April 2024 | March 2024 | February 2024
April 2024
Fort Collins a Top 10 Beer City
USA Today recently released their Reader’s Choice “Discover the hoppiest havens: 10 best beer cities in the US” list and Fort Collins ranked #4. The city was touted for having more than 20 craft breweries and for producing 70% of Colorado’s craft beer. Nominees were submitted by a panel of experts, while 10Best editors selected the final set of nominees for the Readers’ Choice Awards. Fort Collins was the only city in Colorado to make the Top 10.
‘First Train to Longmont’
In December 2023, state leaders released a proposed route for a long-envisioned Front Range Passenger Rail. Thanks to federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the vision of a passenger rail is within reach. In March, state leaders took a demo ride from Denver to Longmont. You can visit www.ridethefrontrange.com to learn more about the growing need and vision for the rail transportation solution.
Talent Summit Resources
In March, the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce and Northern Colorado Prospers 2.0 presented the 2024 Talent Summit. The event focused on talent recruitment, onboarding, and management in our dynamic talent marketplace. Presentations were given by industry leaders from the Colorado Workforce Development, manufacturing, hospitality, construction, health and nonprofit sectors. Click here to download presentation materials from the event.
March 2024
Colorado metro areas top for women in tech jobs
CoworkingCafe recently ranked the top U.S. metros for women working in tech. In the category of small metro areas Boulder came in at #1, Fort Collins #45 and Greeley #66; for mid-sized metro areas Colorado Springs ranked #13; and for large metro areas Denver ranked #9. A total of 208 metro areas were assessed based on a set of metrics including the percentage of female tech professionals, female tech earnings, unemployment rate and health insurance coverage. Click here to view the complete rankings.
Denver Zoo plans 570-acre preserve in Greeley
The Lembke Family in Greeley recently donated 570 acres of land to the Denver Zoo. The gifted land will become a private preserve for animal care, conservation and expanding breeding efforts to help threatened species survive. Click here to watch a video about the Lembke Family Preserve.
State’s economy on the rise
The Leeds Business Research Division at CU Boulder, in conjunction with the Secretary of State, recently released the Q4 2023 Quarterly Business & Economic Indicators report. Job growth for the state was slow but steady. Colorado’s unemployment rate for December 2024 came in at 3.4%, compared to a national rate of 3.7% posted in January 2024. Personal income growth in the third quarter of 2023 was the sixth highest in the nation. Click here to read the full report.
February 2024
Colorado 5th for proportion of small businesses
Qrfy.com, a company that specializes in QR code generation, recently analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data to find the percentage of registered businesses with fewer than five employees for each state throughout 2021. Colorado ranked #5, with 60.93% of all businesses being classified as small businesses. Preceding Colorado in the rankings were: Florida #1, New York #2, Wyoming #3 and Montana #4. Click here for a deeper dive into the data.
Colorado ski resorts top North America rankings
USA Today recently released a Reader’s Choice list of Top 10 Ski Resorts for the 2023/24 season and two Colorado resorts took top spots. Winter Park came in at #4 and Vail #7. Ski resorts were first nominated by a panel of experts and then readers voted on their favorites to determine the winners. Click here for the complete set of rankings by USA Today.
IRES 4th Quarter Report
Information and Real Estate Services (IRES) recently released their Q4 2023 MarketWatch Report. In Larimer County, the median sales price was $565,000 for Q4-2023, a 0.0% change year-over-year. The number of closed sales was down 23% dropping to 887. In Weld County, the median sales price was $500,000 for Q4-2023, a 4.2% increase year-over-year. The number of closed sales was down 21.5%, coming in at 1,2047. In Boulder County, the median sales price was $800,000 for Q4-2023, a 3.2% year-over-year increase. The number of closed sales was up 3.7%, coming in at 680.
