Local retailers adapt to this year’s shorter holidayshopping season.
n City linkage fees
Local builders, business owners and mortgage brokers discuss linkage fees utilized by the City of GJ.
n A boutique is back
The Barn Boutique returns to Fruita after downtown Grand Junction wasn’t a good fit.
n Retail theft rising
Retail-theft arrests in GJ are up 21% this year, according to Grand Junction Police Department data.
n Delta flights return
Delta Air Lines flights resumed at Grand Junction Regional Airport on Dec. 3, 2024.
n WM invests $7.8M
On Dec. 5, WM unveiled its new 16-stall compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station during a ribbon-cutting event.
n Flooring showroom
Jason and Lauren Kusel start a new business as a franchisee of Floor Coverings International.
Grand Junction gets the Munchies
n Fruita-favorite restaurant Munchies opens in prime Grand Junction location
Owners Mike and Kimberly Searcy had the idea of opening a second Munchies location for many years, but circumstances delayed the dream. About 2 years ago, they got to work on making a Grand Junction location happen, and the results are on display near the intersection of 29 Road and D Road. See page 2
Owners Mike and Kimberly Searcy opened Munchies Burgers at 29 and D Roads in Grand Junction on Nov. 19. Photo by Tim Harty.
MORE ABOUT MUNCHIES
SO
MUCH FOR A SOFT OPENING!
Fruita-favorite diner Munchies opens in prime GJ spot
P Prescient placement
rescient, Mike Searcy is. Textbook prescient. Put-hisphoto-next-to-theword-in-the-dictionary prescient.
When he saw the lot at 383 29 Road soon after declining to pursue another lot that someone had told him would be “the best place to put a Munchies” restaurant, Searcy knew he was looking at the actual “best place.”
On that lot immediately to the south of the Golden Gate Convenience Store on one corner of the 29 Road and D Road intersection, his search for the Grand Junction home of Munchies Burgers ended. Then, the plans to buy the land and build the second Munchies owned by Searcy and his wife, Kimberly, commenced.
Grand Junction-based Bemis Built Construction broke ground April 4 of this year to build the 6,800-square-foot restaurant. And on Nov. 19 the Searcys announced on Facebook the restaurant was open for business.
Luke Oleson takes a big bite of a deep-fried pickle during his meal at Munchies Burgers on Dec. 5. Oleson, a Colorado Mesa University student, said he used to eat at Munchies Pizza & Deli in Fruita when he was in high school. He said he now lives near Whitewater and often drives into Grand Junction on 29 Road. “I saw (Munchies Burgers) was being built, didn’t know it was open until today when I drove by,” he said.
“Go 10 minutes in any direction,” Mike Searcy said, “and that services about 50,000 people.”
That population base, he said, is three times what Munchies Pizza & Deli in Fruita draws from, and the Grand Junction location does not have as much competition from nearby restaurants as the Fruita location does.
The intersection of 29 and D roads is undeniably busy with Golden Gate on one corner and a Maverik gas station and convenience store on another corner.
The traffic is bountiful for a restaurant to thrive, especially one that has the favorable reputation Munchies has built since it opened as a doughnut shop in 1980. Mike and Kimberly bought the restaurant in 1999, and Mike said his parents owned Munchies from 1982 to 1996.
But it wasn’t the reputation that brought Sara and David Kilgore, Jim and Robin Whatley, and Matteo and Madison Vattano to the Grand Junction Munchies on Day 14 of it being open for business.
Each couple gave the same reason for stopping at the restaurant, words that confirmed the foresight of Mike Searcy, who is known by friends as Munchie Mike.
The Kilgores, according to Sara Kilgore, “live down the road and saw it was open and said, ‘Hey, let’s go!’”
Robin Whatley said, “We live just off 32 Road and were looking for a new place to eat, and this was convenient.”
Continuing the refrain, Matteo Vattano said, “We live just down the street on 29 Road and had been watching, driving by and saw it finally was open.”
Of course, a great location means little if the restaurant’s food doesn’t generate repeat business.
See MUNCHIES on page 5
On Tuesday Nov. 19, when Munchies Burgers co-owner Mike Searcy turned the sign on for opening day, he was hoping for a “soft opening.” So, when lunchtime business was slow, he didn’t mind. But word got out, and come dinnertime, people aplenty found the restaurant near the corner of 29 and D roads.
“We got slammed after that. Like running out of parking, which is 130 parking spots,” said Searcy, who is known to many as Munchie Mike. “We didn’t run out of seating (that day), but we’ve had it completely full several times already.”
That’s impressive, because the 6,800-square-foot restaurant, which is about 1,800 square feet larger than Fruita’s Munchies location, seats 240 people.
THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG
Speaking of Munchies Pizza & Deli at 550 Kokopelli Drive in Fruita, Searcy said the Grand Junction location “already broke all the records Fruita had.” That’s not to diminish what Fruita’s Munchies has accomplished. After all, it has been in business nearly 45 years, and its success is what allowed Searcy and his wife, Kimberly, to build a Grand Junction location.
PLEASE BE PATIENT
The thing about being super-duper busy is it causes the cook times to increase. At a normal pace, Searcy said cook times are 10 to 12 minutes. But when the restaurant gets slammed, as is common with new restaurants, the cook times become 25 to 30 minutes.
Searcy asks patrons to please be patient, his employees are doing their best under difficult circumstances, especially when much of the help is still being trained.
NEED A JOB?
When asked how many people Munchies Burgers employs, Searcy said he isn’t sure, because he’s still hiring people. He estimated he has 45 employees now, and he wants to increase that number to 55.
AVOID THE RUSH
Skip the peak times for dining, and Munchies Burgers stills has customers, but mid-afternoon for a late lunch or early dinner should make for quicker arrival of meals.
DON’T LET THE NAME FOOL YOU
The Grand Junction restaurant is named Munchies Burgers. The Fruita restaurant is named Munchies Pizza & Deli. But rest assured: You can get a burger at the pizza joint and a pizza at the burger joint. Searcy said they “pretty well have the same menu.”
PHOTO AND STORY BY TIM HARTY
Left to right, Madison and Matteo Vattano dine at Munchies Burgers on Dec. 2.
Short on time, long on resolve
Local retailers adapt to this year’s shorter holiday-shopping season
Tim Harty The Business Times
November 28 remains the latest day Thanksgiving can land on the calendar, but it’s not the unwelcome houseguest it used to be for retail stores.
Thanksgiving falling on Nov. 28 as it did this year leaves a mere 26 days of shopping until Christmas. But the shortest possible traditional holiday-shopping season is softened by the drastic redefining of Black Friday sales in recent years. No longer is Black Friday reserved only for the day after Thanksgiving. Its name gets attached to sales throughout October and early November for some retailers.
Those early Black Friday sales are another challenge that is harder to combat for small, local businesses than for the national retailers who populate most large malls. So, they adapt the best they can.
At Board Fox Games, 623 Main St. in Grand Junction, co-owner Trudi Wagner isn’t one to offer sales, but she does on Black Friday and the next day, Small Business Saturday.
“That’s usually about the only sale we do during the year because our margins aren’t good enough for us to be able to do sales all the time, so we kind of take a hit,” she said.
Even without early Black Friday sales, she had to make an adjustment long before the traditional start of holiday shopping.
“I’ve had people shopping as early as September for their Christmas shopping,” she said, “so I had to get my giftwrap table set up early this year, which was was fine. Yeah, I’m noticing a lot of people are earlier ... so I’m expecting to see slightly lower numbers for the (Black Friday) weekend because we had higher numbers weeks prior.”
Kristen Seymour owns two businesses within a block of each other in downtown Palisade:
• Harlow Lifestyle & Gift, 109 Third St., which she describes as “more of our general and unique gifts, more of your standard gift shop.”
• And West Slope Mercantile at 237 Main St. is “more of a Colorado lifestyle, outdoorsy store with clothing, souvenirs, outdoorsy things,” she said.
Like Wagner, Seymour is not one to offer sales at her small stores, but this year she’s relenting and offering 20 percent off during the month of December in each store.
“We do put Christmas out earlier,” she added. “Because Hobby Lobby does, we kind of have to.”
Seymour anticipates a “busier than normal” couple weeks at her stores, but her early start on reaching holiday shoppers took place in other venues. She went to several of Palisade’s plentiful wineries – Carboy Winery at Mt. Garfield Estate; Sauvage Spectrum; and The Ordinary Fellow – and set up “pop-ups” to display and sell items from her stores.
Seymour also set up shop at a Boozy Book Fair, a throwback to 1980s and ’90s book fairs, hosted by The Ordinary Fellow.
Enstrom Candies, 701 Colorado Ave. in Grand Junction, doesn’t have to be so creative. The confectioner has been in business since 1960 and claims to make “the world’s finest almond toffee.” With the esteemed reputation it has earned, Enstrom Candies generally doesn’t have promotions for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday, according to co-owner Jim Simons.
Enstrom Candies has become well-versed at adjusting to
shorter holiday-shopping seasons. As a result, it doesn’t see much difference in revenue.
Simons wrote in an email interview, “We know that we will have to process and ship the same amount of candy in a shorter period, meaning that we need more help in both customer service to take the orders and in the mail room to get this accomplished.”
If Enstrom Candies has to hire more people for the warehouse in order to ship more packages per day during the short season, that’s what it will do, Simons wrote. See SHOP on page 16
The Business Times 609 North Ave., Suite 5 Grand Junction, CO 81501 (970) 424-5133 www.thebusinesstimes.com
Customer Blake Leany, left, checks out at Board Fox Games in downtown Grand Junction with assistance from store employee Lucas Kenney. Among the items Leany bought were Magic cards and sleeves for the cards. Store co-owner Trudi Wagner said people started Christmas shopping in September at her store, which has been in business since 2011. Photo by Tim Harty.
assistance from cards. has
MUNCHIES
Continued from page 2
All three couples indicated they will be back.
“Oh yeah,” Sara Kilgore said. “We’re planning our next meal right now.”
She and David brought their son, Pete, with them that day, but daughter Kirsten couldn’t make it, to which Sara said, “She needs to come try it.”
Jim Whatley said his salisbury steak is “very good, real good.”
Robin Whatley took the first bite into her patty melt, then said, “Yeah, it’s very good.” After her second bite she offered, “Most excellent.”
Madison Vattano said of her double cheeseburger, “It’s great. I’m so excited. And the price!”
Matteo Vattano echoed the price sentiment, saying, “It’s hard to find a burger under $10. My burger was under 10 bucks, both of them were.”
And his opinion about the bacon burger he ate was summed up with this: “I’m very impressed with the beef. I’ve got to ask them where they get their beef.”
Those are the reviews the Searcys hoped to get when they decided to build a second Munchies and put it in Grand Junction. That was something Mike said he has wanted to do for a long time, but other needs got in the way.
The original Munchies in Fruita was at 319 W. Aspen Ave., and Mike said, “We needed to build a new location in Fruita first.”
The Fruita Munchies now resides at 550 Kokopelli Blvd., it’s home since February 2019.
The dream of the second location began to dim after the Covid pandemic wreaked havoc in 2020 and 2021. Mike was in his early 50s then and said he turned an eye toward semi-retirement, but Kimberly wasn’t ready to do the same, so Mike reassessed his future.
Now, at 54 years old with two Munchies restaurants to run, retirement looks farther away instead of closer.
Being prescient, he probably knew that was going to happen.
State Farm · Bloomington, IL LaVonne Gorsuch Ins Agcy Inc LaVonne Gorsuch, Agent 501 Highway 50 Grand Jct, CO 81503-1907 Bus: 970-243-1117 www.lavonnegorsuch.com
Munchies Burgers opened its Grand Junction location on Nov. 19 at 383 29 Road. Photo by Tim Harty.
City considers linkage fees
Brandon Leuallen
The Business Times
During a stakeholder meeting Nov. 19, interim City Manager Andrea Phillips and Community Development Director Tamra Allen presented data about how linkage fees would be calculated and utilized by the City of Grand Junction.
Stakeholders at the meeting included local builders, business owners and mortgage brokers. The meeting is available at engagegj. org/impact-fees-study, titled “Focus on Affordable Housing Linkage Fee.”
Allen said, “Our ultimate goal is to establish the linkage between nonresidential development in the city and the need to provide housing at certain income levels. What the wages are, the salaries are, where there’s a gap, there’s a potential role for the city to provide support in the form of impactfee funding.”
She also clarified charging linkage fees to residential buildings is not being recommended.
“Early on, there was talk about having a linkage fee on residential development,” Allen said. “Our recommendation here is that this should be on nonresidential development, given the nature of the economy here. This is not typically where a linkage fee is assessed on residential development. It is usually in tourist towns, where permanent employment is generated off of residential events.”
The city hired TischlerBise, a fiscal, economic and planning consulting firm located in Bethesda, MD, and Boise, ID, to study fees and recommend new potential fees and potential ways to increase existing fees.
TischlerBise claims on its website it is “the only national firm focused exclusively on analyzing the cost-of-growth for local governments and finding ways to raise revenue without raising taxes.”
The proposed linkage fee would be about $10 per square foot for retail building projects. For example, one stakeholder calculated that it would add about $1 million to the cost of a large retail building like Costco.
Fees per square foot would be approximately $5.50 for office buildings, $1 for industrial buildings, $6.50 for institutional buildings and $4.50 for lodging buildings.
Asked if the city had studied the impact in other communities with linkage fees, the presenter said they did not have that currently.
One attendee said she contacted other communities with linkage fees, and it had really halted the new building. Allen said “it would be great to get that information if she had already made those contacts. It would be helpful for staff to bring it forward to council.”
One stakeholder who said he is a builder said, “From a builder’s perspective it’s going to make development more difficult in the community.” And he added, “Builders are just going to do business outside of city limits.”
Later in the meeting there were some more heated comments from the builder, who said, “It’s getting to be a joke. I’m so disappointed in the city of Grand Junction. Every time I turn around there are more fees.”
Never Should’ve Left Barn Boutique returns to Fruita after GJ wasn’t good fit
Nov. 19, Phillips and Director Tamra linkage fees the City of included mortgage engagegj.
“Focus on goal is to nonresidential need to income levels. are, where role for the of impactlinkage fees to recommended. about having development,” here is that development, here. This is assessed usually in employment events.” a fiscal, consulting firm Boise, ID, to potential fees existing fees. website it is exclusively for local to raise would be about building projects. calculated that cost of a would be buildings, $1 institutional buildings. the impact fees, the currently. contacted other and it had Allen said “it information if she would be council.” a builder it’s going difficult in the “Builders are just limits.” were some the builder, joke. I’m so Junction. more fees.”
Tim Harty The Business Times
The feeling was familiar, comforting and satisfying for Emily Kempton when she opened The Barn Boutique’s doors to customers in September at 210 E. Aspen Ave. in Fruita.
As it should. She and her women’s clothing store had been there before.
The Barn Boutique resided for a year in that commercial space until the lure of Grand Junction’s downtown pulled Kempton and her store away. Kempton’s thinking was rational for making the move, opening the store in August 2023 at 441 Colorado Ave. in Grand Junction, but the results were disappointing.
So, when Kempton’s former landlord at the Fruita location, Jeremiah Windscheffel, told her the 1,800-square-foot space is available if she’s interested, she had a quick and definitive response: The Barn Boutique is moving back to Fruita.
“The first day back felt like it was so good to be home,” Kempton said. “Almost every day since I’ve been back, I hear from our customers they’re so glad we came back.”
Rather than view the time in Grand Junction with regret, Kempton sees it as a learning experience. Just like her first year in Fruita was a learning experience. Just like being a businesswoman at all has been a learning experience.
Kempton graduated college with a degree in communications and thoughts of being a journalist. But she and husband Chris Kempton had three kids, and Chris was frequently away from home, working in the oil fields.
“I learned journalism and being a present parent would be very difficult,” she said.
That led to Emily working from home, doing direct sales for women’s clothing company LuLaRoe for six years.
“As my customer base grew, so did my goals,” Kempton said. “It became more difficult to serve my customers out of my home, and I knew it was time to make the leap to a real store front.”
She opened The Barn Boutique in Fruita in August 2022. Then began her real business education.
“My first year at my Fruita location was a year of learning,” Kempton said. “We did well, but winter was tougher than I thought it would be. The majority of my customer base was located in Grand Junction, so I assumed moving to downtown GJ would be a better way to serve my customers.
“Boy was I wrong! I spent a year barely scraping by in downtown GJ. I found it harder to network or find a pulse on the community, my customers struggled with parking and access to get downtown, and it just wasn’t a good fit.”
Rent per square foot was lower in Grand Junction than Fruita, but everything else seemed to defy the logic that led her there. Kempton welcomed a return to Fruita, and she said Fruita has welcomed back The Barn Boutique.
“Fruita is so unique in its pride and sense of community,” she said. “The chamber (of commerce) in Fruita as well as other businesses in the area are very welcoming and collaborative. And, it’s such a fun downtown to walk around and spend a day. Most of my customers actually prefer to come to downtown Fruita for how easy it is to access.”
Kempton said her monthly revenues are up 35 percent in the three months she has been back at 210 E. Aspen Ave.
“I call last year my year of learning about how to dig deep and really understand my numbers, my customer base, and the importance of location,” she said. “Now I feel with two years of business under my belt, and to be back ‘home’ in Fruita, I am excited to stay put and really grow and serve all the women who walk through my door.”
MORE ABOUT THE BARN BOUTIQUE
CLOTHES FOR ALL WOMEN
Store owner Emily Kempton said The Barn Boutique is intentional about bringing in brands that offer a variety of sizes.
“We try to cater to both curvy, plus-sized women as well as petite smaller women,” she said. “Size 16 is the average size of the American woman, and yet many women’s clothing stores don’t go past a size 12. We want women to be able to find everyday, comfortable fashion and feel like they can be part of a community when shopping with us.”
Kempton said her goal when selling clothes has always been “to help women show up confidently in whatever season of life they’re in, and having cute and comfortable clothes that actually fit, helps.”
IT’S NOT JUST CLOTHES
The Barn Boutique provides more than clothes for its customers as Kempton said she enjoys bringing women together to share life’s ups and downs.
“We do a lot of real talk in both The Barn and in our closed facebook community,” she said. “We talk about raising kids, relationships when they’re great and when they’re tough, loving our bodies in their changing shapes. All the things. And we try to find ways to regularly be involved and strengthen our community.”
CLASS ALWAYS IN SESSION
Kempton speaks frequently about learning lessons as an entrepreneur, and even the hard ones come with rewards.
“I’ve learned that failure is part of success,” she said. “I have gotten really comfortable knowing that it’s not about how many missteps I make, but instead it’s about how much I can grow through what I go through.
“Do I learn from the mistakes and move on? Do I show up more confidently the next time? I’ve learned to stay in my own lane, and we truly are better when we cheer everyone on. There is enough room for all of us to succeed, so my neighbors aren’t my competition, they’re my collaborators. I want us all to win.” F
Emily Kempton, owner of The Barn Boutique, models an outfit available at her women’s clothing store in Fruita. Photo courtesy of The Barn Boutique.
Left to right, The Barn Boutique owner Emily Kempton, employee Kerry Wells and employee Brooke Brennan take a selfie on opening night of The Barn Boutique’s return to Fruita’s downtown. Photo courtesy of The Barn Boutique.
Retail theft is on the rise
Brandon Leuallen The Business Times
Heading into the holidays, retail-theft arrests in Grand Junction are up 21 percent this year, according to Grand Junction Police Department data.
Why Is Retail Theft On The Rise?
Commander Sean Crocker of the Grand Junction Police Department said he believes factors contributing to the rise in retail theft include the economy and people falling on hard times.
He also mentioned a lot of large retailers have significantly backed off their loss-prevention policies because of employees getting hurt when a shoplifter physically resists an attempt to stop the thief from going out the door with merchandise.
When shoplifters know a store won’t try to stop them, they become emboldened. But rather than accept greater losses in the name of employee safety, Crocker thinks retail stores should just pick up the phone and call the police. He emphasized the police department can help.
“We would be able to accomplish some of the same goals,” he said. “We would protect their merchandise and also we would be able to prosecute those people because, depending on the dollar amount, it can go all the way up to a felony.”
Diminishing Deterrents
That felony charge is another factor shoplifters have become acutely aware of in Colorado. Stolen items must be valued at $2,000 or more to be classified as a felony.
“When I first came to the PD in 2004, that dollar amount was $576 for a felony,” Crocker said. “It has drastically increased over time.” Lesser crimes usually mean lesser penalties, which negate the deterrence effect that a felony might have.
Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein said many theft cases involve amounts just under $2,000, because thieves are adding up what they think the dollar amount is for the items in their cart or their hands. If their math suggests it’s less than $2,000, they will try to exit the store. If they get caught, they figure it will be a misdemeanor.
Rubinstein said in misdemeanor cases, individuals are often issued a ticket rather than being arrested.
“So, not only do they not face a felony charge, but they are also not going to jail that day,” he said.
In Colorado, a misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. A felony, by contrast, involves a minimum fine of $1,000, up to $100,000, and up to three years in prison.
Rubinstein said felony theft charges also trigger Colorado’s habitual-criminal statutes, where prior felony convictions can enhance the sentence.
See THEFT on page 10
theft
retail-theft 21 percent Junction
The Rise?
of the Department said he the rise in and people
of large backed off because of shoplifter to stop door with store won’t emboldened. losses in the Crocker thinks the phone emphasized the accomplish said. “We and also those people amount, felony.”
another factor aware of valued at a felony.
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carries a jail and a contrast, $1,000, up to prison. charges habitual-criminal convictions
page 10
Theft
Continued from page 8
“The only misdemeanors that have a repeat offender enhancement are domestic violence and DUI,” Rubinstein said. “You could have 50 prior misdemeanor thefts, and it doesn’t enhance your sentence.”
Rubinstein added that petty offenses at the state level, such as retail theft under $300, have penalties that do not increase regardless of how many times an offender is caught within a year, as long as the thefts are not on the same day.
“You could steal $299 every day for the entire year and never face more than 10 days (in jail) on any one of them,” he said.
Where Is Retail Theft Happening?
Crocker said there isn’t one particular area of the city that stands out for retail theft. It can be anywhere, from the downtown area to the Mesa Mall area to the Rimrock Marketplace, where large retailers such as Walmart, Lowe’s and Hobby Lobby reside.
“I don’t think you can really narrow it down to any one geographical domain,” Crocker said, adding he thinks it’s the same for the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and its jurisdiction. For that matter, he said, cities like Montrose and Delta deal with similar retail-theft issues.
One trend Crocker identified is thieves working in groups and traveling around a region. That’s why collaborating with other law-enforcement agencies can make a big difference.
“Once they shoplift something and they leave, it’s hard to track them down, right?” Crocker said. “But if we’re able to kind of get it, not really get ahead of them, but stay closely behind them, we’re able to give that information on to other counties and other jurisdictions. We have Utah just to the west of us, so we have partnerships with agencies around us and we work very closely with them.”
Similarly, Rubinstein said the shoplifting rings that Mesa County is seeing are not giant, cartel-level rings.
Rather, he said, “It’s three or four drug dealers or drug addicts that have figured out that to get to the next step, they will need to work together in conjunction to create a distraction, such as doing something that gets security going over to one part of the store, and then they run out of the building with a TV.
“So, it’s a coordinated effort, but it’s not the organized theft rings that they are seeing on the Front Range where you can bounce to five different Walmarts in an afternoon.”
Rise in Repeat Offenders
The Grand Junction Police Department provided records for repeat offenders, who are defined as anyone who has been arrested for shoplifting two times or more in the calendar year. For 2023, its data lists 30 repeat offenders of shoplifting. As of Nov. 15 this year, the data lists 41 repeat offenders for shoplifting, roughly a 37 percent increase.
Rubinstein said he mostly sees repeat offenses committed by people who are using and selling drugs.
“They will regularly steal TVs and other electronics that are easily able to be fenced and sold and use that to get drug money, so they can go get their initial supply,” Rubinstein said. “They’ll go buy some drugs and sell some of them to make enough profit to feed their habit for a while.”
The criminal lifestyle sometimes means getting criminalized.“It’s not uncommon in the drug trade for them to get their money and drugs stolen by other drug users or dealers,” Rubinstein said. “So, they’re right back to Walmart or Target to get some seed money to start up again. Usually, they will work together.”
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Preventing retail theft
The Grand Junction Police Department has a few tips for preventing retail theft.
GJPD Commander Sean Crocker said store presentation makes a difference. For example:
• Don’t place the store’s registers in a confined area such as the back of the store, which prevents employees from detecting shoplifting and allows a thief quicker, unimpeded access to an exit.
• Don’t display high-dollar items right next to store exits.
Crocker also recommended communicating with other nearby retailers, alerting them if your store has been victimized by shoplifters, or a customer paid with a counterfeit bill.
Crocker said sharing information is huge for protecting other businesses and potentially catching a thief who got too greedy. And don’t forget to promptly notify law enforcement.
“It’s really important for business owners to report incidents quickly and provide as much information as possible, such as physical descriptions, so we can take over from there,” he said. “Now, can we prevent everything? No. But hopefully we can stop somebody and slow them down a little bit.”
GOT CHAIRS?
Delta resumes flying out of Grand Junction
Delta Air Lines flights, operated by SkyWest Airlines, resumed at Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT) on Dec. 3.
The direct flights to Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) restore nonstop connectivity between the two destinations and provide GJT travelers with expanded hub connectivity.
“Restoring connectivity to Delta’s Salt Lake City hub has been the top air-servicedevelopment goal for the airport since Delta service was suspended in January 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Grand Junction Regional Airport Authority Board Vice Chairwoman Linde Marshall. “I want to recognize the significant role the Grand Junction Regional Air Service Alliance played in bringing Delta service back. We would not be here without them.”
Delta Air Lines will become the third network carrier to serve GJT, and SLC will be the fourth connecting hub with nonstop service from GJT. Delta flights are scheduled to operate twice daily most days throughout the year on a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ550, which has 10 firstclass seats.
The first daily flight is scheduled to depart in the early morning, and the second flight will depart midday. This will enable travelers to have access to the largest number of connections at Delta’s hub at Salt Lake City.
The Salt Lake City hub will provide travelers with one-stop connections to 97 destinations, including international gateways such as Amsterdam, Paris, London-Heathrow and, beginning next June, Seoul, South Korea.
Colorado’s elected officials, including United States Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, actively worked to retain the service during the pandemic, and have supported efforts to support restoration of the service since it was suspended in 2022.
“We made the case directly to Delta that flights to rural airports like this are a lifeline that keep our communities connected. Relieved to see they were listening and resumed service,” Hickenlooper said.
The new Delta service is estimated to add an additional $34 million to the nearly $1 billion annual local economic impact of the Grand Junction Regional Airport, which is on pace for its busiest year ever, with 22-consecutive months of year-overyear passenger growth.
Grand Junction Regional Airport now has nonstop service to eight destinations on five airlines.
Mesa County real estate sales increase in November
Mesa County real-estate transactions were up 7 percent in November this year over November 2023, and the value of those sales was up 45.1 percent over the same month a year ago.
The data, compiled by Fidelity National Title Marketing Director Jenn Hardey from Mesa County Clerk and Recorder records, shows 291 sales in November, which were 19 more than the previous November and two more than October.
Meanwhile, the November transactions totaled $164.5 million, up from $113.4 million in November 2023. October sales were valued at $136.96 million.
Among this November’s sales were 19 transactions valued at more than $1 million, totaling $52.3 million. The top three transactions for value were:
• Vacant land, size undetermined, was sold to 541 29
1/2 LLC and FLP 40 Amina Peak LLC for $11.6 million.
• A 24,732 square-foot apartment complex, Crossroads Park Apartments, at 2764 Crossroads Blvd. and 2763 Compass Drive, was sold to Crossroads Partners for $6.15 million.
• Elwyn G J Industrial Park was sold to LVPCO Holdings for $5 million.
In November last year, there were nine transactions worth more than $1 million for a total of $18 million.
In October, 14 transactions over $1 million for a total of $30.9 million were recorded.
Darah Galvin, brokerage operations manager at Bray & Company, said the November numbers suggest home sellers are accepting that any improvements in mortgage rates are going to take time. The mortgage rates are still going to be in the high sixes, so they’re saying, “OK, it’s
time to list and sell my home.”
That is showing in the active real estate listings with November’s 610 listings marking the third straight month they broke the 600 mark in Mesa County. November’s listings also are 17.5 percent higher than November 2023.
Galvin said two other things she’s is seeing are:
• The “sold” price of homes is about 98 percent of the list price, meaning the seller “is likely to take a price reduction once.”
• Fewer contracts are waiving inspections. “It’s not like it was during Covid,” Galvin said.
On the foreclosure front, 18 foreclosures were filed in Mesa County in November, one fewer than November 2023 and eight fewer than a month ago.
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SHOP
Continued from page 4
While Enstrom Candies ships its products around the nation, it also sells plenty in its stores in Grand Junction, Montrose and the Denver area.
Seymour said she is “seeing a lot of chatter online about shopping local,” and she hopes those people are true to their words. Wagner’s experience suggests they will be.
She said Black Friday isn’t what it was 10, 15, 20 years ago, but she has seen a pleasant change emerge from the upheaval of holiday-shopping tradition.
“I have noticed, just in the last four years or so, there is definitely a mindset for Small Business Saturday,” she said. “There’s a lot of people that are like, ‘I’m only gonna shop local,’ and, ‘I wanna support local.’ … They’re either doing all local or handmade stuff and things like that, which is really kind of nice, because it’s more what the season, to me, should be about.”
Businesswoman Kristen Seymour, stands in the doorway of Harlow Lifestyle and Gift with an armful of stuffed animals that she sells in the store, one of two businesses she owns in downtown Palisade. Seymour made it a point this fall to get more exposure for her stores by setting up pop-ups at Palisade wineries to sell merchandise.
Photo courtesy of Kristen Harlow
in its stores she hopes a pleasant for Small shop local,’ things like about.”
WM Invests $7.8M in Sustainable Operations in GJ
WM of Colorado, formerly Waste Management, on Dec. 5 unveiled its new 16-stall compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station during a ribbon-cutting event at its 5.74-acre Grand Junction campus, which is home to WM’s local hauling site and area recycling facility.
The company has invested $7.8 million in CNG infrastructure, the purchase of 14 cleaner running CNG collection trucks, and necessary upgrades to the hauling site.
WM Senior District Manager Brad Kloos spoke to the group assembled for the event and said, “Twenty-five years ago, WM made our first significant sustainability investment in the Grand Junction community with the launch of a recycling processing facility. Today, we are proud to take another major step forward as the first waste hauler on the Western Slope to build a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station and convert our fleet to 100 percent CNG-powered trucks. This nearly $8 million investment underscores our commitment to reducing our environmental impact and supporting Colorado’s sustainability goals.”
WM CNG trucks are powered by engines that emit nearly zero particulate emissions, cut greenhouse gas emissions, save diesel fuel and run significantly quieter. To further conserve fuel and reduce emissions, the engines of these CNG trucks are designed to automatically turn off after five minutes of idling.
WM Senior District Manager Brad Kloos cut the ribbon on Dec. 5 at the grand opening ceremony held in front of one of the company’s new, cleaner-running, compressed-natural-gas collection trucks.
Local couple brings flooring showroom to your home
Customers go to flooring showrooms, not the other way around.
Until now, that is.
Grand Junction residents Jason and Lauren Kusel started their new business as a franchisee of Floor Coverings International with a mission to bring a flooring showroom to the customer.
Floor Coverings International, based in Norcross, GA, specializes in the mobileshowroom approach, making it easy to onestop shop, surrounded by the homeowner’s furnishings, color palette and existing layout.
The Kusels franchise is named Floor Coverings International of Western Slope & Rockies, which reflects the area they will service.
The Kusels will offer 3,000-plus flooring samples in its mobile showroom.
“No more waiting at big box stores,” Jason Kusel said. “No more dragging samples home only to find that they just don’t blend with your existing decor. No more ‘back to the store for more.’”
Jason and Lauren say this was the main attraction to the business for them, and there is no other business like this in the area.
Jason Kusel, owner and design associate, brings 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Lauren Kusel, owner and office manager, spent the past four years in elementary education. Their previous careers equipped them with invaluable experience in customer service, communication and collaboration.
The Kusels decided to embrace entrepreneurship to achieve a better worklife balance and the flexibility to create their own culture.
“Floor Coverings International appealed to us because of its proven business model, scalability and the opportunity to operate a small business with a national reputation,” Lauren said. “It was time for Jason and me to build something of our own in a booming industry: home improvement.”
One of the trends that excites the Kusels the most is the advancement of luxury vinyl. This versatile material offers customers an affordable option without compromising on design and durability.
For a consultation go to: Floor Coverings International of Western Slope & Rockies, or call 970-609-9800.
Lauren and Jason Kusel, owners of Floor Coverings International of Western Slope & Rockies.
showrooms, Jason and business Coverings bring a customer.
International, based the mobileeasy to onehomeowner’s existing layout. named Floor Western Slope area they 3,000-plus showroom. box stores,” dragging samples don’t blend ‘back to the main and there area. design experience Lauren Kusel, the past education. Their them with customer service, embrace better workto create appealed business model, operate a reputation,” Jason and me booming the Kusels luxury vinyl. customers an compromising on Coverings Rockies, or
Beware: AI makes online scams more prevalent
Alpine Bank is calling on consumers and businesses to be extra vigilant this holiday season in response to cybercriminals using increasingly advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology to steal from unsuspecting shoppers.
Alpine Bank is warning Coloradans that criminals are now using new AI technology in several startling and convincing ways to fool people into losing their identity and money:
•Cloning near-perfect voices and identities that sound like family members, employers or trusted contacts, often pairing these with fake caller IDs.
•Forging perfect copies of financial and other trusted websites, which are used to steal login credentials from unsuspecting users.
•Hijacking smart phones and other devices with malware that is capable of intercepting calls and transactions.
•Generating fake QR codes that are placed over real ones on parking meters, restaurant menus or advertisements, which quickly take over a person’s smart phone to steal personal financial information.
“This is not the phishing email of 10 years ago,” Alpine Bank President Glen Jammaron said. “These scams are incredibly convincing and often indistinguishable from the real thing. Staying vigilant is no longer optional, it’s essential to protect yourself and your loved ones.”
Alpine Bank offers the following guidelines to help consumers avoid falling victim to these sophisticated scams:
•Never click on links or phone numbers from emails or texts you weren’t expecting. Always call companies including Alpine Bank by dialing the number you know to be legitimate.
•Never share personal financial information or passwords to anyone on the phone or online, regardless of who they claim to be. Like other banks, Alpine Bank will never ask you for your login credentials.
•Avoid clicking on ads on social media, and never do so from retailers you don’t know or for deals that seem too good to be true. (One way: Check out an unknown online retailer by searching for its name and the word “fraud” next to it.)
• Stick with trusted retailers and verify the websites you visit are legitimate and secure. Make double-sure the name of the website is correct, with the right spelling and that a padlock symbol appears in the web browser’s address bar.
•Monitor your bank and financial accounts regularly for unauthorized charges.
•Don’t succumb to pressure tactics demanding money or gift cards. If it’s too good to be true, it is.
•Report all suspicious activity including texts, emails, phone or video calls to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www. ic3.gov) or the Federal Trade Commission (reportfraud.ftc.gov).
• Contact Alpine Bank immediately at 970-625-7174 or visit your local branch if you suspect you have disclosed information concerning your Alpine Bank accounts.
Visit Alpine Bank’s fraud information webpage at alpinebank.com/fraud-prevention.
INDICATORS AT A GLANCE
n Business filings
t New business filings in Colorado, 41,622 in the third quarter, down 5.3% from the third quarter of 2023.
n Foreclosures
t Foreclosure filings in Mesa County, 18 in November, down from 19 in November 2023.
s Foreclosure sales in Mesa County, 1 in November same as November 2023.
n Real estate
t Real estate transactions in Mesa County, 289 in November, up 6 percent from November 2023.
s Dollar volume of real estate transactions in Mesa County $136.9 million in November, up 21.2 percent from November 2023.
n Sales
s Sales and use tax collections for mesa County, $4.74 million for October, up 0,8% from October 2023
n Unemployment
t Mesa County Unemployment
4.4% for October, up 0.2%
t Grand Junction Unemployment
4.4% for October, up 0.2%
n Colorado Unemployment
4.1% for October, up 0.1%
t United States Unemployment
4.1% for October, unchanged
2025 Supreme Court cases to watch
In my previous two columns I discussed seasonal and holiday issues that employers may face. Here it is early December, and I am already looking forward to the new year. In this article, I will briefly recap cases from the United States Supreme Court’s last term that may affect employers, and I will look forward to cases pending in the current term of which employers should be aware.
In Muldrow v. City of St. Louis, Missouri (April 17, 2024), the Supreme Court unanimously held that a police sergeant alleging the City discriminated against her by transferring her to a less desirable position did not need to show that the transfer resulted in significant, serious, substantial or any heightened level of harm to prove discrimination. It was sufficient that the transfer resulted in some harm to Ms. Muldrow. This case bears watching. The holding applied narrowly to discriminatory job transfers, but it may apply more broadly to other workplace discrimination claims. And while the Supreme Court’s decision was unanimous, the justices issued multiple concurring opinions on how to define and measure the correct measure of harm.
The big case this year was not an employment case, but it may significantly affect rules issued by federal agencies that apply and enforce federal workplace laws. In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (June 28, 2024), the Supreme Court struck down the longstanding “Chevron deference” standard. In the 1984 case, Chevron USA Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc., the Supreme Court held that when a statute was ambiguous or had not directly addressed an issue before the court, the court should defer to a federal agency’s permissible interpretation of the statute. This standard brought consistency to judicial review of agency rules and actions, but it allowed federal agencies significant power to set workplace regulations.
Under Loper Bright’s new standard, courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within the authority granted by the statute in question and may not defer to an agency interpretation of the law simply because the statute is ambiguous. Federal agencies have relied in the past on Chevron deference to issue broad rules on workplace matters that many observers feel reach far past what Congress intended in passing workplace legislation.
Employers and employer organizations are expected to challenge broad regulations such as the Department of Labor’s new rules on tip pooling, overtime, the classification of workers as independent contractors and the National Labor Relations Boards definition of joint employment.
Now, let us move ahead to the current term.
In E.M.D. Sales Inc. v. Carrera, the Supreme Court will examine what evidence an employer must show to prove the employer properly classified an employee as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime pay requirements. Employers frequently ask me to review jobs to determine whether the employee filling the
position should be non-exempt and receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek or if the employee can be classified as exempt from receiving overtime pay. I always remind employers that the burden is on them to prove an exemption applies, and if in doubt, the employer should classify the employee as non-exempt to avoid expensive liability for back wages and legal fees.
But what is that burden? The Fourth Circuit held in the current case that an employer must show “clear and convincing” evidence that an exemption applies to an employee. To the contrary, several other federal appeals courts, including the Tenth Circuit in which we reside, hold that the employer only needs to show a preponderance of evidence to support the classification. This is the normal standard of proof in a civil case seeking monetary damages. The Supreme Court will resolve this conflict.
Most court observers believe the Supreme Court will overturn the heightened burden the Fourth Circuit places on employers defending employee-classification decisions. Even the Biden administration, normally deferential to employee claims, has filed a brief with the Court asking it to overturn the Fourth Circuit.
Employers may remember that in 2016, a Texas federal court stopped implementation of a Department of Labor (DOL) rule that would have significantly increased the salary required to support classification of an employee as exempt. The court questioned whether the FLSA allowed any salary-level test since the FLSA never mentions a salary-level test, only requiring that an employer pay an exempt employee on a salary basis and perform duties sufficient to support exempt status. Not to be deterred, the DOL proposed a more modest increase to $684 per week that survived a court challenge, was upheld by the Fifth Circuit just this year, and is still in effect.
But the DOL is back. A new DOL rule that would have again significantly increased the salary threshold for exemption would have taken effect on Jan. 1, 2025, but again, a Texas district court vacated the rule on Nov. 15, 2024, in Texas v. Department of Labor. The court acknowledged that the Fifth Circuit decision allowed some minimum salary-level test. But the court held the pending rule effectively eliminated the duties test, established by the FLSA, and replaced it with a salary-level test not established by the FLSA. The court cited Loper Bright, discussed above, and stated that where an agency’s authority is ambiguous, “abdication in favor of the agency is least appropriate.”
Colorado is one of six states that sets its own salary-level test far higher than the federal standard. But Colorado employers will still watch whether the DOL appeals this case to the Supreme Court and whether the Supreme Court continues to limit deference to federal agencies that set and enforce workplace standards.
Dean Harris is Western Slope area managing attorney for the Employers Council. The Employers Council counsels, represents and trains member employers in all phases of employment relationships. Contact Harris at dharris@employerscouncil.org or (970) 852-0190. F
Dean Harris
Common HR mistakes and how to avoid them
Small businesses often face unique challenges when it comes to human resources. Here are the top four HR mistakes that can lead to significant issues with employee relations, legal complications and reduced productivity:
Ed Krey
n Inadequate Documentation of Employee Performance
One of the most common mistakes is failing to keep detailed records of employee performance. This includes both positive achievements and areas needing improvement. Without proper documentation, it becomes challenging to conduct fair evaluations during reviews, promotions, or disciplinary actions. Accurate records are essential for making informed decisions and maintaining transparency.
Example: Imagine a small retail business where an employee consistently exceeds sales targets but also has frequent customer complaints. Without documenting both the achievements and the complaints, the business owner might struggle to justify a promotion or address the performance issues effectively. This lack of documentation can lead to unfair evaluations and potential disputes.
n Skipping Employee Handbooks
Many small businesses overlook the importance of having a comprehensive employee handbook. This document should clearly outline company policies, procedures, and expectations. Without it, employees may be uncertain about workplace rules, leading to confusion and potential misunderstandings. A well-crafted handbook serves as a valuable reference for both employees and management.
Example: A small tech startup might not have a formal employee handbook, leading to confusion about policies such as remote work, dress code and vacation time. This can result in inconsistent practices and misunderstandings among employees, which can affect morale and productivity. A clear handbook would provide guidance and ensure everyone is on the same page.
n Non-Compliance with Labor Laws
Ignorance of local and federal employment laws can have serious legal repercussions. Small businesses must stay informed about relevant labor regulations to avoid
Small businesses should prioritize establishing solid HR practices. This includes documenting employee performance, creating a clear employee handbook, staying upto-date on labor laws and investing in comprehensive onboarding and training programs for new hires.
practices that could result in legal trouble. Compliance ensures that the company operates within the law and protects itself from potential lawsuits.
Example: A small restaurant might unknowingly violate labor laws by not paying overtime to employees who work more than 40 hours a week. This can lead to costly fines and legal battles if employees decide to take legal action. Staying updated on labor laws and ensuring compliance can prevent such issues and protect the business.
n Neglecting Onboarding and Training
Proper onboarding and training are crucial for new hires to feel prepared and engaged. Rushing through this process can leave employees feeling unprepared and disconnected, negatively impacting their productivity and job satisfaction. Investing time in thorough onboarding and continuous training helps new employees integrate smoothly and perform effectively.
Example: A small marketing agency hires a new graphic designer but provides minimal onboarding and training. The new hire struggles to understand the company’s processes and expectations, leading to mistakes and frustration. This could have been avoided with a structured onboarding program that included training on company tools, workflows and culture. Here are two more common HR mistakes:
n Ignoring Employee Feedback and Engagement
Small businesses often overlook the importance of employee feedback and engagement. With so many other pressing priorities, leaders may unintentionally ignore the signs of low morale or disengagement. Yet, failing to address these issues can lead to high turnover, low
productivity and a negative workplace culture.
Example: A small consulting firm might not have a formal process for gathering employee feedback. As a result, employees feel their concerns are not heard, leading to dissatisfaction and higher turnover rates. Implementing regular feedback mechanisms, such as surveys or one-onone meetings, can help address issues early and improve employee engagement.
n Poor Job Descriptions
Another common pitfall for small businesses is neglecting to create clear, legally compliant and detailed job descriptions. Without them, employees may not understand their role fully, leading to frustration and underperformance.
Example: A small manufacturing company hires a new machine operator but provides a vague job description. The new hire is unsure of their specific duties and responsibilities, leading to confusion and mistakes on the job. Clear job descriptions help set expectations and ensure employees understand their roles.
To avoid these common pitfalls, small businesses should prioritize establishing solid HR practices. This includes documenting employee performance, creating a clear employee handbook, staying up-to-date on labor laws and investing in comprehensive onboarding and training programs for new hires.
Additionally, gathering employee feedback and providing clear job descriptions are crucial for maintaining a motivated and productive workforce. By doing so, businesses can foster a positive work environment, ensure legal compliance, and enhance overall productivity.
Effective HR management is critical for the success of any small business. By addressing these common HR mistakes, small businesses can create a more organized, compliant and engaging workplace. This not only helps in retaining top talent, but also in building a strong company culture that supports growth and sustainability.
Investing in HR practices is an investment in the future of the business, ensuring long-term success and stability.
Ed Krey is owner and president of Lighthouse HR Support, a Grand Junction firm offering human resource services for small and medium-sized businesses. For more information, visit www.lighthousehrs.net.
Information technology innovation allows flagship programs to thrive
In order to grow, local businesses must adapt to overcome challenges and ultimately meet the needs of the people they serve. Sometimes the best solution to problems can be found internally, among the talented, hard-working people on your team.
Grand Valley Connects, a homegrown resource-navigator program at Mesa County Public Health (MCPH), is a prime example. The program was created more than two years ago and is transitioning to a new platform called CRN to manage its work. In preparation for this change, we are reflecting on the innovative solution that allowed Grand Valley Connects to grow and thrive in its early development.
At the time, it was challenging to connect residents to critical resources. The complex system in place made the effort even more difficult.
MCPH Senior Researcher Gary De Young had the solution: He created a software program called Connexa. The easy-to-use, adaptable platform managed the work, stored case information, provided robust data-reporting capabilities and served as a retrievable storehouse for local resource information.
“Grand
Valley Connects has benefited immensely from launching an inhouse system that could adapt and grow as we did. Connexa allowed us to prove
that resource navigation is a valuable service in our community that can and does change lives.”
- Michelle Trujillo, Health Promotion Division Director
“Grand Valley Connects has benefited immensely from launching an in-house system that could adapt and grow as we did,” said Michelle Trujillo, Health Promotion Division Director. “Connexa allowed us to prove that resource navigation is a valuable service in our community that can and does change lives.”
Connexa also helped launch another flagship county program, the Multi-Agency Collaboration (MAC). The county saved tens of thousands of dollars on software by building the MAC on Connexa. This cost barrier could have deterred the county from investing in this program in the first place. The new programs supported by Connexa immediately began changing lives and improving access
to critical resources for our residents.
“It is a prime example of how local people have powered local innovation to meet our needs in Mesa County,” said Alli Howe, MCPH chief health strategist. “What Gary has created will shape the health landscape for years to come.”
Grand Valley Connects has grown during the past two-and-a-half years and is ready to expand into a more extensive system. The new platform will encompass the functionality of Connexa, and it also allows for sharing information between organizations and stakeholders in the community through a social information exchange. This change will enable Grand Valley Connects to serve more community members in new partnerships with resource organizations across the county.
Visit our website at mesacounty.us/public-health to learn more about Grand Valley Connects and the services our resource navigators provide. Visit Mesa County Behavioral Health’s website at mesacounty.us/ departments-and-services/behavioral-health to learn more about the Multi-Agency Collaboration.
Sarah Gray is a communication specialist with Mesa County Public Health. For additional information, call (970) 248-6900 or visit mesacounty.us/public-health. F
Sarah Gray
Beginning with our Jan 8, 2025 edition, your favorite business and community newspaper goes WEEKLY!
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Turning national trends into real estate opportunities
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently released its 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, which provides a comprehensive review of evolving trends in the real estate market. These findings, while national in scope, resonate strongly within our local real estate market.
For real estate professionals, policymakers and investors in the Grand Valley, the report can offer a valuable roadmap for navigating the housing landscape. We decided to dig a little deeper and figure out how we can use this data to create opportunities.
The national trend shows that firsttime home buyers now account for just 24 percent of the market, the lowest share since 1981. According to the October 2024 Bray Report, the median sales price was $399,000, which is still lower than the national average at $459,000, but it is remains increasingly difficult to afford a home as a first-time homebuyer, especially for younger professionals or families starting out. Rising home prices, higher interest rates and limited housing supply have also compounded affordability challenges.
Entry-level homes could linger longer on the market, creating opportunities for price negotiations. However, sellers may face pressure to adjust pricing expectations in this segment.
Real estate agents and developers could benefit from collaborating with local and state governments to promote firsttime-buyer-assistance programs, such as down-payment grants or reduced mortgage rates for eligible buyers. Emphasizing smaller, more affordable housing developments could attract younger buyers and alleviate inventory shortages in the starterhome category.
While the trend for first-time buyers is down, older buyers are dominating the market. The median age of first-time buyers has risen to 38, while repeat buyers now have a median age of
61. This reflects both delayed homeownership and the enduring market influence of older, wealthier buyers.
Grand Junction’s outdoor lifestyle, scenic beauty, and healthcare access make it a magnet for retirees and older repeat buyers looking to settle in western Colorado. Demand may grow for single-story homes, properties with accessibility features or communities designed for aging in place.
Developers can benefit from this trend by building homes that cater to older buyers, including smaller, single-level, low-maintenance properties, while incorporating desirable amenities like proximity to healthcare and recreational activities. Realtors could target marketing efforts toward retirees from urban centers like Denver and Salt Lake City, emphasizing Grand Junction’s affordability and quality of life.
While Grand Junction offers a lower cost of living compared with major urban areas, local incomes may not align with the rising costs of homeownership. This gap can make the market less accessible to younger or lower-income residents.
The NAR report shows the median household income for first-time buyers now stands at $97,000, indicating the growing financial demands of entering the housing market. Higherincome transplants from other states could drive demand for mid-range to luxury properties, further shaping the market toward wealthier buyers.
Real estate professionals should focus on showcasing Grand Junction’s mid-tier and luxury homes to attract high-income buyers relocating from more expensive areas. Policymakers and community leaders should consider incentivizing affordable housing developments and supporting middle-income earners with housing grants or tax breaks.
The trends highlighted in the NAR report also have indirect implications for Grand Junction’s commercial real estate market. As the residential sector skews toward older and higher-income buyers, businesses catering to these demographics may flourish.
With older buyers dominating the market, demand for healthcare facilities and related commercial spaces is likely
to grow. Businesses offering high-end retail, fine dining, and services tailored to affluent residents could see increased demand. As more retirees and remote workers relocate to Grand Junction, mixed-use developments integrating residential, retail, and recreational spaces may gain popularity.
While studying these trends, real estate agents are urged to develop marketing campaigns tailored to older buyers, showcasing the area’s appeal as a retirement destination, while highlighting smaller, affordable housing options to attract the shrinking pool of first-time buyers.
For developers, investing in accessibility-focused housing developments and mixed-use communities that cater to both retirees and remote workers makes sense.
And ever the hot topic, policymakers should continue to address housing affordability through grants, incentives or zoning reforms to ensure a balanced housing market that serves all demographics by promoting infrastructure improvements, such as public transportation and healthcare access, to maintain the city’s appeal.
For investors, it’s an opportunity for the healthcare, hospitality and retail sectors, which are poised to grow in tandem with Grand Junction’s evolving residential demographics.
The 2024 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers underscores a national housing market increasingly defined by older, wealthier and repeat buyers. In Grand Junction, these trends highlight opportunities to cater to specific demographics while addressing persistent affordability challenges.
By aligning strategies with these evolving dynamics, Grand Junction’s real estate market can continue to thrive in 2025 and beyond, fostering growth and stability for the entire community.
Stewart Cruickshank is sales manager of Bray & Company Real Estate in Grand Junction, located at 1015 N. 7th St. in Grand Junction. To reach out to Stewart Cruickshank, call (970) 242-3647.
Stewart Cruickshank
Don’t allow personality conflicts to go unresolved
Personality conflicts hurt businesses by contributing to a decline in trust, communication, collaboration, teamwork and morale. In turn, efficiency, productivity, culture, team-member satisfaction, retention, business growth and bottomline profits are all negatively impacted.
The degree to which team members do not communicate effectively and collaborate is one of the greatest obstacles to business success.
The efficient, effective and smooth flow of information is critical when working to consistently meet and even exceed the wants and needs of customers, foreseeing challenges, engaging opportunities and overcoming obstacles.
It is also essential to the production and delivery of high-quality goods and services in a timely manner. When communication is limited or even impossible, due to personality conflicts, the business weakens from within, and the effects are far-reaching.
It is vitally important for business owners and managers to be aware of negative behaviors that are a result of personality conflicts and to address them early and effectively in order to keep communication, collaboration, teamwork and morale at consistently high levels.
Do you recognize any or all of these sabotaging behaviors in your business?
n Avoidance: Some people choose avoidance to cope with a personality conflict. While this may be a quieter and more discreet way of dealing with the situation, it is not effective in fostering the high levels of communication, collaboration and trust necessary in highly functional teams.
n Resistance: When in resistance mode, individuals will openly or overtly resist the suggestions, desires, directions and demands of the person they are in conflict with. They may even demonstrate intentional spiteful actions that are intended
to get back at or push the other person’s buttons. This type of behavior is not part of a successful team.
n Verbal Sabotage: Gossip and snide or edgy comments are common when there is a personality conflict between team members. This type of negativity doesn’t lead to positive outcomes and can significantly damage the work environment. It has no place in a powerful business model.
n Arguing: This behavior is the antithesis of effective communication, collaboration and teamwork and does not contribute to positive environments where team members can perform at peak levels. Arguments and aggressive disagreements are disruptive to operations, send negativity rippling throughout the business, and they damage morale and company culture.
If you recognize some or all of these behaviors in yourself or your team members, it’s important to realize the tremendous drag they are having on the team, resources, operations and profitability of your company. When top talent and customers are lost as a result of these conflicts, it’s already gone too far.
Given the overwhelming downside personality conflicts bring to a business, it is imperative that you discover, address and overcome them as quickly as possible.
Many personality conflicts arise out of unconscious habits and tendencies that exist within each team member. Sometimes, these habits can easily be corrected by simply drawing attention to the damaging negative behaviors in which team members are engaging and making it clear they are not acceptable in the workplace.
Team trainings built upon highly accurate assessment results and designed to help people understand themselves and others, their similarities and differences, and which also teach participants how to effectively communicate with various behavioral types are invaluable to business success. With greater understanding and acceptance of each other and enhanced communication skills, personality conflicts are significantly reduced.
Effective coaching is very successful in helping people
become fully aware of the situation at hand and their role in it. By working with a qualified professional, team members learn to take personal responsibility for their attitudes and corresponding behaviors and can then correct them to create a more positive and collaborative work environment.
Another option for lowering the occurrence of personality conflicts is to proactively hire for both attitude, skills and emotional intelligence. Through the use of highly accurate assessments that measure these attributes of the team member you bring into your business, personality conflicts can be diminished from the outset.
Sometimes, team members will insist on keeping conflict alive and will refuse to put down their differences. In these instances, the wisest choice is to let them go. Anytime you reduce negativity and tension in the workplace, you improve the satisfaction level of the team and, in turn, improve customer service and profitability.
A well-designed team, working together in a culture free of personality conflicts, can deliver the best possible experience to customers.
We all are unique and different, and we won’t always agree. However, when strategic investments are made in helping team members understand themselves and each other better, acceptance of differences becomes easier, and effective communication and teamwork become the norm.
Marcus Straub owns Life is Great Coaching in Grand Junction. His personalized coaching and consulting services help individuals, business owners, executives and companies build teams, organizations and lives filled with happiness and success. Straub is winner of the International Coach of the Year Award and author of “Is It Fun Being You?” He’s available for free consultations regarding coaching, speaking and trainings. Reach Straub at (970) 208-3150, marcus@ligcoaching.com or through the website located at www.ligcoaching.com.
Support Local Businesses This Holiday Season
The question everyone’s been asking: Have you completed your holiday shopping? If not, consider starting with Palisade’s unique local businesses. Whether it’s a bottle of award-winning wine, an exquisite work of art, or a gift card to your favorite restaurant, there’s no shortage of thoughtful gift options close to home. Shopping locally not only provides one-of-a-kind gifts but also directly strengthens our community. Small businesses reinvest earnings into the local economy, helping to ensure a vibrant and sustainable future for Palisade. While Palisade’s relaxed pace is part of its charm, the slower
season can be challenging for local businesses. Year-round support from our Grand Valley community is critical to sustaining the restaurants, shops, and wineries that make Palisade unique. Consistent patronage allows these businesses to stay open, retain employees, and continue contributing to the character and vitality of our town.
Local businesses are more than places to shop—they represent dreams realized, families supported, and the neighborly charm that sets Palisade apart. When you shop small, you’re investing in friends, neighbors, and entrepreneurs who work tirelessly
to enrich our community. Even small purchases have a big impact, helping businesses thrive through the winter months.
This holiday season, let’s show our appreciation for the hardworking individuals who make Palisade special. Visit palisadecoc.com for a full list of local businesses and find the perfect gift while supporting those who keep our community strong. Remember: every dollar spent locally is a step toward a brighter future for Palisade.
#ShopLocal #SupportSmallBusiness
Marcus Straub
There’re so many stories
to tell, we just had to
Go weekly, that is. And tell even more stories.
After all, it’s what we’ve been doing better than anyone else for the past 30 years: Telling good stories about good people doing good things. And to be honest, given our coverage for over a quarter of a century, that description would suit probably ninety-nine percent of what we’ve covered.
That’s just our way of saying what we cover hasn’t always been good news. At some point real estate numbers are down, sales tax collections may have slipped, unemployment goes up, and let’s not forget the fact there was so little positive to report during Covid 19. But even during Covid 19 and the insanity of “who’s more ‘essential” than who?’ based on Denver or getting the even more special 5-Star rating from the local “authorities,” one thing always came through: We still found good stories about good people doing good things.
And for that, we have to thank our readers and local businesses who brought us the stories and, of course, our advertisers for working with us to keep their ads in the paper and providing the funding for the Business Times to be printed. We’re continually amazed how time and again, the businesses of the Grand Valley find ways to succeed, survive and grow not only in good times, but through every kind of economic difficulty and, at times, disaster.
But here’s something we also found during and after Covid, not every “good” story is necessarily a story about someone or some business doing good. But we were too busy in survival mode to actually do something about it. To let our readers in on a little known fact going back five or six years, we’ve had several readers, business leaders and interested parties begging us to do two things: Go weekly and tell these other stories.
Even though we’ve been avoiding the weekly gig for many reasons (some good, some just plain silly), we made the decision it’s time let our readers know what’s going on — good, bad or indifferent — all from a business point of view.
It’s not because we want to play “gotcha” or for nefarious reasons. We believe our readers are genuinely interested in seeing comprehensive coverage on the institutions of the Grand Valley who have so much effect on the lives and livelihoods of its citizens. And we just see an opportunity to give our readers — and advertisers — more of what they want (more institutional stories is the number one request on our current survey) and invite others to have a look at how we cover these stories more and in depth.
And we believe we can do that, and already are making the content change in the last quarter of this year, while giving our readers a better experience and benefitting our advertisers with more exposure to more people while we grow the paper in size, scope and readership.
And while there will always be the quality profile stories you’ve come to expect from the Business Times at the heart of our newspaper model, just know you’ll also find in our pages a more unique, original take on these new stories. Read ours and compare it to what you hear or watch or read elsewhere. We believe you’ll see a difference.
Perhaps the difference you’ll see, as we envision, is a good newspaper doing good stories while doing good things for its communities.
We cannot thank our readers and advertisers enough for allowing us this opportunity. We can’t wait to see where it takes all of us! F
Perhaps
adopting a new slogan will help citizens understand
And I’ve got the perfect one for our fair city from Thomas Sowell, and it goes like this: “Some people seem to think that the answer to all of life’s imperfections is to create a government agency to correct them.”
city can brag about the success of its Hell’s Angels EV Club — if you can find one with the many abandoned on just about any street outside the city.
Then again, maybe you can’t take a straight route to the Zip-a-dee-doo-da since you have to go around the construction on Ute and Pitkin (I know that’s a state thing) or the encampments now surrounding the day shelter for our ever growing “unhoused” population, who are sure to vote for these same leaders for re-election.
Craig Hall
And in Grand Junction we don’t just create a government agency, we elect them to boot. On our city council today (and their resultant hirings) we now have a majority of do-gooders who seemingly can’t create enough programs to help the little people who just don’t know how much help they need. No, sir. Worse, our local leaders go the ultimate step in creating problems out of thin air.
Tell me this doesn’t ring true when you look at the follies foisted upon the citizens of Grand Junction and Mesa County by City Council.
Now, I know “some” folks will respond and tell me I’m digging into the Way Back Machine for some of my examples, and they’d be right. But that digging goes to patterns of behavior of our esteemed “leaders” on city council, who never met a tax dollar they seemingly didn’t want to spend. As for the word some, let’s just say it’s a word used a lot as an excuse for council members doing the things they do, along with their other favorite words of “many,” “most,” or the garbled combination “everyone I talk to.”
So, let’s look at a few examples of the agencies the leaders of our fair city have put into place.
There’s our city’s foray into the entertainment business known as the Avalon Theatre. Of course, what they voted to approve in terms of dollars didn’t include millions in HVAC and other related costs that no one seemed to know, or care, about. What mattered was the council meeting was “packed” with supporters wanting the mobile-home expansion (read bailout) for the “arts.”
How about the city’s attempt at commercial real estate development, known as Las Colonias, or as one campground might put it: where we can find ourselves staying in a van, or trailer, down by the river.
From what we’ve been told by council members, the development is millions in the red. Heck we’ve even had new tenants pull out after only a year or two due to broken promises, and others couldn’t come to an agreement to build or relocate into one of the many empty spaces available. Heck, it took almost five years and a few million to get the zip line built. And I didn’t even have to mention Costco.
But at least you can take a scooter to the zip line if you’d like. So, I suppose our
While taking a scooter for your drug deal, prostitution or to relieve yourself on someone’s property is more convenient, it’s still against the law, no? Why would city leaders, who tell us time and again safety is the number one concern of citizens, create and support an area so unsafe for traffic, the public, business and property owners or for anyone who has to go near it? Oh, I forgot, grant money.
We can move on to the new recreation center, which keeps growing into a behemoth unrecognizable to what was voted on. Already over budget and much larger in size, the city had to go out and ask for dollars for an entity to operate a physical therapy center. Now, I don’t blame anyone for ponying up a few bucks to get the business when a monopoly like the city decides to go into the medical business (I mean, could you imagine how poorly it would operate if the city ran it?), but I didn’t know there was a shortage of rehabilitation businesses in town, what with three hospitals all having one along with several privately owned businesses.
Do I even need to get into Fourth and Fifth Streets? Just another problem which didn’t exist having millions wasted on it while inconveniencing the people. And here I thought people’s concerns about safety were about their lives, not what they chose for getting around town.
But fear not, the city is addressing getting around as well. And if your apartment complex won the lottery, you’ll soon have a couple of electric cars to share with your neighbors, so you can take Fourth Street around the homeless encampments to the zip line for some fun overlooking empty lots before rehabbing at the rec center from your fall off the zip line or getting hit by a scooter while dodging PVC pipe and enjoying all downtown has to offer all by yourself, because no one wants to deal with the hassle of going there.
I watched our city’s “Mobility Manager” state if the city wasn’t addressing these kinds of needs, we’re failing as a city. I can’t believe this isn’t apparent to all those leaders, but you’re failing as a city.
Craig Hall is owner and publisher of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com F
The proper role of government
The election is over. Regardless of who wins elections, governance should remain relatively constant provided all parties adhere to the Constitution. The problem America has faced for many years is those elected have exceeded the proper role of government and the powers and limits enumerated by the Constitution.
Determining the proper role of government requires a historical perspective. The Bill of Rights Institution on their homepage explains “individual liberty and personal happiness cannot co-exist with unlimited government. At the same time, there would be little security for our rights without a government sufficiently powerful to effectively promote the public good.”
Phyllis Hunsinger
The challenge for centuries has been striking the balance. In 1215 the Magna Carta was established to limit the king’s power. The document was written by barons to protect their rights and property from a tyrannical king. It established that individuals had specific rights. The Magna Carta placed the king subject to English law.
The Petition of Right was enacted in 1628 to lay the foundations of rights and liberties for English citizens protecting them from the monarchy. The Petition of Right established that the government could not take money or property from citizens without their consent. It also stated that no one could be imprisoned without cause.
During the late 1600s, the source of government itself and the proper role of government began to be re-examined. John Locke in his Second Treatise of Civil Government (1689) introduced the concept that government legitimacy was based on the consent of the governed and on a responsibility to protect natural rights. Locke’s arguments were a paradigm shift: People voluntarily agree to be governed and also possess rights that flow from nature itself. When the government no longer had the consent of the people or no longer protected fundamental liberties, then the people have a right to change it or overthrow it.
Thomas Jefferson used these words and reasoning in the Declaration of Independence in 1776, as he declared in part “the history of the present king of Great Britian is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations.”
After winning their independence from an all-powerful government, the founders desired to form a new nation with limited government. The founders first developed the Articles of Confederation in 1781; however, by 1787 they knew the Articles were not working as intended. A convention was held in Philadelphia to address its deficiencies.
The Bill of Rights website summarizing the results of the convention wrote, “What emerged from the Constitutional Convention elevated limited government from a mere theory to a practical government philosophy. Through a series of complex structures, innovations, and mechanisms, the U.S. Constitution both empowers and limits government, while providing the framework for each successive generation to regulate that balance.”
The founders divided the government powers into three branches, each with enumerated powers: legislative; executive; and judicial. The founders specifically detailed the duties of each branch of government. From a simple, concise plan for government with built-in checks and balances to protect individual liberties, how did the government become such a vast, over-reaching administrative state?
A quick search of the internet shows the federal bureaucracy consists of 15 Cabinet departments plus more than 2,000 agencies that all together employ approximately 3 million people. This makes the federal government the largest employer in the U.S. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in government increased by 709,000 in 2023 exceeding the employment growth in 2021 and 2022 combined.
The legislative branch, Congress, and the executive branch, the president, have abdicated their constitutional responsibilities and delegated them to unelected bureaucrats who are unaccountable to the people. The Pacific Legal website says, “The sheer number of volume of regulations issued by regulatory agencies now dwarfs the laws enacted by Congress.”
The only reason for men to unite to form a government according to John Locke in his Second Treatise of Civil Government is “the preservation of their lives, liberties, and property.” Our founders agreed as the U.S. Constitution is established on that premise.
Elections are the only opportunity for citizens to fire the leaders in the government who are governing against the will of the people. The election is over. Voters need to hold those elected to office accountable for performing their Constitutional duties and adhering to the proper role of government.
Phyllis Hunsinger is founder of the Freedom & Responsibility Education Enterprise Foundation in Grand Junction. The FREE Foundation provides resources to students and teachers in Western Colorado to promote the understanding of economics, financial literacy and free enterprise. A former teacher, principal and superintendent, Hunsinger wrote “Down and Dirty: A ‘How To’ Math Book.” Reach Hunsinger by email at phyllis@free-dom.us.com. For more information about the FREE Foundation, log on to www.free-dom.us.com. F
The Season of Small Business supports Colorado’s main street retailers and restaurants
The Season of Small Business is an annual U.S. Small Business Administrationled campaign designed to drive Americans to shop at small businesses throughout the entire holiday season. The pandemic confirmed the essential role that small businesses play in our daily lives. The holiday shopping season is a crucial time for small firms that depend upon the boost in sales earned between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. It sounds cliché, but locally owned small retailers and restaurants truly are the heart and soul of our cities and towns.
Not so long ago, it was an annual holiday tradition to travel downtown and shop at one of the many locally owned main-street businesses. Brick-andmortar businesses would promote their best deals of the year in hopes of luring shoppers to make a purchase, or at least browse their shelves full of merchandise.
Today, online shopping has quickly become the preferred way Americans buy their holiday gifts.
Recent estimates show that more than 80 percent of shoppers make regular online purchases throughout the year. Given the dramatic shifts in the retail environment over the last 20 years, those holiday scenes and traditions are in danger of passing into the realm of nostalgic folklore.
To better compete, small business owners have become very innovative in the way they sell and promote their products and services.
Today, most entrepreneurs have pivoted their traditional operating models to include e-commerce platforms and social media to meet the new demands of the online consumer. Some are even bringing back the retail traditions of the past by providing personalized one-on-one assistance to customers and the selling of locally produced niche items found nowhere else in town.
Cottage businesses are starting in record numbers as people realize their dream of small business ownership can begin in their basement or garage.
The success of this year’s holiday shopping season will have a huge impact here in Colorado and across the nation. It started
on Small Business Saturday and will end once the final cork is popped on New Year’s Eve.
Colorado’s 716,000 small businesses continue to generate two of every three net new jobs and deliver essential goods and services in both rural and urban communities. They employ more than 1.1 million Coloradans, give back to their local nonprofit organizations, and just make this state a better place to live in.
If you are leaning more toward creating memories versus traditional gift giving, consider one of the 37,000 small businesses in the state that offer entertainment or recreational activities.
Small businesses are the backbone of our democracy, and the solution to our most challenging economic problems.
If you’re an entrepreneur and need advice, please consider exploring the tools and resources of the SBA and its partners.
SBA’s resource partners include the statewide Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network, a Procurement Technical Assistance Center (APEX Accelerator) in Colorado Springs, two SCORE Chapters, a Women’s Business Center at Mi Casa Resource Center in Denver, as well as local strategic partners such as Manufacturer’s Edge, NEWSED, and the Mountain Plains Minority Supplier Development Council.
All our partners are key to helping identify strategies to become more competitive and viable in what will likely be an ever-shifting business landscape.
In addition to our formal partners, small business owners can get involved with local support organizations such as chambers of commerce, business districts and neighborhood associations. These organizations are actively involved in coordinating events and promotions to attract foot traffic to their small business members, including local bazaars and shop small/dine small/entertain small focused festivals.
This holiday season, please join us in making at least one purchase from a locally owned small business in your city or town. These business owners are the true heroes of our communities, and they deserve our support, thanks, and appreciation.
Happy holidays from all of us at the SBA!
Aikta Marcoulier serves as the SBA’s Region VIII Administrator in Denver. She oversees the agency’s programs and services in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Frances Padilla is the SBA’s Colorado District Director in Denver. She oversees the agency’s programs and services across the state.
SHARE YOUR OPINION
The Business Times welcomes submissions for publication in the opinion section. Email submissions to publisher@thebusinesstimes.com. Please include full contact information with submission.
Aikta Marcoulier
Frances Padilla
n ST. MARY’S BECOMES FIRST COMMUNITY HOSPITAL IN NATION TO RECEIVE VASCULAR VERIFICATION
Intermountain Health St. Mary’s Regional Hospital in Grand Junction is now among five hospitals in the United States – and the only community hospital – to be verified by the American College of Surgeons and the Society for Vascular Surgery at their highest level of care (comprehensive inpatient) in their Vascular Verification Program.
The 346-bed hospital was recognized for its vascular surgical quality, nursing care, patient and staff safety, timely patient access, education and state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.
Vascular surgeons operate on arteries, veins and blood vessels in parts of the body such as the neck, arms, abdomen and legs. They treat conditions ranging from repairing damage due to physical trauma, to repairing blood vessels affected by smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, to repairing varicose veins, or aneurysms.
The Vascular Verification project required input from more than 30 members of the hospital care team including vascular surgeons, nurses, clinical leadership, and support staff. Spearheading the project was Dr. Tej Singh, medical director of vascular surgery at Intermountain St. Mary’s Regional Hospital and a current participant in Harvard Medical School’s Surgical Leadership Program.
“This is truly a great honor for St. Mary’s. It places us on the national vascular surgery map and reflects our commitment to providing the best care for our patients in our 250-mile service area in Western Colorado,” Dr. Singh said.
n LOCAL DANCE COMPANY BRINGS NUTCRACKER TO CMU
Professional dancers from across the country will take the stage Dec. 19-23 as Colorado West Performing Arts Company presents The Nutcracker at Colorado Mesa University’s Asteria Theatre.
CWPAC’s dancers have trained at renowned institutions such as the Bolshoi and Joffrey Ballets and devote more than 30 hours per week to their craft, bringing high-quality, transformative art to the region.
“Bringing The Nutcracker to life each season is about more than just entertainment; it’s about creating a shared cultural experience that enriches the entire community,” said Theresa Kahl, CWPAC’s executive director. “Our dancers not only perform but also mentor aspiring dancers, engage with students and bring the beauty of ballet to the Western Slope.”
The Nutcracker ballet will be performed eight times during the five days and will feature local professional artists, trainees and youth who auditioned for supporting roles. The show runs just under two hours, including a 20-minute intermission. After each performance, opportunities to meet the cast and take photos will be available in the auditorium or lobby. Tickets are on sale at coloradowestpac.org.
n GVP TAKING APPLICATIONS FOR YOUTH TOUR AND CAMP
High school juniors and seniors who get their electricity from Grand Valley Power can apply to attend all-expense paid leadership trips to either Washington, D.C., or the Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp next summer.
The Washington, D.C. Youth Tour takes place June 16-22, 2025. More than 1,800 students will learn about co-ops, engage in conversations with elected officials, visit major monuments and memorials and network with peers.
The Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp at the Glen Eden Resort near Steamboat Springs takes place July 12-17, 2025. Nearly 100 students from Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming and Oklahoma will learn about the electric utility industry and how cooperatives work, raft down the Colorado River, ride the Steamboat Springs gondola and visit the Trapper Mine. Applications are open to high school students at least 16 years old and whose parents or legal guardians are members of Grand Valley Power. Students are required to submit a 500-word essay and completed application. Visit GVP’s website to apply and for more information about program requirements and eligibility: gvp.org/youth-leadership-programs.
n ENSTROM’S ICE CREAM HONORED FOR EXCELLENCE
Enstrom Candies received White Ribbon Awards of Excellence for two of its icecream flavors — dark chocolate and fresh strawberry — from the North American Ice Cream Association.
“Our team works hard to create flavors that are not just tasty, but unforgettable,” said Trisha Russell, Enstrom’s Ice Cream Department lead. “Receiving multiple awards from the North American Ice Cream Association is a great honor. These awards inspire us to keep pushing the limits of what ice cream can be, driving our passion to make the best ice cream in the industry.”
Since 2018, Enstrom Candies has been a regular attendee at NAICA events, missing only the 2020 virtual convention and the 2022 event.
“We are incredibly proud of our team at Enstrom Candies,” said Doug Simons, president of Enstrom Candies.
n HILLTOP’S HEALTH ACCESS PROGRAM OPENS ENROLLMENT FOR INSURANCE AND BENEFITS
Open enrollment for insurance and benefits through Connect for Health Colorado Marketplace has started for Hilltop Community Resources’ Health Access Program. There have been changes to the plans and to eligibility for certain assistance, so now is the time for clients to update their information and see what the new plans look like. Hilltop, 1129 Colorado Ave., has appointments available and does walk-ins on Wednesdays, when no appointment is required.
Open enrollment runs through Jan. 15. To ensure a Jan. 1 effective date, people must enroll in a plan by Dec. 15. Enrollments between Dec. 15 and Jan. 15 will have a Feb. 1 effective date. For more information, call 970-244-0850.
n GVT OFFERS FREE FARE FOR WEEKEND HOLIDAY SHOPPING
Grand Valley Transit wants to make the holidays a little jollier by offering free fare on Fridays and Saturdays throughout December. Everyone is invited to board GVT farefree during these days to do holiday shopping, visit friends and family, or travel to the downtown areas of Grand Junction, Fruita, and Palisade.
This promotion applies to GVT’s 11 fixed routes and to its On-Demand Paratransit service for those who cannot access a fixed-route service.
For more information about GVT’s services or to apply for Paratransit, visit gvt.mesacounty.us.
n AIRPORT GETS $1.3M GRANT FOR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
Grand Junction Regional Airport Authority received a $1.3 million Building Infrastructure Law (BIL) grant on Dec. 5 from the Federal Aviation Administration. The funding will go toward modernizing and replacing aging infrastructure in the existing air traffic control tower.
Built in 1961, the control tower at the Grand Junction Regional Airport houses air traffic controllers who manage the airspace surrounding the airport as well as movement on the runways and taxiways. The Airport has a phased plan to modernize the tower and replace aging infrastructure to extend the life of the tower and avoid costly air traffic control tower replacement.
In 2024 the Grand Junction Regional Airport has been awarded $41.8 million in federal and State of Colorado Division of Aeronautics grants to support $46 million in capital improvements.
SHARE YOUR NEWS
The Business Times welcomes submissions for free publication in Business Briefs. Email stories and headshots to publisher@thebusinesstimes.com or submit a news release online at www.thebusinesstimes.com.
Theresa Kahl
Dr. Tej Singh
West Springs Hospital Successfully Restores Full Licensing
West Springs Hospital announced on Dec. 9 it successfully met all requirements to lift its conditional license, restoring full operational status.
Following a comprehensive review by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, West Springs Hospital implemented a series of improvements and corrective actions to address the concerns that led to the conditional license in 2023. These measures include enhanced patient-safety protocols, staff-training programs and infrastructure upgrades.
“We are incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication of our hospital staff and leadership team in
n BRAY & COMPANY’S WYATT NAMED GJARA REALTOR OF YEAR
Bray & Company Real Estate’s Merrite Wyatt received the 2024 Realtor of the Year Award, also known as the Sherm Bray Memorial Trophy, at this year’s Installation Banquet for the Grand Junction Area Realtor Association. The event took place last month at Colorado Mesa University.
Last year’s recipient, Rebekah Mendrop of RE/MAX 4000, delivered a speech detailing Wyatt’s outstanding contributions to the real estate profession and the Grand Valley community.
Wyatt’s wife, Mica, joined on stage to present the award, and Wyatt received a standing ovation from attendees.
“This is a proud moment for our company and a testament to Merrite’s dedication to his clients, peers, and the values we stand for at Bray & Company,” said Bray & Company CEO Robert Bray, the 1984 Realtor of the Year recipient.
In addition to celebrating Wyatt’s achievement, several Bray & Company leaders were elected to GJARA roles for the upcoming year: Katie Davis, president-elect for 2025; Ron Sechrist, returning treasurer; and Stewart Cruickshank and Merrite Wyatt, directors.
achieving this important goal,” said -interim CEO Nicholas D. Torres in a news release.
“Our focus has been on delivering the best possible care to our patients, and this achievement underscores our commitment to excellence in behavioral health services.”
In addition to regaining full licensing status, West Springs Hospital has seen a significant increase in patient census. The hospital has experienced a steady rise in admissions, from 16 to 37 patient beds occupied, since Larkin Health began managing the company two weeks ago.
The hospital’s return to full licensing status ensures it can continue to offer a wide range of psychiatric care services to Grand Junction and surrounding rural communities, including inpatient care, crisis intervention and community-outreach programs.
“We are grateful for the support of our patients, their families, and the community during this period of transition,” Torres said.
n DWC PROFESSIONALS EARN CPA AND ENROLLED AGENT DESIGNATIONS
Sydney Trichler of DWC CPAs and Advisors recently attained the Certified Public Accountant designation and Colorado licensing after passing the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination.
Meanwhile, DWC CPAs and Advisors’ Seth Knighton attained the designation of Enrolled Agent, which is the highest credential awarded by the Internal Revenue Service.
Trichler is a Colorado Mesa University graduate who joined DWC’s audit and assurance team in January 2024. She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Colorado Society of CPAs.
Knighton began his accounting career with DWC’s tax office in 2017 and now is a tax supervisor with expertise in trusts and estates and is passionate about supporting clients in real estate, automotive and healthcare sectors.
Dec. 11
Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce Networking at Noon 12p.m. to 1 p.m. Rockslide Brew Pub, 401 Main St., Grand Junction. $20 for members, $25 for non-members. 970-263-2912 or gjchamber.org
Dec. 11
Palisade Chamber of Commerce Lunch and Learn: Zero barriers to business Noon to 1 p.m., Location TBD. Free for members, $5 for non-members. 970-464-7458 or palisadecoc.org/ events
Dec. 12
Fruita Area Chamber of Commerce business after hours, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Alpine Bank, 2297 125 North Park Sq., Fruita. Admission $5 chamber members, $15 for others. 970-858-3894 or fruitachamber.org
Dec. 16
Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce Annual Economic Outlook Luncheon, Noon to 1:30 p.m., Grand Junction Convention Center, 159 Main St., Grand Junction. $25 for members, $35 for non-members. 970-263-2912 or gjchamber.org
Dec. 18
Palisade Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Orchard River View. 3962 Hwy 2 and 24, Palisade Members are free, $5 non-members, $8 non-members. 970-464-7458 or palisadecoc.org/ events
Dec. 19
WTF Networking Lunch 12 p.m.-1 p.m. Rib City Grill. 455 Kokopelli Blvd. Ste. E, Fruita. 970-858-3894 or fruitachamber.org Jan. 14
Mesa County Women’s Network Workshop: Design Your Year 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Board Room at Abstract &Title Company, 2464 Patterson Rd., Grand Junction. $0 for members, $25 for nonmember drop in. mcwn.org/events Jan. 15
Fruita Chamber Business After Hours 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wine Country Inn. 777 Grande River Ave., Palisade. $5 Chamber members, $15 “soon to be” members. 970-858-3894 or fruitachamber.org.
