January 2022 | December 2021 | November 2021
January 2022
Boulder, Fort Collins Top 10 Fitness-Friendly Places
SmartAsset recently released a list of the Most Fitness-Friendly Places for 2022 and two Northern Colorado communities made the Top 10. Boulder ranked #6 and Fort Collins #9. In this study, SmartAsset compared 284 metro areas based on: % of residents who bike to work, fitness professionals per 10K workers, fitness establishments per 10K residents, % of restaurants that serve fast food and the average wage of personal trainers. Click here for the full article.
NoCo-to-Vegas direct connection
Direct flights are now available from the Northern Colorado Regional Airport to Las Vegas on Avelo Airlines. Avelo's plane arrives in Las Vegas at 1 p.m. from Northern Colorado and leaves Las Vegas for its return trip 40 minutes later. This service is now in addition to nonstop flights offered to Burbank, CA. You can check out the flight schedule and book online at: www.flynoco.com.
The Snowstang is back
Snowstang, the bus service from Denver to several mountain resorts, is now in service for the 2021-2022 ski season. The Snowstang provides roundtrip service on weekends and holidays to the Loveland Ski Area, Copper Mountain, Arapahoe Basin and Steamboat Springs. You can board at the Denver Federal Center or Denver Union Station. Click here for ticket pricing and scheduling.
December 2021
Better World MBA Ranking: CSU Impact MBA #5 in U.S.
Corporate Knights, a media group focused on sustainable businesses, recently released their 2021 Corporate Knights Better World MBA Ranking and Colorado State University's (CSU) Impact MBA program ranked #5 nationwide and #20 worldwide. School programs were evaluated based on seven metrics, including metrics like core course integration of sustainability, research publications per faculty member on sustainability topics, faculty gender diversity and faculty racial diversity. CSU's Impact MBA program provides students skills needed to drive organizational change and create ventures that incorporate the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. Click here to learn more about the Impact MBA program.
Colorado economic recovery underway
The Colorado Secretary of State's office released the Colorado Quarterly Business & Economic Indicators report, and the data shows that Colorado's economy is continuing to improve. The state is ranked above average for GDP, employment, and income growth. Existing entity renewals were strong in the third quarter while new entity filings pulled back slightly. Click here to read the full Q3 report. As part of broader Reignite the Economy regional efforts, the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce and regional partners created a tool to track Northern Colorado economic recovery. The regional indicators also show improvement in almost all key metrics. Click here to view the NoCo recovery tracker.
Three regional cities awarded tourism grants
The Colorado Tourism Office (CTO) recently awarded more than $710,000 in grants from their Matching Marketing Grants program. Funds were awarded to 22 Colorado organizations, including the cities of Fort Collins, Longmont and Estes Park. All three cities were awarded the maximum allowed amount of $40,000 to assist with tourism marketing. Visit Fort Collins is planning to use funds for Basecamp Fort Collins: A Northern Colorado Cycling Adventure Guide. The Longmont Area Visitors Association Inc. plans to promote their "Visit Longmont, Colorado’s Best Kept Secret" campaign while Visit Estes Park develops a series of public service announcements to experience the community sustainably. Click here to learn more about the matching grant program.
November 2021
Denver Metro #1 for STEM job growth
In the recently released 2021 STEM Job Growth Index from RCLCO and CapRidge Partners, Denver ranks #1 for Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) job growth. Strong economic tailwinds, workforce quality and quality of life were the primary factors propelling Denver to the top of the list. RCLCO assessed the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States based on metrics in four major areas: STEM Trends/Economic Factors, Workforce Quality, Quality of Life/Health, and Business Climate. Denver joined Seattle, Austin, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. to round out the Top 5.
Unemployment continues to decline
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment recently reported the statewide unemployment rate fell from 5.9% to 5.6% as 5,100 nonfarm jobs were added during the month of September. The U.S. unemployment rate fell from 5.2% recorded in August to 4.8% in September. County totals for September were: Boulder — 3.6%, down from 4.4% in August; Larimer — 3.9%, down from 4.7%; Weld — 4.8%, down from 5.6%. Click here to read the full press release.
3rd Quarter Real Estate MarketWatch
Information and Real Estate Services (IRES) released their Q3 2021 MarketWatch Report and in Northern Colorado home prices continue to be on the rise. In Larimer County, the median sales price was $528,000 for Q3-2021, an increase of 17.4% year-over-year. The number of closed sales was down 15.8%, coming in at 1,693. In Weld County, the median sales price was $450,000 for Q3-2021, a 14.6% year-over-year increase. The number of closed sales was down 16.8%, coming in at 1,601. In Boulder County, the median sales price was $804,000 for Q3-2021, a 19.1% year-over-year increase. The number of closed sales was down 20.7%, coming in at 983.
