Colorado Economy

Colorado Again Rated Tops in Economy, Growth Potential: With Colorado leading the way, eight states made the latest annual honor roll for their ability to strengthen their economies and their potential for future growth, a private research group said. The Corporation for Enterprise Development, a private research group, said Colorado won A's in each of the three major categories: economic performance, business vitality and development capacity.

For the third year in a row, Colorado received top honors in a "report card" by the nonprofit Corporation for Enterprise Development, which grades states for their economic performance. Colorado was the only state to earn A's in each of three subject areas in the ninth annual report. Four other states--Idaho, Minnesota, Montana and Oregon--made the honor roll and seven--Delaware, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming--earned honorable mentions.

An enduring memory that Susan and John Leavitt have of their years in Anaheim was the night in 1989 that they saw a young man die from gunshot wounds on their block. Today, the Leavitts are living better on less money in this postcard-pretty city at the base of snow-topped Pikes Peak. Leaving the crime and congestion of Southern California far behind, they are among a burgeoning crowd of Golden State refugees pumping new life into Colorado and the rest of the Rocky Mountain states.

Colorado Again Rated Tops in Economy, Growth Potential: With Colorado leading the way, eight states made the latest annual honor roll for their ability to strengthen their economies and their potential for future growth, a private research group said. The Corporation for Enterprise Development, a private research group, said Colorado won A's in each of the three major categories: economic performance, business vitality and development capacity.

For the third year in a row, Colorado received top honors in a "report card" by the nonprofit Corporation for Enterprise Development, which grades states for their economic performance. Colorado was the only state to earn A's in each of three subject areas in the ninth annual report. Four other states--Idaho, Minnesota, Montana and Oregon--made the honor roll and seven--Delaware, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming--earned honorable mentions.

Things are so bad economically in this high mountain town that the Pride of the West Saloon, the locals' favorite, will close soon for the winter. Both the waitresses are leaving, as are most of the bar's customers. "It's not going to be the wide-open, hell-raiser town it was," predicts bar owner Ben Barnes. "This town really used to be a lot of fun." After more than a century, the Sunnyside Mine-- The Company in this one-company town, pop. 700--is ceasing operation this week.

Nationally, the real estate market is as sour as a grumpy old prospector's disposition. But don't tell John Ficke. Land he couldn't give away not long ago suddenly seems like the mother lode. Take the gully full of used tires back of his realty office. Please. It went for a price in the low six figures. The shell of the fire-ravaged Gilpin Hotel has been commanding bids lately of at least $750,000.

Construction is everywhere. Dumpsters, concrete trucks and heavy machinery clog narrow streets as hundreds of workers scurry in and out of century-old buildings, pounding, painting and sawing in an air of anticipation that has not existed in this historic mountain town since 1865. The reason is that limited stakes gambling will debut here and in two other Colorado communities on Tuesday.

Colorado bankers, gearing up for a wave of takeovers in the 1990s, are hoping the Rocky Mountain region's economy bounces back sufficiently to allow them to fetch fat prices for their institutions. Colorado opens its borders to out-of-state banks on Jan. 1, 1991, but unless the economy turns around, larger predators may not be willing to put out much money for the banks.

President Reagan turned "Star Wars" into a bread-and-butter issue at a campaign stop here Thursday, predicting that the missile defense system heralded a boom in jobs and prosperity that would rival the birth of the space program.

An enduring memory that Susan and John Leavitt have of their years in Anaheim was the night in 1989 that they saw a young man die from gunshot wounds on their block. Today, the Leavitts are living better on less money in this postcard-pretty city at the base of snow-topped Pikes Peak. Leaving the crime and congestion of Southern California far behind, they are among a burgeoning crowd of Golden State refugees pumping new life into Colorado and the rest of the Rocky Mountain states.

Construction is everywhere. Dumpsters, concrete trucks and heavy machinery clog narrow streets as hundreds of workers scurry in and out of century-old buildings, pounding, painting and sawing in an air of anticipation that has not existed in this historic mountain town since 1865. The reason is that limited stakes gambling will debut here and in two other Colorado communities on Tuesday.

Things are so bad economically in this high mountain town that the Pride of the West Saloon, the locals' favorite, will close soon for the winter. Both the waitresses are leaving, as are most of the bar's customers. "It's not going to be the wide-open, hell-raiser town it was," predicts bar owner Ben Barnes. "This town really used to be a lot of fun." After more than a century, the Sunnyside Mine-- The Company in this one-company town, pop. 700--is ceasing operation this week.

Nationally, the real estate market is as sour as a grumpy old prospector's disposition. But don't tell John Ficke. Land he couldn't give away not long ago suddenly seems like the mother lode. Take the gully full of used tires back of his realty office. Please. It went for a price in the low six figures. The shell of the fire-ravaged Gilpin Hotel has been commanding bids lately of at least $750,000.

Colorado bankers, gearing up for a wave of takeovers in the 1990s, are hoping the Rocky Mountain region's economy bounces back sufficiently to allow them to fetch fat prices for their institutions. Colorado opens its borders to out-of-state banks on Jan. 1, 1991, but unless the economy turns around, larger predators may not be willing to put out much money for the banks.

Unsinkable Molly Brown used to live here. She's the lady who refused to go down with the Titanic. In a sense her spirit lives on. Leadville has endured booms and busts through much of its history, living as it has off the precious fruits of the earth--gold, silver and lately molybdenum, which is used to strengthen steel. But the latest bust threatened to undo everything in this gutsy city. Climax Molybdenum laid off more than a third of the town's workers. Then the Environmental Protection Agency eyed the 2,000 waste dumps and declared the town a Superfund cleanup site.

A desperate effort to save Frontier Airlines from bankruptcy failed Wednesday, despite a last-ditch attempt to sell the grounded carrier to United Airlines. But Frontier's parent company, People Express Inc., which as recently as Wednesday morning had raised again the specter of bankruptcy, had not yet delivered the ailing Frontier to federal bankruptcy court here by day's end.