Northern Arizona’s high-elevation winters have long been desert havens for snow sports like skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing and even dogsled racing. A growing number of visitors have been choosing Northern Arizona as their wintertime destination for more simple pleasures – enjoying local shops and restaurants and recreating at newly-opened snow play areas like Wing Mountain and […]
Author Archive | Jon Gustafson
Flagstaff’s Fast-Casual Dining
A new style of restaurant is trending in the United States. The service is brisk and customers order at a counter, but it’s not fast food. The food and menu choices are more exotic and creative, but the price ranges are below full-service restaurants. The most distinctive trait though: a reluctance to offer drive-thru […]
Remaining Confident through Market Turbulence
A volatile and unpredictable stock market has brought renewed attention to the likelihood of the United States economic recovery. A combination of the European sovereign debt crisis, S&P’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating to AA+ and the U.S. Congressional Budget Office’s mid-year projection of modest 2.3 percent GDP growth for 2011 are believed to […]
Uranium Mining Tied to Regional Economy
Mining companies and local residents are awaiting Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s final decision to allow or ban hard rock mining for the next 20 years on approximately one million acres on the Arizona Strip north of Grand Canyon National Park. Surges in the price of uranium from about $10 per pound in 2003, […]
Securing Flagstaff’s Water Future
Flagstaff City Council narrowly approved a $1.8 million contract earlier this year to begin drilling six wells at a city-owned property – Red Gap Ranch – approximately 40 miles east of Flagstaff. The 8,500-acre property was acquired in 2004 through city bond money approved by voters with hopes of securing Flagstaff’s long-term water supply. Many […]
Businesses Finding Challenge/Opportunity in Rising Crude Prices
With global economic recovery slowly taking place, the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) predicts world liquid fuel markets will tighten over the next two years as global demand picks up. The EIA projects regular-grade gasoline will rise from a 2010 average of $2.78 per gallon to $3.29 by 2012, and diesel fuel will rise from […]
Cementing Hopes for Regional and National Economic Growth
Drake Cement’s nearly-complete $310 million production plant is located within Yavapai County in Paulden, Arizona – once a historic ghost town and about 60 miles southwest of Flagstaff. Bringing Drake to the region is expected to employ approximately 550 people in construction projects and provide 90 full-time jobs within the plant. Local and Regional Development […]