Press Release (Ybarras Boxing Club) - This past week in Independence, MO. LuisJoe Ybarra Jr competed in the National Silver Gloves Tournament,  Luisjoe boxed every night to reach the finals on Saturday.

He started his journey on the first week of December 2012 by winning the the state Silver Gloves title in Denver. Then he moved on to win the Regional Championship title in Pasadena, CA. Then came the National Championships this week in Independence MO.

Luisjoe competed in the 11yr old 85lbs division, boxing every night making the finals on Saturday. Luisjoe turns and looks over to his coach and says,  "I'm ready coach",  The coach responds by saying stay relaxed and stay focused and just out box him. That's what Luisjoe did and came out victorious over his competition Antonino from Florida.  

Luisjoe is 11yrs old and a sixth grader at Sproul Jr High in Security. He boxes out of Ybarras Boxing Club at 30 Widefield blvd. Ybarras Boxing Club would like to thank all the sponsors that make it possible for this kids to compete around the nation, A big thank you to McDonald's of L&S Enterprises. for more Information: call 719-237-6982 or 719-332-0982  website:  www.ybarrasboxingclub.com   or  Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Denver, CO (Dougherty Relations) – At Vectra Bank Colorado's 20th Annual Economic Forecast Breakfast titled "Twenty Years Together—Where We Are & Where We’re Going,” three experts forecast “hopeful” accelerated growth for the economy in Colorado and nationally in 2013. 

Five economists with expertise on local, national and global perspectives spoke to more than 1,500 people in Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder throughout a three-day economic forecast event schedule, January 30-February 1, 2013, and with hundreds watching online via a live webcast.  This year’s Denver forecast breakfast featured Mark Snead, President and Economist with RegionTrack; Patricia Silverstein, President of Development Research Partners; and George Feiger, CEO, Contango Capital Advisors, who was also a speaker in the two other markets.  Colorado Springs’ event hosted Dr. Fred Crowley, Associate Director and Senior Economist, Southern Colorado Economic Forum; and Boulder featured Dr. Phyllis Resnick, Lead Economist of the newly established Colorado Futures at Colorado State University.      

“These forums help us anticipate the future by learning from the past,” said Vectra Bank Colorado President and CEO Bruce Alexander. “Through these forums we are able to add value to our clients by providing insight to the trends and drivers that will impact their financial realities this year.” A few of the predictions for 2013 include:

From Mark Snead, President and Economist with RegionTrack (Denver)

    While not expected to be a break out year, Economist Mark Snead expects 2013 to be a transition year toward more organic growth.  He believes “impediments are diminished and there is fuel in the system,” from certain economic unknowns now set and from steady economic recovery resulting in wage and  salary job growth up 1.5 percent, personal income growth up 3.3 percent, and retail sales growth up 4.7 percent in 2012.  Snead’s GDP growth predictions of 2 percent and labor force growth of 1 percent were right on for 2012.
    Sources of “fuel” for the economy in 2013 include the Federal Reserve, which remains highly accommodative, ensuring an environment for economic growth, questions answered around the presidential elections, which reduces uncertainty around Federal policy. Also, in addition to soft energy prices, households and corporations are seeing higher cash balances and there is a rebound in household net worth.  Snead predicts job growth for 2013 at 2.1 percent, approximately a 3 percent increase from 2012. 

Resident’s Photo Graces Cover of Region’s 2013 Official Visitor Guide
Scenic Sunrise Shot in Garden of the Gods Park

Press Release - Colorado Springs (VisitCOS)

Each year, an inspirational and vibrant photo is chosen to represent the Colorado Springs region on the cover of the area’s official visitor guide. This cover entices people to pick up the publication or download the electronic version at VisitCOS.com. Previous subject matter has included natural gems such as Pikes Peak-America’s Mountain and Garden of the Gods Park.

This past September, the Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) and Pikes Peak Country Attractions Association (PPCAA) made a call to residents, visitors and professional & amateur photographers alike for possible cover photos. Resident photographer, James Harris of The Quiet Light Photography, snapped the winning shot. James’ photo has made its debut on the cover of the 2013 official visitor guide, available now.

Originally from California, James and his family moved to the area in 2001. He has always been drawn to the mountains and chose the area for its beauty and low cost of living. “Having the Rockies in such close proximity is one of the main reasons we chose Colorado Springs and housing prices were nearly 60 percent less than where we moved from,” James says. The chosen photo was taken from Rattlesnake Ridge (closed to the public in 2012) in the Garden of the Gods Park on August 25, 2010 at 6:20 a.m. “A friend and I had researched the time of the moonset/sunrise for that date and we were there taking the photos before the sunrise. It was a morning of incredible light.”

Easy Street Designs (producer of this site) has announced the expansion of it's Neighborhood Values direct mail postcard product. Up to now, the direct mail marketing product was available in only the 80911, 80817 and 80925 zip codes. A new variant will now be available anywhere in the Colorado Springs, Security, Widefield or Fountain areas and with lower minimums.

Neighborhood Values postcards take advantage of the Every Door Direct program from the U.S. Post Office. Cards are mailed to entire carrier routes rather than to specific addresses. The savings in postage and other aspects of the program have allowed Easy Street to combine their printing and design services as well as add prep of the mailing and delivery to the post office into one affordable package. For example the Neighborhood Values co-op mailings go out to about 1500 residential addresses every couple of weeks in the Fountain Valley area. Advertisers can get a 3.75"x4.25" full color ad for 10 cents an address, all inclusive.

The new product is called Neighborhood Values singles. While advertisers can team up and share space if they like, Easy Street doesn't arrange for co-advertisers on this one. A single advertiser could take advantage of 4.25" x 8.5" of full color print area on each side and select a carrier route or routes that they want to cover (Easy Street can help with that). Cost for these is 60 cents per piece and again includes everything from layout to bringing the cards to the post office. The official minimum for Every Door Direct is 200, but most carrier routes have more like 500-600 addresses and you can't mail partial carrier routes.

More details on the Neighborhood Values products.