Year: 2012

2012 is History, 2013 will be Eventful

Another year has come and gone. Thank you for making 2012 a great one for the Chamber. In a future post I’ll update you on our key accomplishments. The short version is that the community continued to enjoy a strong reputation as a great place to live and the economy continued to strengthen.

The coming year will be interesting and challenging in some ways. In many respects, the uncertain policy and tax environment of 2012 continues into 2013. As I write this Congress and the Pres...

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Relationships

A great joy in all of our lives is the people who fill them up. In the process of doing whatever it is we do, it’s the people we get to associate with that make it all worthwhile. Whether you’re helping a client solve a problem, raising money for research to cure a disease, fixing somebody’s balky car, teaching a course that provides a key insight, listening to someone harrumph about something while they ‘try to figure it out,’ and family and friends, of course, ...

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Where People Are Moving

"Growth" is a pejorative term to some people; to others it is sweet music. Either way, population growth is interesting. A great story on NewGeography.com is worth taking a peek at. It analyzes domestic migration in the 51 largest metro areas in the U.S. over the past decade and the past year. The biggest net gainers 2000-2009 are Phoenix, Riverside-San Bernardino, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Las Vegas.

More recently, as the recession eases, this has changed somewhat. The top 7 in n...

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Poll: Small Companies Reluctant to Hire

Many people hoped after the presidential election that the sense of uncertainty gripping the country would decline. That is not the case according to small businesses responding in November to the quarterly Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey. Small companies expect to hire fewer people in 2013 than at anytime since November 2008, which was the depth of the recession. You can find the story here in the Financial Times.

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Study: Something Very Good for Your Company

I try not to use this space for self-promotional purposes like hawking Chamber events or glorifying the Chamber. Instead, I like to comment on issues or send you to resources that I think you'll find interesting and useful.

What follows might seem like a departure from that. However, since it's about helping your company be successful, I've relented. You see, it's all about you!

The results of a national survey of 2,000 adults were released last week. It found that being active in a local ...

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Those in Need

With 60 degree weather it's a little hard to believe that Christmas is less than a month away!

Most of us will be able to enjoy a comfortable holiday season with family and friends. That's not the case for everyone, of course. Even in happy and prosperous Fort Collins some of our friends and neighbors are facing challenging times. Most of us know that and make a little extra space in our hearts and wallets to help. I'm a relative newcomer to the area - I've only been here 9 years - but the ge...

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Fiscal Cliff Primer

A common phrase in the media at the present time is the fiscal cliff. It refers to a set of tax increases, new taxes and federal budget cuts that in combination threaten to tip an already soft economy into recession.

On tap are five new taxes due to the Affordable Health Care Act (aka Obamacare, a possible increase to the estate tax, income tax increases for all taxpayers, a short-term fix on the Alternative Minimum Tax and expiration of the 2 percent payroll tax holiday.

On top of these i...

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Vote Today…and be Nice Tomorrow

Finally, Election Day. A year plus of primaries and general election campaigns are mercifully coming to an endâ?¦hopefully. By that, I mean, except for close races that might trigger recounts.

But let's be optimistic and hope for the best, which means clear winners and losers.

What will tomorrow bring? Well, for certain, about half of the population will be happy, and the other half will not be. For the sake of family-friend-community-workplace comity, here's hoping the former don't lord...

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Colorado State-Local Tax Burden Climbs

Your effective local and state tax rate for living in Colorado is 9.1 percent. The national average is 9.9 percent. Colorado has the 32nd highest tax rate, up nine slots in four years. The total state and local per capita tax amount paid by Coloradoans is $4,104. This information is from the Tax Foundation, which produces an annual state-local tax burden report. You can find it here.

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Fort Collins Works

As you know, the Chamber is in the middle of a major fund raising campaign. One of the initiatives being proposed is called Fort Collins Works.

By way of background, by most standards Fort Collins is a wonderful place to live. There is a long list of community attributes that make Fort Collins one of America's best communities

However, as a college town, it can be a difficult place to do business. A general lack of understanding and appreciation of business combined with government's i...

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