DECEMBER 24 - 31, 2025
THE DEFINITIVE SOURCE FOR GRAND JUNCTION BUSINESS & COMMUNITY NEWS SINCE 1994
Local economy expected to hold steady in 2026 Brandon Leuallen The Business Times
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esa County’s economy is expected to remain stable in 2026, supported by continued diversification and steady business investment. However, it is unlikely to see rapid growth, according to insights shared during the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Economic Outlook event on Dec. 15. Before the keynote forecast, the Grand Junction Chamber recognized several local business expansions, emphasizing the role of existing employers in driving investment and economic activity in Mesa County. Chamber officials reported that, over the course of 2025, the organization recognized $46.03 million in business investments made by existing companies across the county. Fourth-quarter recognitions included Nightingales Care at Home, which reported a $650,000 investment and the creation of one job; Bray and Company with a $600,000 investment; Valley Plaza with a $1.7 million investment; Natural Grocers with a $3 million investment and five new jobs; Hilltop with a $14 million investment; and River City Sportplex, which reported the creation of 30 new jobs. Additional fourth-quarter honorees included BBSI and Bighorn Consulting, which reported job growth but did not disclose investment amounts. See story on Page 5
VOLUME 32, ISSUE 50
THEBUSINESSTIMES.COM
Business brings the swing
The Social Swing owners, Nic and Tegan Hansen, think any social gathering can be better with their mobile golf simulator — Story on Page 2
Nic and Tegan Hansen started their side business, The Social Swing, with a soft launch in November at WestCo Brewing. They expect most of their events will be in the Grand Junction service area, but most of the Western Slope is fair game for them to take their mobile golf simulator. Photo courtesy of The Social Swing.
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December 24 - 31, 2025
Gatherings made better with golf The Social Swing looks to enhance events with its mobile golf simulator Tim Harty
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The Business Times
or those who think any large social gathering would be better with a golf simulator, Nic and Tegan Hansen understand. The former college athletes – Tegan played softball at Colorado Mesa University, and Nic played baseball at Metro State University – love the game of golf, calling it a passion. They made that clear at their wedding reception, when they included a driving range (an open field, not a simulator), and they said it was a huge hit. It also was the impetus for their Grand Junction-based side business, The Social Swing, which they started in November. “We have a passion for the game and so does the community,” Nic said, figuring those two elements are a good base for starting the business. “We were thinking, ‘Well, this would be a really cool thing to have at other events if you could just bring it in a box, essentially,’” Nic said. “So, we did some research, looked into it and then kind of started the idea. “There’s no other business like this in Western Colorado. And with the golfing community here, we figured it’d be a great thing to make events unique and to have us out for whatever people would like.” The social-gathering possibilities are numerous, as Tegan rattled off events such as wedding receptions, corporate events, fundraisers, birthday parties, graduation parties, “really any type of social gathering and celebration.” The Social Swing has two events under its belt already, having
Nic and Tegan Hansen said they love golf, and after seeing the popularity of a driving range (hitting into a field, not a golf simulator) at their wedding, they did their research and decided to start The Social Swing, taking their mobile golf simulator to events around the Western Slope. They describe The Social Swing on their website as “Grand Junction’s premier mobile golf simulator experience, bringing a full-size inflatable hitting bay, tour-level tracking technology, and immersive golf entertainment directly to your event.” Photo by Tim Harty.
a soft launch at WestCo Brewing, 905 Struthers Ave., and CMU’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes Christmas party. Each time they set up the golf simulator – the inflatable structure is 12 feet high, 15 feet wide and 16 feet long, and there’s an impact screen, projector, laptop computer, etc. – they get a little quicker. When Nic and Tegan set it up on Dec. 13 for The Business Times to get an upclose look, they said they did it in 45 minutes, which was their fastest time yet. Now that they’re getting a feel for events, it’s: Have golf simulator, will travel. Pretty much anywhere on the Western Slope is viable for them. On the business website, thesocialswing.com, the Hansens list a dozen communities they serve, going as far as Aspen and Telluride, but they add: “If your location isn’t listed, reach out – there’s a good chance I serve your area, too.” They just probably will add a travel charge for anything outside of the Grand Junction service area. The Social Swing charges by the hour, and Nic said the base rate is $175 per hour, “and then we can kind of adjust it based on what the needs are.” He added, “We can do some custom packages, too, with prizes if they want to run contests. We can do custom branding, different stuff like that to make it more catered to whatever the event is going on.” What the customer then gets is the option to play any of 1,600 courses. Augusta National, home of The Masters? Yep, it’s available. TPC Sawgrass? Yep. See SWING on Page 8
MORE ABOUT THE SOCIAL SWING To learn more about The Social Swing or book it for an event, visit its website, thesocialswing.com, or send an email to info@thesocialswing.com. What they do besides golf Owners Nic and Tegan Hansen started The Social Swing as a side business. For their full-time jobs: Nic is wealth adviser for Ashton Thomas Private Wealth, which partners with Timberline Bank; and Tegan is a contracts manager at Community Hospital. Night golf, anyone? A few things don’t play nice with The Social Swing’s golf simulator. Inclement weather, of
course, be it precipitation or high winds, is one. And while a sunny day is usually great for playing on a real golf course, it poses challenges for the golf simulator’s projector. The large opening of the structure lets a lot of light in, causing faded images on the impact screen, so the opening needs to be positioned during the day to lessen the amount of light as much of possible. What that also means is the evening or nighttime is a better time to use the golf simulator. Then the screen’s images are vibrant. Yes, you can putt The golf simulator’s radar technology accom-
modates putting as well as ball striking. “It’ll actually read the putt,” Nic said. “So, you’ll putt it, and it’ll just go up there and stop wherever, but it’ll read it and simulate it on the screen … based on how the green works.” While some people in real life don’t allow for “gimme” putts, they are encouraged by The Social Swing. “There’s like a radius on the hole around the pin that if you get it in that radius, then it just gives you that,” Nic said. “We try and not make people putt if we don’t have to.” That’s just as well, as he said the putting is “not the most exciting part of the game.”
olf
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The Business Times
December 24 - 31, 2025
District 51 funding uncertainty grows
Budget pressure mounts as school district’s enrollment decline accelerates Brandon Leuallen The Business Times
Continued local and statewide enrollment declines, looming state budget constraints and growing uncertainty around federal funding are converging to create a difficult budget environment heading into the 2026-27 school year. That was the warning from Mesa County Valley School District 51 Chief Financial Officer Melanie Trujillo during a Dec. 16 Board of Education meeting. Trujillo presented the budget and enrollment outlook and told board members the school district’s current financial stability is the result of prior cost reductions and one-time funding rather than improved or growing revenues. After reviewing financial projections presented by Trujillo, District 51 Board member Andrea Haitz said she is approaching the next budget cycle hoping for the best, but bracing for the worst. District 51 already has implemented more than $7 million in cost-saving measures, including $1.4 million in central-office reductions and approximately $5.8 million in ongoing annual savings from school closures. Trujillo said during the presentation that without those actions, the district would now be facing a much deeper structural deficit. Enrollment decline remains primary driver Trujillo identified enrollment decline as the single largest factor affecting the district’s financial outlook. According to the Dec. 16 board presentation, District 51 has lost more than 2,700 students since the 2019-20 school year, representing about a 12 percent decline. The October 2025 enrollment count showed a net loss of 622 students from the prior year. Trujillo said
the district continues to experience a cohort imbalance, with significantly smaller kindergarten classes replacing larger graduating classes. The presentation showed 1,239 kindergarten students entering the district this year compared with 1,601 seniors exiting. Enrollment projections included in the presentation show a further decline of 397 students in the 2026-27 school year and a total projected loss of 1,326 students by 2030. While local birth rates have increased slightly during the previous two years, Trujillo noted the increase is not large enough to reverse current enrollment trends. Superintendent Brian Hill said that even when District 51 had more than 22,000 students, the district had under-enrolled schools and was stretching dollars to maintain buildings. He said that situation existed before the steep enrollment declines of recent years and predated his selection as superintendent – he assumed the role July 1, 2022 – and has only worsened as student counts have continued to fall. A Nov. 27, 2024, Business Times article, titled “Myriad reasons drive District 51’s declining enrollment,” detailed a list of reasons that led to enrollment decline. These figures do not capture how many children are simply never entering the public school system at the kindergarten level, which may further point to a broader cultural shift of parents choosing homeschooling or alternative education from the outset. School closures, consolidation remain on table District 51 leadership said school closures and or consolidations remain a possibility as enrollment continues to decline, even though closures were paused for the upcoming year. Trujillo said the district could have closed two additional elementary schools during the last closure cycle but chose to
hold off, a decision that helped avoid deeper staffing cuts at the time while leaving some schools under-enrolled. Board member Barbara Evanson pointed to other districts that delayed closures and relied on reserves, warning that those districts later lost financial flexibility and were forced to seek additional funding or make more severe cuts. Hill said the district cannot avoid difficult decisions indefinitely. “Avoiding hard decisions doesn’t fix the issue,” he said. “We’ve seen districts that relied on reserves or passed mill-levy overrides without addressing enrollment decline end up back at the table facing school closures anyway.” State, federal budget pressures add uncertainty Another theme of the presentation was how uncertainty at the state and federal level is adding significant risk to the district’s budget outlook. Colorado is facing an estimated $841 million state budget shortfall, driven largely by rising Medicaid and health care costs, based on state projections referenced in the district’s Dec. 16 budget presentation. Trujillo told the board that while the governor’s proposed budget continues the School Finance Act funding formula with a partial phase-in, it also shortens the student-count-averaging period from four years to three. The presentation noted this change accelerates funding losses for districts experiencing declining enrollment, even when per-pupil funding increases modestly. At the federal level, Trujillo outlined two competing budget proposals for fiscal year 2026 with sharply different implications for K–12 education. See D51 on Page 10
Palisade Winter Rewards Program 2026 Winter in Palisade has a rhythm all its own. The streets are quieter. The pace slows. There is time to linger over a glass of wine with friends, share a meal without a wait, and wander through the quaint, whimsical shops that make our town feel like home. It is the season when Palisade belongs to the people who love it most. This winter, the Palisade Chamber of Commerce invites our community to lean into what we already cherish about this place and to do so with intention. Supporting local businesses during the winter months matters more than many realize. While summer brings visitors from near and far, winter is when our local shops, restaurants, tasting rooms, and service providers rely most heavily on the people who call Palisade home.
Choosing to shop locally in winter is more than a transaction. It is a reminder to our business owners that their work, their creativity, and their commitment to this community are valued year round. It is a way to help ensure that the places we gather, celebrate, and recommend to visitors are still here when spring returns. The Palisade Winter Rewards Program, generously brought to you by Alpine Bank, The Palisade Chamber of Commerce, and other community partners, is one small way to say thank you for showing up for your neighbors. By enjoying meals out, meeting friends for libations, booking a winter staycation, or finding a unique gift in one of our locally owned shops, you are helping keep the heart of Palisade beating through the quieter months and
may even earn a little something back along the way! Winter is also a gift to locals. With fewer crowds, it is the perfect time to enjoy Palisade at your own pace, reconnect with favorite businesses, and rediscover why this town feels so special. Please note that some businesses operate on limited winter hours. Be sure to check Google or individual business pages for the most up to date hours of operation before heading out. This winter, gather your friends, savor the season, and shop Palisade! For more information about the Winter Rewards Program and incentives for shopping visit palisadecoc.com/winter-rewards.
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December 24 - 31, 2025
The Business Times
Local economy expected to hold steady in 2026
Candace Carnahan, president and CEO of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, speaks during the chamber’s annual Economic Outlook event, where the organization reported recognizing $46.03 million in business investments across Mesa County in 2025. Photo by Brandon Leuallen. Continued from Page 1 The keynote forecast was presented by Dr. Richard Wobbekind, senior economist and faculty director of the Business Research Division at the University of Colorado Boulder. Wobbekind told attendees Grand Junction’s economic conditions largely mirror broader state and national trends. “Colorado, overall, the Colorado economy continues to perform at a positive but slow rate,” Wobbekind said. “And we’re forecasting relatively slow job growth for 2026, a little bit better than 2025.” Wobbekind said his perspective on Mesa County is also shaped by decades of direct observation. In an interview with The Business Times before the presentation, he said he has been visiting Grand Junction and assessing the local economy since the late 1980s, initially on a more periodic basis, and he has returned nearly every year for more than 15 consecutive years. That long view, he said, makes recent changes in the region’s economic structure particularly clear. Diversification, investment provide stability Wobbekind said Mesa County’s diversification has helped reduce volatility compared with past economic cycles. While energy remains an important component of the Western Slope economy, he said growth is now spread across a broader range of sectors. “I can sort of see the movement away from super energy dependency toward a much more diversified economy over time,” he said, referencing earlier periods when local employment and growth were more vulnerable to energy market swings.
That includes health care, logistics, tourism, education and regional retail, sectors that align with employment patterns seen across Colorado. Wobbekind said Mesa County also benefits from geographic and infrastructure advantages that many other rural areas lack, including interstate access, rail connections and commercial air service. At the state and national level, Wobbekind said the forecast does not assume a recession. Gross Domestic Product is projected to continue growing, with 2026 expected to be slightly stronger than 2025. Inflation has eased significantly from recent peaks, and personal income has continued to outpace inflation, supporting ongoing consumer spending. He emphasized long-term economic health depends more on investment than short-term consumption. That theme was echoed by Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Candace Carnahan, who said reinvestment by existing businesses remains a key driver of local economic strength. Wobbekind said current federal tax reforms could provide a short-term boost to the economy, particularly through business tax provisions that encourage investment, but he warned that the long-term effects depend on how those policies are structured. He said tax cuts can stimulate growth initially, especially if they lead to increased capital spending, but they may also contribute to higher federal debt if not offset elsewhere. “In the short run, it stimulates, and it potentially affects supply by more investment in the economy,” he said. See ECONOMY on Page 11
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Alpine Bank founder Bob Young passes away
J. Robert “Bob” Young, founder and chairman of Alpine Bank and its holding company, Alpine Banks of Colorado, died Dec. 11 in Florida, surrounded by loved ones, Alpine Banks said in a news release. He was 87. For more than 50 years, Young built Alpine Bank into one of Colorado’s most respected financial institutions, always guided by his belief in the power of caring for others, the news release said. “Bob believed in people. He believed in doing what’s right, even when it wasn’t easy,” Alpine Bank President Glen Jammaron said. “He had a rare ability to see the best in others and to draw it out with kindness. I, like so many others, am a better person because of Bob Young.” Margo-Young Gardey, Young’s daughter and a member of Alpine Bank’s board of directors, said, “The passing of my father marks not just a personal loss, but a passing of the torch at Alpine Bank. His generosity, philanthropy and vision have shaped our communities, and that legacy will continue to strengthen Colorado for years to come. His fierce independence, so evident throughout his life, will remain a guiding light for all of us as we move forward.” Young’s career in banking began shortly after earning a business administration degree from Wichita State University in 1961, the news release said. After serving with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and gaining commercial banking experience, he followed his vision to create a community-focused bank. In 1973, he opened the first Alpine Bank, originally named Roaring Fork Bank, in Carbondale. Now with headquarters in Glenwood Springs, Alpine Bank is a statewide institution
with 39 locations, including five in the Grand Valley, and $6.8 billion in assets. Throughout Alpine Bank’s growth, Young remained committed to keeping the bank locally owned and employee driven. In 1983, he introduced an employee stock ownership plan, making employees meaningful stakeholders in the bank’s future and creating the conditions for independence beyond his lifetime, the news release said. Young’s impact extended beyond Alpine Bank. He served as president of the Colorado Bankers Association, spent more than 20 years on the Colorado state banking board and was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame in 2011, the news release said. Young was passionate about community service, championing numerous philanthropic efforts across the Western Slope and beyond, the news release said. Among his proudest achievements was the creation of the Alpine Bank First-Generation Scholarship, which has supported more than 300 college students from Colorado. Young built a culture of service and integrity that continues to guide Alpine Bank’s mission today, the news release said. His legacy lives on in the lives he touched, the communities he strengthened and the bank he founded with care and purpose. “From day one, Bob knew that connection builds community,” Jammaron said. “And our commitment to community will never change, because we are a bank that cares.” According to the news release, Young said, “The most valuable thing one person can give to another is caring. When you care, everything else just follows.”
18 Road improvement project completed Mesa County recently celebrated the completion of improvements to 18 Road, a key access route to some of the county’s most popular public lands and recreation areas, the county said in a news release. The project, which officially wrapped up this month after construction began in December 2024, improves access to the Desert Trails Special Recreation Area and the Bureau of Land Management 18 Road Campground. Among the those who frequently use 18 Road are mountain bikers, equestrians, hikers, campers, off-road-vehichle users and families heading out for a day on public lands. Before the project, the road was gravel and often difficult to navigate during wet or winter conditions, affecting safety and access, especially during peak recreation seasons. The project reconstructed approximately six miles of roadway, beginning north of the Government Highline Canal and extending to the BLM 18 Road Campground. Key improvements include: • A widened roadway measuring 32 feet. • Four-foot paved shoulders in both directions to improve safety for cyclists and equestrian users. • Improved drainage, including two new box culverts and additional replacements. • Better grading, stabilization, signage and striping. • Improved sight distance and safer access points to recreation areas. Mesa County secured a Federal Lands Access Program grant in 2017 to help fund the project. FLAP grants are competitive and designed to improve transportation facilities that provide access to federal lands. With more than 3,000 miles of countywide roadway to maintain, projects of this scale are only possible through special funding partnerships, the news release said.
December 24 - 31, 2025
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The Business Times
Housing Task Force urges cost-benefit analysis for major code changes
Brandon Leuallen served as The Business Times e than 20 d into the Members of the City of Grand Junction’s aid. mpioningHousing Affordability Task Force are asking d beyond,the city to begin evaluating the cost impacts was theof major building and development code which haschanges before they are adopted. The task force said affordability goals cannot be met ne Bank’swithout understanding how regulations affect ched, thehousing prices. The request was discussed during the aid. “Andtask force’s most recent meeting, where ares.” members raised concerns that code changes erson canare often considered individually without a clear way to evaluate how requirements compound construction costs over time relative to their perceived benefits. Grand Valley developer Ron Abeloe raised the issue during the meeting and later elaborated on his concerns in an interview. “The city on a regular basis comes up with requirements, changes to construction methods and details, and code changes with no regard for cost,” Abeloe said. “They make no effort to find out the kind of impact it would have.” Abeloe said developers are often told the city cannot perform cost-benefit analysis. Abeloe said, “But you don’t need a perfect analysis. You can take a typical set of assumptions and apply it.” He also said industry professionals can provide numbers during the process if needed, so they are able to be considered. As an example of what he described as an unnecessary regulation adding cost to each new home, Abeloe referenced a city requirement establishing a minimum six-foot-sidewalk width in residential neighborhoods that was also discussed at the meeting. He said staff did not provide a cost estimate, so he calculated one himself. “That change added roughly four to five thousand dollars per lot,” Abeloe said. “That includes land value, additional subgrade preparation and construction costs.” Abeloe said the sidewalk issue is brought up often, because in his years as a developer,
sidewalks inside residential neighborhoods have rarely, if ever, created problems that justify wider standards. He said no one ever complained that sidewalks should be wider than four feet in any of his subdivisions. He said pedestrian traffic in subdivisions is low, conflicts between walkers are uncommon, and he has never seen complaints, lawsuits or demonstrated safety issues tied to four-foot sidewalks in neighborhood settings. Abeloe said city officials at the time viewed the increase as insignificant. “Five-thousand dollars on every home is a big deal,” he said. Abeloe said when cost concerns are dismissed individually, the cumulative effect is also not considered. “Each change is looked at as a small change,” Abeloe said. “But when you add them all up, it keeps adding to the cost of a home. It’s the cumulative effect.” Abeloe said regulatory costs do not affect all housing equally. He said higher minimum standards disproportionately reduce the number of lower-cost homes that can be built by raising baseline construction requirements. Abeloe said he builds homes at different price points, but he focuses significantly on the lowest price range for new construction in the Grand Junction area. He said regulatory costs tied to required infrastructure within developments have pushed many builders out of that segment, leading them to focus on higher-priced homes where profits per lot are larger, and requirements are easier to absorb. “When you raise minimum standards, you raise the floor,” Abeloe said. “That hits lower-priced homes the hardest.” He said higher-priced homes are also often built with added features voluntarily, because buyers in that market expect them and can afford them. “For higher-end homes, a lot of these features are already being added anyway,” Abeloe said. “But for entry-level homes, those same requirements can make the project no longer pencil.”
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December 24 - 31, 2025
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Continued from Page 2 “Any of the famous courses you can think of, we pretty much have access to all of those,” Nic said. And get this: There are local courses such as The Golf Club at Redlands Mesa or Devil’s Thumb Golf Course in Delta. If people want to play an entire course, they can. More likely, though, in order to accommodate a larger gathering, competitions will be challenges such as longest drive or closest to the pin. “Usually with bigger events, we try to do something that’s gonna keep many guests engaged, so that’s why we’ll do some of those different competitions at a
par-three or something like that,” Nic said. He added the most popular thing at events so far “is people love taking the driver out and trying to hit it as far as they can.” The Social Swing will provide righthanded and left-handed clubs. While participants may be competitive, the Hansens emphasized The Social Swing is for anyone who wants to take a few (or a lot of) hacks. “This is for fun and for engagement, and you don’t have to be a golfer to have fun with this,” Nic said. “We really want this to be open for everyone, no matter the age, no matter your skill level of golf. This is just a really fun thing to have … and it’s not just for golfers.”
December 24 - 31, 2025
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D51
The Business Times
Continued from Page 4 According to the presentation, the U.S. Senate proposal would maintain flat funding levels and require timely distribution of funds, while the U.S. House proposal would significantly reduce Title I funding, eliminate Title II and Title III funding, and potentially rescind funds already allocated for the current fiscal year. The presentation showed District 51 currently receives about $4.6 million in Title I funding, $690,000 in Title II funding, and about $69,000 in Title III funding. Trujillo said those dollars support staffing, professional development, multilingual-learner services and family engagement, and the district has no alternative funding source to replace them if federal cuts occur. Staffing alignment, cost pressures, and savings targets Trujillo told the board that District 51 is working to bring staffing levels into alignment with declining enrollment while also addressing rising fixed costs. According to the Dec. 16 presentation, District 51 is currently overstaffed by about 30.85 student-service equivalents, representing roughly $3 million in general-fund costs. If not corrected, that gap is projected to grow to about $4.3 million next year. Trujillo said the district is reviewing staffing at the school and central-office levels.
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She said central-office staffing has already been reduced by about $1.4 million in recent years, and additional reductions are being evaluated. She added the district cannot cut its way out of the problem through the central office alone, so it must continue to scrutinize every vacancy and position. The presentation also outlined unavoidable cost increases for the coming year, including a projected $1.4 million increase in employee health insurance costs, about $500,000 in additional transportation expenses, and an existing base budget shortfall of $368,000. Trujillo said the minimum cost to balance the 2026–27 base budget is estimated at $2.3 million. Restoring a single, permanent, step increase in employee pay would add about $3.3 million, bringing the total ongoing savings target to roughly $5.6 million, according to the presentation. As part of the district’s cost-containment strategy, Trujillo presented a voluntaryearly-retirement incentive equal to 25 percent of an employee’s base salary. The Dec. 16 materials showed that 30 employees submitted letters of intent to retire, with an additional 23 expressing interest at the time of the meeting. Trujillo said savings are greatest when vacated positions are not backfilled or are replaced at reduced levels, and she cautioned that while no additional school closures are planned for the upcoming year, continued enrollment declines may require the board to revisit staffing reductions and consolidation options in future years. Improving academic performance remains a bright spot Despite the financial challenges, Dr. Hill ended the meeting by highlighting strong academic results. For the first time since the state’s School Performance Framework was introduced, 31 schools, representing 82 percent of District 51 schools, earned the highest possible performance rating. Also, graduation rates reached an alltime high for the second consecutive year. F
December 24 - 31, 2025
Economy
The Business Times
Continued from Page 5 Wobbekind said Colorado’s recent slowdown and “falling back” from the top of national growth rankings has produced some important benefits, particularly around affordability. He said rapid growth in previous years pushed housing prices and costs higher at an unsustainable pace, and the recent cooling has helped bring the prices down. Growth constraints reflect state, national pressures Despite those positives, Wobbekind said Mesa County faces the same structural constraints affecting Colorado and the national economy. “We’re forecasting relatively slow employment growth,” he said. “Not because demand isn’t there, but because labor supply is limited.” Wobbekind said Colorado’s labor force has effectively topped out because of slower migration into the state, declining labor-force participation, and federal immigration policy. As a result, businesses may struggle to expand even in healthy sectors. Retail sales growth is expected to remain subdued in Mesa County, consistent with statewide trends. Wobbekind said flat consumer spending is already creating tighter budget environments for many local governments across Colorado, as revenue growth has failed to keep pace with rising costs. At the national level, Wobbekind identified rising federal debt as a significant longterm risk. While he said the United States can service its debt, the implications extend beyond repayment. “The issue is not whether we can pay our debt,” he said. “It’s what that debt crowds out.” Wobbekind said higher debt levels can limit future infrastructure investment, and reductions in federal interest rates may not translate into lower home mortgage rates because of the nation’s growing debt levels. He said the issue is partly tied to who is buying U.S. debt, noting some foreign governments are purchasing less U.S. debt than in the past. That shift can place upward pressure on yields, meaning cuts to the federal funds rate do not automatically lead to lower mortgage rates or reduced borrowing costs across the broader economy. The K-shaped economy Wobbekind said the national economy is increasingly defined by what he described as a “K-shaped economy,” where different groups of households experience very different outcomes at the same time. “You’ve got one part of the economy doing fairly well, and another part that’s really struggling,” he said. “Higher-income households are still spending, and they’ve been able to absorb higher interest rates much better.” Lower income households, however, face a much tighter reality.
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“They’re spending a much larger share of their income on necessities,” Wobbekind said. “Housing, food, transportation, those costs don’t leave much room for discretionary spending.” He said that pressure is beginning to show up in the data. “We’re seeing delinquencies go up, and we’re seeing bankruptcies go up,” he said, adding those trends are concentrated among households with less financial flexibility. Wobbekind said the same divide is visible across businesses. “If you’re serving higher-income consumers or you’re in essential sectors like health care or professional services, you’re generally doing OK,” he said. “If you’re more dependent on discretionary spending, it’s a lot tougher.” While overall economic indicators remain stable, Wobbekind said those headline numbers can obscure underlying strain. “The averages look fine,” he said. “But underneath that, there’s a lot of divergence, and that’s something people really need to pay attention to.” Long-term outlook depends on positioning, not speed Wobbekind closed by encouraging communities to focus on long-term positioning rather than short-term fluctuations, noting economic cycles are inevitable. “What happens in one year is not the end of the story,” he said. “The real question is where this community is positioned five or ten years from now.”
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Let me take some of your time to celebrate The Times The Business Times, in case you were wondering. Yup, just when you think writing on politics and government has given all it has to give, the local hubbub over the two new Mesa County Library Board members gave me some darned good low-hanging fruitcake to mash up, but I’m not gonna re-gift the insanity of the “outraged” protesters who think only those who think like them should be in charge of everything in life to my readers. Instead, I’m going to talk about me and my own insanity of 2025 when it comes to your favorite newspaper. After all, it was just over a year ago when I had to make the most serious business decision I’ve ever had to make. A decision about the future of The Business Times, and whether there was a future to be had. And making a decision which ultimately required Craig Hall an in-depth look at one’s own shortcomings isn’t a great, or easy, one to make. Because that’s what the retirement of Phil Castle did to me. I had to take a long, hard look at my career in journalism. And the first conclusion, although known deep down, was easy to identify, and that’s the fact that I’m not a journalist. I’m a business owner who happens to own a newspaper with the title of publisher. There were so many aspects of putting together a newspaper I knew about but lacked the talent to do. To summarize, I can’t really write stories (although I may do one now and again, I certainly can’t write a dozen quality stories on a deadline), nor did I want writing to be a focus of my job. I have zero talent to design anything. Well, I can conceptualize ads; just don’t ask me to jump into Adobe to design it. Same goes for laying out a newspaper. As far as newspapers go, I put those two as the top priorities. After all, if the stories aren’t quality and the paper doesn’t look good, no one’s going to want to read it. So my deep dive into Craigy had me thinking all I was bringing to the table was some running-a-business knowledge, cleaning the office and doing delivery. Well, I’m also a darned-good salesman, and if it wasn’t for that, I’d have been out of a job at my own company years ago. And if I didn’t find some folks to replace two important tasks Phil had done for me and The Business Times, I’d be out of a job in the coming year. So, with Phil’s retirement date looming and quickly realizing I wasn’t the guy for those jobs, I did the only thing I possessed the talent to do at the time. I put it all in God’s hands. After all, my look deep inside showed me two things. The first was that
God had put Phil (and countless others) into my publishing life to get me through those 25 years (25 years!!!????), because I lacked certain talents in running a newspaper, because His plan for me was to run a newspaper, and that’s how I was able to run it all those years. The second was realizing I was on God’s timing all that time, and more important, I was still on God’s timing for the next step in my career. So really, the decision to go weekly, however daunting on the human side, was already decided in the Divine, and now was the time. And with Divine intervention I found Brandon, Jackie and Tim. I met Brandon through messaging on Facebook because friends told me he was doing stories about community news. Something I’ve long had a desire to cover and knew the new iteration of The Business Times was going to cover. I met Jackie through a recommendation of a friend, even though I had known her through sales (but I forgot) in her previous job, and she’s a member at Canyon View Vineyard Church along with me. I met Tim because he read my column about Phil’s retirement and sent me an email asking if, perhaps, I could use some consulting during the transition. Obviously, that answer was yes. Go ahead, tell me it wasn’t Divine. But you’d only be trying to convince yourself. But until you can explain how these three talented people dropped into my plans in the exact roles I needed, you’ll never convince me otherwise. And at the risk of sounding braggadocious, I think we’ve created a darned good product with darned good stories supported with darned good advertisers being read by darned good readers. Given the fact I have little talent besides some selling and figuring out a way to put it all together for 25 years, you can’t call it anything but a miracle. That’s how I look at the last year. Nothing short of a miracle. And for the newspaper which comes out a week after you read this column, we’ll have witnessed 52 of them. Considering a year ago I had no idea how we were gonna do it, I’d say it’s time to declare our little office a shrine. Grand Junction obviously needed another news source, and we’ve been blessed to provide it. And for 2026, we’ve got bigger plans. Except this time, I won’t pray for a miracle, I’ll just expect it. Tis the season, right? Have a Blessed Christmas and the Happiest New Year. F Craig Hall is owner and publisher of The Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com
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The Business Times
December 24 - 31, 2025
n Enstrom Candies gets national exposure on TODAY
n City turns fall leaves into riverfront improvements, taxpayer savings
Enstrom Candies got a little time in a national holiday-shopping spotlight on Dec. 6 when it was mentioned and shown on NBC morning show TODAY. During TODAY with Jenna & Friends, Enstrom Candies’ toffee was one of several items selected by Danielle Kartes, author of “The Best Kids Cookbook,” in a segment about perfect mail-order gifts for foodies on your holiday-shopping list. In fact, Enstrom’s toffee was the first item she discussed with TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager and Al Roker. “This is my favorite thing, you guys,” Kartes said. “I love a food gift. Enstrom toffee, this is some of the best toffee I’ve ever had in my life. From Colorado, California almonds – we love that – non-GMO, no garbage, and it’s just such a great gift.” Hager Bush said emphatically, “It’s delicious,” and added she gets it every year. Enstrom Candies, which is headquartered in Grand Junction and also has several locations in the Denver area and one in Montrose, said in an email announcement, “We’re really proud to see a local brand get national recognition, especially during the holiday season.” The other items promoted during the TODAY segment were: Cobb’s Popcorn from Seattle; pies from Royers Pie Haven in Round Top, Texas; gift baskets from Harry & David of Medford, Oregon; San Joaquin Valley, Calif., fruits and vegetables from The Fruitful Market: and pork products from Snake River Farms in Boise, Idaho.
Leaves collected during the city of Grand Junction’s annual fall pickup are being reused to improve Watson Island, a public space along the Colorado River. Through a collaborative effort between the city’s General Services and Parks and Recreation departments, a portion of the leaves collected this fall were used on Watson Island, with the remainder processed at the Mesa County Compost Facility, the city said in a news release. The city said this approach improved efficiency, reduced costs and delivered longterm environmental benefits. In total, 5,470 cubic yards of leaves were redirected to the island, resulting in: • $6,500 in savings on contract services and landfill fees. • An estimated $44,000 was saved, because the city avoided purchasing the equivalent of approximately 1,300 cubic yards of compost. “This program has created a streamlined process that combines financial savings, improved efficiency and most importantly contributes to our long-term goal of restoring vegetation on Watson Island to make it a more beautiful space for the disc golf course community and residents enjoying a nice walk with a river view,” City Forester Rob Davis said. The compost will be used to improve soil health and restore native vegetation on Watson Island, helping support sustainable land management and a healthier riverfront environment, the news release said. Watson Island’s ongoing restoration reflects decades of city investment that transformed the area from a former disposal site into a revitalized riverfront area.
n Ashcraft receives Realtor in Action Award from GJARA The Grand Junction Area Realtor Association recognized Amy Ashcraft of Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties with the Realtor in Action Award, honoring her dedication to her community and the positive impact she makes beyond her real estate work. According to a news release from Coldwell Banker, the Realtor in Action Award is presented to individuals who go above and beyond in serving their community, exemplifying the values of leadership, service and commitment to the betterment of the places where they live, work and play. “Amy continually demonstrates a heart for impact that inspires Amy Ashcraft everyone that knows her. Recently, she delivered a moving keynote at GJHS (Grand Junction High School), speaking vulnerably and passionately to an audience of more than 1,000 youth, a testament to her dedication to inspiring and empowering others,” said Todd Conklin, CEO of Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties. “This is given to a recipient who is working beyond their typical real estate work in areas that benefit the community in which they live, work and enjoy,” said Amy Miller, 2024 Realtor in Action Award winner. “This is an exciting award for me to present as it is going to an extremely worthy recipient.”
December 24 - 31, 2025
The Business Times
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The Business Times
December 24 - 31, 2025