Silt Chamber luncheon features talk on banking

The Silt Area Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a luncheon on Tuesday, Feb. 16, with guest speaker Judy Shaffer of Alpine Bank. Shaffer will be discussing the ever changing banking environment.

The luncheon will be at noon at the Holiday Inn Express in Silt.

There is a $5 admission fee for Silt Chamber members that is payable at the door. Reserve your seat by calling Cat at 618-9012 or e-mailing catscasas@sopris.net.

Established in 1998, the Silt Area Chamber of Commerce strives to advance and improve civic welfare and to advertise and develop the industries and resources of Silt, Garfield County and the surrounding areas.

Glenwood Rodeway Inn gets 2010 Gold Hospitality Award

The Rodeway Inn hotel of Glenwood Springs was recently awarded the prestigious 2010 Gold Hospitality Award from global lodging leader Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE: CHH), franchisor of the Rodeway Inn brand as well.

“The Rodeway Inn award-winning hotel represents not only the best of the best, but also the tremendous value that a Choice brand hotel can offer to today's travelers,” said Steve Joyce, president and chief executive officer of Choice Hotels. “We're very proud to have the Rodeway Inn hotel as part of our Choice family, and I congratulate the property on receiving this distinguished award.”

As a top performing property among the company's more than 4,800 U.S. franchised hotels, the Rodeway Inn hotel is among the top 10 percent of properties within the Rodeway Inn brand, and one of 17 hotels within the state of Colorado and one out of 21 hotels within the 377-strong Rodeway Inn brand to receive “Gold Award” status. As one of the company's top franchised hotels operating under the Rodeway Inn flag, the hotel has demonstrated an exceptional focus on guest satisfaction and dedication to providing superior service. Additional award criteria are evaluated by Choice Hotels through its official annual property ranking report.

For more information or to make your reservation for the Rodeway Inn hotel today, call the Choice Hotels toll-free reservation line at (800) 4CHOICE or visit choicehotels.com.

Luetke earns designation

Amy Luetke, broker/owner of The Property Shop, has earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. This is invaluable expertise to offer at a time when the area is feeling the impact from an increased number of short sales and foreclosures.

Short sales allow the cash-strapped seller to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even though it is lower than what is owed on the property. Short sales can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy. More and more lenders are willing to consider short sales because they are much less costly than foreclosures.

Alex Charfen, founder of the Distressed Property Institute in Boca Raton, Fla., said that Realtors such as Amy Luetke with the CDPE designation have valuable training in short sales that can offer the homeowner much better alternatives to foreclosure, which virtually destroys the credit rating. These experts also may better understand market conditions and can help sellers through the emotional experience, he said.

The Distressed Property Institute opened in January 2008 and provides training on-site and online. The CDPE is the premier designation for Realtors helping homeowners in distress and handling short sales.

Amy Luetke can be reached at (970) 618-4956 or amy@propertyshopinc.com.

Harrison takes honors

RE/MAX Select is proud to announce their Outstanding Agent with Outstanding Results. Wendy Harrison takes the honors for two categories. For the month of December she had the top dollar volume of transactions. We are also excited to announce Wendy has earned the nationally recognized Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource certification. The National Association of Realtors offer the SFR certification to Realtors who want help both buyers and sellers navigate these complicated transactions as demand for professional expertise with distressed sales grows. Wendy can be contacted at RE/MAX Select 928-8999 or her cell 618-4554.

 

Alpine Bank partners with local nonprofit

The FDIC has approved Alpine Bank to operate a mobile branch out of the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valley nonprofit, YouthEntity, student center at the Bridges High School building in Carbondale. The new branch collaboration will provide hands-on financial literacy enrichment in a real-world learning environment.

YouthEntity Alpine Bank is the only nonprofit-financial institution collaboration of its kind on the Western Slope. The partnership works by encouraging students in grades 4-12 to attend financial workshops appropriate to their age and grade level. Workshops for late elementary through early middle school students begin March 2010 and will feature DVDs of students teaching students money and banking skills accompanied by workbooks. Laptop computers, video iPods and gaming PCs will support the students as they learn during the workshops. Once students complete the workshop, and pass the financial capability exam, they earn a cash reward in which they may open up a savings or checking account with Alpine Bank. Funding for the cash awards is provided by donors from the community.

YouthEntity Executive Director Kirsten Petre-McDaniel states, “We are really excited about and grateful for the opportunity to partner with Alpine Bank to bring financial skills to youth in an authentic way.”

YouthEntity developed the curriculum based on financial literacy standards and best practices set forth by the Colorado JumpStart Coalition, a national financial literacy coalition that provides resources, materials, and support to Colorado organizations wishing to promote and who are dedicated to financial literacy and financial responsibility. The curriculum was also developed by partnering with students from area schools in the Roaring Fork Valley to ensure it was relative to their school studies and the workshops are hands-on and fun to learn.

Ian Bays, Alpine Bank Carbondale vice president, comments, “By partnering with YouthEntity to bring Alpine Bank's products to a new generation of consumers in an educational setting, we not only give young community members the tools and the knowledge to prepare for the future, but also the ability to become more financially literate members of society. Our hope is to educate students so they may hopefully avoid many of the painful and costly financial mistakes we have made as adults. Alpine Bank will offer a limited transaction, real-world banking setting in conjunction with YouthEntity's financial literacy program in order to meet these goals.”

Student workshops are slated to start in March, and schools, teachers, parents and students who are interested in attending a class or workshop can contact Kirsten McDaniel at kirsten@youthentity.com for more information. Already more than 180 students are expected to attend during March and April.

New engineers for Schmueser Gordon Meyer

Schmueser Gordon Meyer (SGM) Engineers and Surveyors is pleased to announce and recognize two Civil Engineering staff members who have recently earned their professional engineer licenses: Chris Romeyn and Shannon Ullman. These newly credentialed professionals have provided water resource and municipal water systems engineering expertise for numerous Western Slope communities.

Chris Romeyn, a water resources engineer, has been with SGM since 2005 where his project experience has focused on water rights/water resource engineering and planning, hydrologic and hydraulic engineering and computer modeling as well as drainage system analysis and design. Chris' project experience includes providing civil and environmental engineering expertise to such projects as the Master Drainage Plan for the community of Mack, Water Master Plan for the Town of Buena Vista and an entryway Drainage & Erosion Control Plan for the Town of Snowmass Village. Chris received both his master's and bachelor's degrees in civil engineering from the University of Colorado, as well as a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree from the University of Vermont.

Since joining SGM in 2006 as a project engineer with the Drinking Water Team, Shannon Ullman has focused on planning and design projects for municipal water systems. Her experience includes water system master planning, hydraulic modeling, permitting and regulatory compliance assistance, and designing upgrades and expansions to raw water supply and water treatment facilities. Shannon assisted in the design of the New Castle Water Treatment Plant Expansion Project and in the development of an update to the Vail Water System Master Plan. She also served as the project engineer for conceptual and detailed design phases for the Beaver Creek WTP Intake Improvements Project. Shannon holds a master's degree in environmental science and engineering from the Colorado School of Mines as well as a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Colorado State University.

Cerise PhotoArtistry thanks clients for their contributions to Operation Smile

Cerise PhotoArtistry would like to thank all of our clients that participated in Family Portrait Month this last October. Family Portrait Month is sponsored by PPA Charities, Professional Photographers of America's charity affiliate. PPA Charities distributes all proceeds from Family Portrait Month to Operation Smile, which provides cleft lip and palate repair surgeries to children worldwide. A few weeks ago, PPA Charities presented a check for $100,000 to Operation Smile for this year's donation. We want to thank each and every one of you who made this possible. Cerise PhotoArtistry would also like to congratulate CRMS students Olivia Mertz and Jemima Strong who will be going on a medical mission's trip to Cairo, Egypt, in March to take part in Operation Smile's campaign to educate people in the hope of changing lives.