Consumer

From decorations, pumpkin patches, haunted houses and costumes, there seems to be no end to the amount Americans are spending on Halloween.

Perhaps that’s why dozens of national restaurant chains such as SmashBurger, Noodles & Company and Chipotle, to name a few, got their start in Colorado.

Pueblo County wants to promote specialty agriculture products. A higher value crop helps Arkansas Valley towns retain their economic vigor even as water increasingly gets shipped to support expanding neighborhoods in metropolitan Denver.

And remember, don’t get so wrapped up in all the shiny new tech that you lose sight of what really matters, excellent service and true hospitality. That’s what makes for a successful restaurant.

From June through August, students interned, refined and grew their startups, and received mentorship, guidance and candid feedback from 19 experts, entrepreneurial founders and business leaders within Colorado’s innovation ecosystem.

As the market continues to expand and stigmas evaporate for singles seeking love online, Colorado's gotten in on a piece of the action, with several startups launching apps for like-minded local love affairs.

Millennials are more cost-conscious than brand loyal, so retailers across the continent are investing more of their time and marketing dollars in their private label brands.

There’s an adoption cycle for every emerging technology and cultured meats are no exception. Reduced environmental stress coupled with a cleaner, faster, cheaper and superior food source are all marketing points that will move the needle quickly.

As of 2017, there are 21 cider producers in Colorado, up from just one in 2008. See the growth of this industry over the years. [Infographic]

A tad late to the party, Colorado passed 2011 legislation that allowed qualified Colorado filmmakers to receive 20 percent of their filmmaking expenditure in a cash refund.

There are easier ways to bring home the bacon than opening a hard cider company in Colorado. It takes around 11 pounds of apples to produce one gallon of fermented cider.

The 75 million Americans that make up the millennial generation are bringing new perspectives, preferences and expectations to their decisions about which restaurants to visit.

In recent weeks, I have driven both the similarly priced Outback and Sportage, and I loved them both. I’d probably go with the Kia for two reasons.

Sometimes, genius is demonstrated by those that are just too stupid to realize the folly of examining ideas and questions overlooked by the intellectuals in a particular field or endeavor.

Will a better food supply lead to healthier, stronger, better-thinking people? This is exactly the premise that is driving many of the advances in farming today.

Rather than loading all kinds of expectations and assumptions around how you think the holidays should look, feel and sound, how about flipping your perceptions into a place of wonder and curiosity?

Hospitality extends beyond the four walls of the restaurant. That it’s about more than the food and drinks you serve, but how you treat the people in your community.