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Northern Colorado News Briefs

Greeley a ‘Top 10 Place to Retire’
Where to Retire magazine recently tapped Greeley as one of the top 10 places to retire in the country. In their July/August issue, the magazine selected the top 10 places to retire in un-ranked order. Their selections include: Greeley, Colorado; Portland, Maine; Sussex County, Delaware; Asheville, North Carolina; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Greenville, South Carolina; Reno, Nevada; Boise, Idaho; Spokane, Washington; and Kalispell, Montana. Greeley was selected based on several factors, including: the area’s great location next to Rocky Mountain National Park, the thriving arts and music community, the University of Northern Colorado and the availability of affordable real estate.

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Colorado: the Definitive Cleantech Hub
Colorado’s natural resources combined with the state’s human resources are the key ingredients needed to build the new energy economy. Recognizing this, the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (Metro Denver EDC) has launched a Cleantech hub campaign with accompanying website, www.CleanTechHub.org. Their mission is attract national and international companies in wind, solar, biofuels, smart grid, and natural gas to Colorado. Over the past two years 17 wind and solar companies have announced plans to relocate or expand in Colorado. Northern Colorado is already home to one of these companies, Vestas, which announced investments of nearly $1 billion in wind-turbine production plants in Colorado that will directly employ 2,500 people. BP Wind Energy also recently announced plans to construct a wind farm in Weld County.

Data source: PR Newswire, "Metro Denver: Colorado is North America's Cleantech Hub" by Metro Denver EDC, 5/24/2010.  http://www.metrodenver.org/news-center/metro-denver-news/metro-denver--colorado-is-north-america-s-cleantech-hub.html

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Economic indicators good for Windsor
Windsor residents received good news recently that two key economic indicators, sales tax collections and single-family home building permits, are both up. Sales tax collections for May 2010 are up 9.5% over May 2009 and collections for January-May 2010 are up 3.4% over the same time period a year ago. Likewise, more than twice as many single-family (SF) home building permits were issued in May 2010 than in May 2009. Also, 77% more SF permits were issued in January-May 2010 than for the same time period a year ago. These figures bode well for the Windsor community.

Source: Coloradoan, "Indicators point to healthier times ahead for town" by David Persons, 6/12.  http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100612/WINDSORBEACON03/6120315

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Northern Colorado apartment vacancy rates down
The multi-housing unit market is stabilizing in northern Colorado. Apartment vacancy rates in Greeley fell to 6.9% during the first quarter of 2010, compared to 8.4% during the same time period last year. Greeley’s 6.9% rate represents the lowest first-quarter rate for the city since 2002. Fort Collins’ 2010 first quarter vacancy rate came in at 5.1% and Loveland had the lowest in the state, coming in at 3.8%. Apartment vacancy rates are one of the ways we measure supplydemand balance in market. Lower vacancy rates and higher rents tend to indicate the regional economy is doing well, attracting more residents and increasing the demand for housing. Ideally, lower vacancy rates are complimented by strong homeownership rates.

Data source: State Department of Local Affair’s Division of Housing.

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April shows drop in unemployment for northern Colorado
Ground was broken mid-February on a new PVHS (Poudre Unemployment dropped for northern Colorado in April. In Fort Collins-Loveland, the rate dropped from 7.1% in March to 6.4% in April. During the same time period in Greeley, the unemployment rate reduced from 9.9% to 9%. This news was matched by the recent announcement that BP Wind Energy is planning construction of a wind farm in Weld County. BP estimates employing 250 workers for the construction and generating 12-14 job openings for the monitoring and maintenance of the wind farm.

Data source: State Colorado Department of Labor and Employment; Coloradoan, “BP to build wind farm in Weld” by Sarah Jane Kyle, 5/20/2010.

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Denver tapped by Portfolio.com for quality of life
Fort Collins recently received a distinctive national honor. Portfolio.com recent examined 67 U.S. metro areas for their quality of life. The company used twenty different metrics, mostly economic, to evaluate each of the major cities. After crunching the data, Denver came in as the nations 6th best for quality of life.

Source: bizjournals.com, “Denver has nation’s 6th best quality of life, Portfolio.com reports,” by Denver Business Journal, 5/24/2010.

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Loveland/Fort Collins area featured as “Best Retirement City” by CNBC’s Tom Brokaw
On Thursday, March 4th the Loveland/Fort Collins area was featured on CNBC by Tom Brokaw as 1 of 15 “Best Retirement Cities.” The feature was part of a two-hour documentary entitled “TOM BROKAW REPORTS: BOOMER$!” If you missed the show, you can visit boomers.cnbc.com for extended video clips and highlights.

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Northern Colorado regional housing market showing promise
IRES, the regional Multiple List Service (MLS) for northern Colorado, recently released 1st Quarter 2010 numbers and they show promise for the region. For all areas and all property types, the number of sold listings increased by 324 or 12.94% compared to the 1st Quarter 2009. The dollar volume of sold listings also increased, in this case by $87.8 million in sales or 13.98%. When comparing 1st Quarter 2009 to 1st Quarter 2010, another significant area of improvement was specifically in attached dwelling sales. The number of sold attached dwellings increased by 17.94% while the dollar volume increased by 11.72%.

Source: IRES, “2009 versus 2010 Comparison Report-All Areas” pulled 4/27/2010. 

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Have you checked out “Greeley. Great from the Ground Up.”?
We are what we eat. That is what mom says and as we age we find that to be true. But what about your mental diet? Often we forget that the information we digest matters too. Because negative news tends to sell, it can be difficult to learn about the great things going on in our communities. The City of Greeley has been proactive in gathering great news for us. For example, did you know that the North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley is one of five hospitals in Colorado rated in the top 5% in the nation for lowest mortality and most improvement in clinical quality, according to a study by Golden-based HealthGrades? If you are looking for a more balanced mental diet, then check out the “Greeley, we’re great from the Ground Up” section of www.greeleygov.com.

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Forbes: Fort Collins #4 Best Place for Business and Careers
The Fort Collins metro area was recently selected by Forbes Magazine as the #4 Best Place for Business and Careers. Forbes broke their evaluation down into twelve categories, including: cost of doing business, economic growth projected, educational attainment, income growth, job growth projected, and net migration. Fort Collins was ranked in each of the twelve categories and the total score was derived from the sum of the individual rankings. Fort Collins wasn’t the only Colorado city to make the grade. Other Colorado cities that made the top 30 list: Denver ranked #6, Colorado Springs ranked #12; Boulder#14; and Greeley #29. You can view a complete slideshow of the 2010 best places on Forbes.com.

Source: Forbes.com, “The Best Places for Businesses And Careers,” by Kurt Badenhausen, 4/14/2010.  http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/13/forbes-best-places-for-business-washington-best-places-for-business.html

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