are clamoring for rent strikes, mortgage forbearance and other measures. Coloradans for the Common Good (CCG), a broad-based, nonpartisan organizing strategy with member congregations, unions […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News
Small businesses in Colorado’s high country say the federal coronavirus stimulus has left them empty handed
As two major federal programs dedicated to helping small businesses dried up on Thursday, many Colorado entrepreneurs weren’t sure what had happened to the help they were told was on the way. Bob Starekow, who runs Silverheels Bar & Grill and Kemosabe Sushi & Sake in Frisco, applied to both the Paycheck Protection Program and […]
Posted inCartoons, Opinion
What’d I Miss?: Bigoted banking
Myra has missed 30 years of her life, due to a coma, but has found a new friendship with her young neighbor, Ossie. Together, they both are searching for their place in this world. < Previous | Start from the beginning | Next > More cartoons from The Colorado Sun
Posted inBusiness, Crime and Courts, News
Congress is weighing whether to give marijuana businesses access to banks. In Colorado, that’s already happening.
Colorado’s cannabis industry has had a chief request since marijuana was legalized: Give us access to banks. But it turns out that hundreds of the state’s pot businesses are already working with financial institutions under the close watch of federal regulators, even though marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. As many as 35 banks […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government
Bill to give legal cannabis businesses access to banking passes U.S. House
By Gene Johnson, Associated Press The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would grant legal marijuana businesses access to banking, a measure that would clear up a longstanding headache for the industry. The bill, called the SAFE Banking Act, passed 321-103 on the strength of near-unanimous support from Democrats and nearly half […]