Jefferson County and Grand Junction are seeking to become free-trade zones in an effort to attract more business, add jobs and help local companies offset some of the rising cost of international trade. Their applications would provide the regions with a spot for companies to store imported goods and defer or bypass tariff-duty payments. There’s […]
Grand Junction
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Education, News, Technology
All the classes, none of the Boulder: CU offers computer science degrees on Western Slope
Starting this fall, students enrolled at Western Colorado University in Gunnison can emerge with a degree from the state’s top computer science school, the University of Colorado in Boulder. It’ll cost them less over the four years compared to Boulder, and classes won’t be as crowded. Plus, it’s cheaper to rent an apartment in this […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Bureau of Land Management more likely to relocate to Denver than Grand Junction, Polis says
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis says the Bureau of Land Management is more likely to relocate its headquarters to Denver than Grand Junction, even though his administration is more supportive of the federal agency moving to the Western Slope. Either way, the Democrat said he’s “cautiously optimistic” Colorado will win the bidding war with other Western […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Outdoors
First-ever Techstars Startup Week on the Western Slope pushes innovation, investment off the Front Range
EAGLE — Justin Bradshaw and Mark Roebke knew where they wanted to be: close to the ski hills and trails in a riverside mountain town. They just had to convince investors that Colorado’s West Slope was the perfect place to anchor their global technology company. The entrepreneurs who founded Rever — the Eagle-based motorcycle navigation […]
Posted inBusiness, Growth, News
Investment in opportunity zones (tax incentives and all) is still scarce in Colorado
Last year, Kristin Lawrence was on the hunt for a place to give her pop-up science experiences a real home. She found it in Boulder, smack dab in the middle of what would soon be designated an Opportunity Zone. “I didn’t even know what Opportunity Zones were at the time,” said Lawrence, founder of The […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government
For many business groups, Colorado’s 2019 legislative session has been “very difficult” to navigate
When he heard about legislation to create a state-run paid family and medical leave plan for workers in Colorado, Scott Bright took out his calculator. “I ran the numbers and, really, the cost of it was not as large of a red flag as the effect it would have on my employees, business and clients,” […]
Posted inBusiness, Growth, News, Outdoors
Montrose wants a piece of Colorado’s $62.5 billion outdoor recreation economy with new 150-acre business campus
MONTROSE — Cynthia Lively is making $300 stainless steel pliers. She’s also buffing the burrs off freshly forged $1,500 fly-fishing reels. And she’s spinning out tiny $6 reel caps. She dances between an array of Haas automated milling, boring, cutting, drilling and tapering machines that sculpt high-end Abel and Ross Reel fly-fishing equipment with aeronautical […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors
Battle over Carbondale to Crested Butte trail begins and ends at the top of McClure Pass. Economics are why.
On the Gunnison County side of McClure Pass, the Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail is exactly that: a one-way trail from Pitkin County. And unlike residents of the Crystal River Valley who question the impacts of a trail through their narrow, remote canyon, folks on the Crested Butte side of the trail welcome the path. […]
Posted inBusiness, Growth, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Voters snap purses shut for statewide tax measures, but are good with taxing tourists and sinners
Colorado voters resoundingly rejected big statewide tax spikes for education and transportation, but mountain voters again proved they rarely balk at taxes with a provable return — especially when new levies are aimed at tourists, cigarette smokers, pot smokers, developers and second-home owners. Revenue-hungry municipalities find those taxes an easy lure when they go to […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Powderhorn ski area uses Opportunity Zone tax credits to lure deep-pocketed investors
Big investment is on tap for Powderhorn Mountain Resort, with its owners hiring a longtime resort management company to take over operations and enlisting deep-pocketed investors to help fund upgrades at the 52-year-old ski area above Grand Junction. Powderhorn owners — Denver’s Gart brothers Ken, John and Tom and resort veteran Andy Daly — last […]