All Entries in the "Economy" Category
City Purchases New Fire Truck
The Lamar City Council combined a planned executive session with a last minute public meeting to discuss the need to purchase a replacement fire truck for the city’s fire department. Fire Chief Jeremy Burkhart explained that the department’s oldest structural fire engine failed its annual pump certification. The unit is 30 years old, […]
Lamar Utility Board Reviews 2022 Budget
Light Plant Superintendent, Houssin Hourieh, provided a view of the proposed Capital Improvement and Operation and Maintenance segments of the 2022 budget for Utility Board members on Tuesday, August 24th. A substantial amount of the budget is for repeat expenses and remaining generally in line with the previous year’s financial projection. Capital Improvement […]
City Administrator Search Resumes, Troy Manor Property May Have a Buyer
Lamar Mayor, Kirk Crespin, and the city council set an executive session for August 30th to meet with the city administrator search team representative, Larry Gilley of SGR, to discuss four new candidates available for the position. “We can look at the new candidates and make a decision from that point, or we can […]
Colorado Employment Situation – July 2021
Household survey data According to the survey of households, Colorado’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was little changed in July at 6.1 percent. During the same period, the national unemployment rate fell five-tenths of a percentage point to 5.4 percent. Other highlights from the household survey: Colorado’s labor force decreased by 2,800 in July […]
Livestock Slaughter – July 2021
UNITED STATES HIGHLIGHTS Commercial red meat production for the United States totaled 4.38 billion pounds in July, down 9 percent from the 4.81 billion pounds produced in July 2020. Beef production, at 2.32 billion pounds, was 4 percent below the previous year. Cattle slaughter totaled 2.85 million head, down 2 percent from July 2020. The […]
USDA Approves Colorado’s State Hemp Plan, Creating a Pathway to Expanded Operations and Testing
LONGMONT – Governor Polis, Commissioner Kate Greenberg, and officials from the U.S. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the approval of Colorado’s State Hemp Management Plan that provides details on practices and procedures to enable hemp producers to operate in Colorado in compliance with federal laws. “Colorado is the undisputed leader in […]
PUC Rules in Favor of LUB in Rehearing Bid from SECPA
Lamar Light Plant Superintendent, Houssin Hourieh, noted to the Lamar Utility Board during its August 10th meeting, an update from the Public Utilities Commission from Wednesday, August 4th. PUC, he said, ruled in favor of the Light Plant and denied SECPA’s application for rehearing, re-argument or re-consideration of Decision No. 21-0368. The Commission […]
Lamar Community College to Offer Classes in Baca, Kiowa and East Prowers this Fall
(LAMAR, Colo.) — Residents of Prowers, Baca and Kiowa counties will have access to a Lamar Community College (LCC) education without needing to travel to the main campus. LCC recently expanded its capacity to serve students by creating Distance Learning Sites in Eads, Granada and Springfield, lessening the distance and increasing access to higher […]
ARPA Business Operations Report-August 2021
2020/2021 Operations: As the ARPA Board prepares to begin its budgeting process for 2022, it does so by looking back over a handful of significant events that occurred during the first half of 2021. The events ranged from the repurposing and demolition of the Authority’s coal fired Lamar Repowering Plant to new legislation impacting the operations […]
City Sees Continued Gain in Sales Tax Revenue
June 2021 Sales and Use Tax collected for the City of Lamar continues to rise for another month. City Sales Tax was up 6.93% for a gain of $24,530.80 over the previous year. Use Tax collections were up 52.08% for a gain of $13,941.05. Total Sales and Use Tax collections for June were […]
LCC Offers Scholarships for All Online Students
(LAMAR, Colo.) — Lamar Community College (LCC) students have the benefit of getting a college education from anywhere and for the same price as it would cost them to attend in-person. The college began to offer scholarships specific to higher-cost online courses in Summer 2020 to help students who did not want to attend in-person […]
National Beef Checkoff Petition Drive Extended Through October 3
Billings, Mont. – In a letter sent today, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack granted the organizers of the National Beef Checkoff Petition Drive until October 3, 2021 to collect the necessary signatures on the petition calling for a producer vote of the National Beef Checkoff Program. The South Dakota Livestock Auction Markets […]
USDA Approves Half Million Dollar Grant to Support Rural Mental Health in Colorado
Broomfield, Colo. – The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) is pleased to announce it has received $500,000 from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to support the vitality and mental wellbeing of Colorado’s agricultural workers and producers through community-based efforts to manage the increasing stresses on […]
SCEDD Housing Project for Southeast Colorado
The housing shortage in southeast Colorado is critical and a center point for future economic development in this region. Without adequate housing, prospective employers will pass on a community where there are no homes or apartments for employees. SCEDD, Southern Colorado Economic Development District and SECED, Southeast Colorado Enterprise Development Incorporated have joined […]
Livestock Slaughter USDA June, 2021
LIVESTOCK SLAUGHTER – JUNE 2021 UNITED STATES HIGHLIGHTS Commercial red meat production for the United States totaled 4.67 billion pounds in June, down 3 percent from the 4.79 billion pounds produced in June 2020. Beef production, at 2.40 billion pounds, was 1 percent above the previous year. Cattle slaughter totaled 2.95 million head, up […]
