Five Colorado cities made the top 40 of Forbes magazine’s latest list of the best places for business and careers: Fort Collins (#2), Colorado Springs (#10), Denver (#14), Boulder (#20) and Greeley (#37).
The national average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.85% - the lowest it has been since 1971. Last year at this time, the national average was 5.85%.
Xcel Energy Inc. will be launching two new programs aimed at upgrading the energy efficiency of its customers’ homes: “Energy Star New Homes” and “Home Program with Energy Star.” They’re part of Xcel’s big energy-efficiency push and are expected to save consumers about $450 million in 2009-2010. 
Sales of new homes in western states, including Colorado, rose 6.6 percent in February from the previous month, better than the national sales increase of 4.7 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.
Vestas Wind Systems broke ground in Brighton for two new manufacturing plants that will eventually employ 1,350 people. The crown prince and princess of Denmark and Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter attended the ceremony.
President Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill in Denver last February. The new law will make significant investments to create jobs in renewable energy research and development. Officials say President Obama chose to sign the package in Colorado because the state is at the forefront of the nation's push toward renewable energy.
The Rocky Mountain venture-capital investment community is bullish on the investment outlook in our region, according to a survey of 90 venture-capital firms, released by KPMG and the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association.
Home purchase prices in Colorado and neighboring mountain states rose in January compared to the previous month, the first month-to-month price increase in the region in seven months, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported.
ConocoPhillips has chosen St. Louis-based HOK as the lead architect for its new renewable energy and global training center campus in Louisville. HOK, a global architectural design and services firm, also designed Sun Microsystems' 560,000-square foot campus in Broomfield in the early 2000s.
Hotwire.com, has ranked Denver in third place on its 2009 list of the best value travel destinations nationwide. Denver scored 95 points out of 100 in the Hotwire ranking.
The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (Metro Denver EDC) released its Industry Cluster Study, a competitive analysis of industries leading the region's future economic growth. They are: Aerospace, Aviation, Bioscience, Broadcasting & Telecom, Energy, Financial Services, and Information Technology. 
The crown prince and princess of Denmark will attend a private groundbreaking ceremony in Brighton on March 25, for two new Vestas Wind Systems manufacturing plants.
The United Launch Alliance won a contract worth about $600 million to launch four NASA science and satellite communication missions into orbit starting in 2011.Construction began this week on the $32 million refurbishing of the former Cherry Creek Hotel. The builder plans to gut the eight-story, 210-room building on the SE corner of Cherry Creek Drive South and Colorado Blvd., update it and re-brand it as Hilton Garden Inn. The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
In addition they will be constructing 11,000 square feet of retail space, including Panera Bread and Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill. The project is expected to create about 150 full-time jobs between the hotel and retail space, as well as numerous jobs during construction.
Source: Denver Business Journal
Colorado’s bioscience industry received a total of $13,825,000 in federal funding for a new interchange serving the Anschutz Medical Campus and Fitzsimons Life Science District located at I-225 and Colfax Avenue, in Aurora. 
ConocoPhillips Co. has purchased an additional 9.14 acres of land just north of its intended new campus in Louisville for $1,055,500. Louisville city officials said ConocoPhillips had been negotiating with landowners in the area to acquire property for future transportation improvements and improved access to its campus. 
The homebuyer tax credit was signed into law by President Obama on Feb. 17, 2009. It provides an $8,000 credit for the purchase of a principal residence between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009. First-time home buyers or buyers who have not owned a home for at least three years will be able to benefit from this credit.
