{"id":933123,"date":"2026-05-02T15:10:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/933123\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T15:10:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:10:36","slug":"44-years-after-colorados-black-sunday-an-incubator-in-grand-junction-keeps-businesses-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/933123\/","title":{"rendered":"44 years after Colorado\u2019s Black Sunday, an incubator in Grand Junction keeps businesses running"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Quick links: Colorado loses more jobs<\/a> | Denver-area inflation up to 4.2%<\/a> | Gas prices up past $4 again<\/a> | Another rent report<\/a> | 2024, a deadly year for workers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The way Dalida Sassoon Bollig, CEO of the Business Incubator Center<\/a> in Grand Junction, tells it, a contractor, a Lego collector and an aerospace parts manufacturer all came in with similar problems.<\/p>\n

SafeSpace Builders installs equipment that helps people with mobility challenges get around, e-Bricks<\/a> carries millions of new and used Lego parts dating back to 1958, and SG Aerospace<\/a> built parts of the Artemis II space capsule that recently circled the moon.<\/p>\n

And the thing that ties them together is their owners \u2014 Shelley Clennin, Kenneth Riskey and Mike Sneddon \u2014 wanted to start businesses in a region \u201cwhere busting is easier than thriving, where, if you want a business you have to create it,\u201d Sassoon Bollig said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Gary Welsh reaches for another board as he feeds a plank through a thickness planer in the Makerspace area of the Business Incubator Center in Grand Junction. Welsh said he finds his lumber and supplies on Facebook Marketplace at a huge discount and is using the Makerspace and its machinery to build \u201ccatios,\u201d which are enclosed spaces for cats outside. (Gretel Daugherty, special to the Colorado Sun)<\/p>\n

The region, Mesa County, has come a long way since the pocket of time leading up to Western Colorado\u2019s Black Sunday,<\/a> when big-name oil companies like Exxon and Shell had learned the world\u2019s largest reserves of oil shale were there and came calling with promises of a $500 billion investment in 150 plants and six strip mines creating more than 100,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

It could have been the state\u2019s biggest job boom if it had happened. But on May 2, 1982, Exxon pulled out, whiplashing the region into its biggest bust ever.<\/p>\n

In the months after, cities and towns that had been bustling and vibrant were on the brink of collapse, Sassoon Bollig said. But instead of giving in, town and county leaders came together, \u201cand in 1985, during the hardest time on the Western Slope, they spent 500 man hours each to set up an organization to consult and coach and mentor businesses, while learning this is a viable model we need in our communities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Now 40 years later, BIC has more than 165 startup businesses incubating on its 47-acre campus at any given time and works with more than 1,000 existing small businesses and entrepreneurs in Mesa County annually.<\/p>\n

BIC officials say they\u2019ve helped launch 2,284 companies from their bustling warehouse on Legacy Way in Grand Junction, 86% of which are still in business after five years.<\/p>\n

\"AJohn Young slices a beef brisket in the commercial kitchen at Grand Junction\u2019s Business Incubator Center, which is officially called the Western Colorado Business Development Corporation. Young owns and operates The Ribber Catering, and he has been working in the incubator\u2019s commercial kitchen for the past 11 years. (Gretel Daugherty, Special to the Colorado Sun)<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve generated more than $357 million in direct revenues, created or retained more than 14,00 jobs, deployed 676 loans and leveraged more than $80 million in capital as administrators of the Mesa County Enterprise Zone that was created through the state\u2019s Office of Economic Trade and International Development and examined every decade to make sure they\u2019re still needed based on economic factors of the area such as unemployment, wage growth and population data.<\/p>\n

BIC says it has issued more than 15,000 certifications resulting in millions of dollars in tax credits and tens of millions in capital investments, as well as averaging nearly $20 million in contribution projects for charitable organizations annually.<\/p>\n

Some businesses that started at BIC include Pronto Bronto restaurant,<\/a> \u201cserving far-out fast food with intentionally radical vegetarian options\u201d; The Boring Bookkeeper,<\/a> which does monthly bookkeeping, payments management and software consultation; Imondi Wake Zone<\/a> family-friendly water park for wakeboarding and paddleboarding; and the three businesses Sassoon Bollig holds up as examples of what\u2019s possible when someone brings an idea to the incubator even if that\u2019s all they have: SafeSpace, E-Bricks, SG Aerospace.<\/p>\n

Anyone can cook their idea using BIC\u2019s hub model, where mentorship, coaching, classes and workshops are an intricate part of development, Sassoon Bollig said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about pillars because it\u2019s hard to get your head around everything BIC does,\u201d added Andrew Golike, a BIC board member.<\/p>\n

\"\"Business Incubator Center CEO Dalida Sassoon Bollig, right, answers a question while founder Barbara Creasman, left, listens during an online interview with the Colorado Sun. (Gretel Daugherty\/Special to the Colorado Sun)<\/p>\n

The folks behind Safe Space Builders, E-bricks and SG Aerospace already knew they wanted to be entrepreneurs when they showed up, but they had different needs as they were at different places \u201cin the cycle of entrepreneurship,\u201d Sassoon Bollig said.<\/p>\n

You can walk in with an idea, and BIC employees will take you through a \u201cdiscovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

If they deem your idea doable, they\u2019ll start guiding you through the steps to creating it. When you and they have identified your \u201centry point,\u201d you\u2019re paired with one of the 50 to 80 subject matter experts \u201cin every area you can imagine\u201d confidentially and free of charge, Sassoon Bollig added.<\/p>\n

That includes securing funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow say you need prototyping, or a virtual kitchen, or a manufacturing space, or metal fabrication, printers, lasers, or a wood shop,\u201d Sassoon Bollig added. You\u2019ve got it, \u201cat a very incentivized price.\u201d Didn\u2019t know you needed an intellectual property lawyer? BIC does. Need help brainstorming how to bring your idea to market? They\u2019re on it. Ready for an employee? You bet.<\/p>\n

OK, that\u2019s easy for them to say, but what happens in real life?<\/p>\n

Riskey loves sharing the story of a regular guy (himself) who loved building Lego sets but one day received a set that was missing key elements.<\/p>\n

He was dying to build this Lego set, so he ended up buying 30,000 individual pieces until he had what he needed to complete it. But what to do with all of the surplus? He listed the various pieces on Craigslist. The bits started selling immediately. And before he knew it, as he went deeper with the sourcing and selling, he needed a building. BIC helped him sketch out a business plan on a napkin and get the bank loan he needed. Today, his business housed in a brick-and-mortar store and several warehouses in Grand Junction boasts 8 million catalogued pieces and 30 million unprocessed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can imagine him trying to sell Legos to a banker,\u201d said Sassoon Bollig. At BIC \u201cthat story is repeated over and over.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sun economy stories you may have missed<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Several Flock cameras surround the block of Arapahoe Avenue between 28th and 30th streets in Boulder around the 29th Street Mall and Scott Carpenter Park, including three in the Home Depot parking lot. (Kevin Jeffers\/The Colorado Sun)<\/p>\n

\u2794 As AI license plate readers spread across Colorado, grassroots movements push back.<\/strong> While law enforcement leaders say the technology helps in their work, critics warn the same system can track people\u2019s daily movements, raising privacy concerns >> <\/strong>Read story<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2794 Colorado lost more public lands jobs than any other state in 2025. <\/strong>The Trump administration\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency cut 1,753 land management jobs last year, or 26% of the jobs managing 24 million public acres. >> <\/strong>Read story<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2794 Colorado legislature sends $46.8B state budget to governor\u2019s desk after final round of tweaks.<\/strong> The Joint Budget Committee \u2014 the six-member, bipartisan panel that drafts the budget \u2014 tweaked the spending package after debate in the full legislature earlier in the month >> <\/strong>Read story<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Treschan Hawke, left, reassembles a Sunbeam stand mixer belonging to Janna Allen, right, during a free monthly Repair Caf\u00e9 event hosted by Pikes Peak Library District\u2019s Library 21c in Colorado Springs<\/p>\n

\u2794 Across Colorado, people are fighting for the right to repair their stuff. <\/strong>Where can they go to learn how to do it? >> <\/strong>Read story<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2794 Colorado farmers tighten their belts ahead of summer drought. <\/strong>Almost all of Colorado is experiencing drought after a record-dry winter and the impacts are already starting to show in agricultural communities >> <\/strong>Read story<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2794 Migrant workers who receive housing can be paid $2-$3 less per hour under new federal rule<\/strong>. Some Western Slope growers are taking advantage of the \u201cdownward compensation adjustment.\u201d Others say they\u2019ll be profitable without it. >> <\/strong>Read story<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Support The Sun: Forward this to a friend<\/strong> Or if you\u2019re not already, become a member<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Other working bits<\/p>\n

\u2794 Colorado lost jobs in February, unemployment rate unchanged. <\/strong>Private sector employers continued to cull jobs this year, leaving the state with 7,200 fewer payroll jobs in February than in January. Additionally, January\u2019s job growth was revised downward so employers added just 1,300 net new jobs instead of 6,600.<\/p>\n

This also comes after other revisions were made for 2025 that turned a very slow-growth year into a negative one, with Colorado losing 11,700 jobs<\/a> last year, according to the state Department of Labor and Employment. Since February 2025, the state has lost 9,100 jobs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AConstruction workers toil on the new McGregor Square high-rise being built by Coors Field on Sept. 2, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\n

Some industries did add more jobs in February, with construction adding the most, at about 1,000 jobs. The industry that lost the most jobs was other services<\/a>, a catchall for roles like machine repair, grantmaking, dry cleaning and laundry jobs, and religious activities administrators. It lost 2,200 jobs during the month.<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s labor force continued to shrink in February, losing 10,300 workers who left the state, stopped working or gave up looking for employment. The participation of working-age Coloradans fell to 66.6%, down two-tenths of a point from January and the state\u2019s lowest labor force participation rate since September 2020, according to the labor department. Economists have pointed to slowing population growth due to more people leaving than moving to Colorado.<\/p>\n

Fewer Coloradans were unemployed in February from a year ago, though up from January. The state\u2019s unemployment rate stayed at 3.9% for the month, and was lower than a year ago\u2019s rate of 4.3%. The U.S. unemployment rate in February was 4.4%.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, average earnings in Colorado added 7-cents an hour from a year ago to $39.79, which is nearly 10% higher than the U.S. average of $37.29. >> <\/strong>See February jobs report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2794 Denver inflation up again. Blame energy prices. <\/strong>The cost of living in the Denver area rose 4.2% from a year ago in March, according to the regional Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That\u2019s the highest one-year increase since November 2023 when inflation was on its way down, growing 4.5% from a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Local prices, much like the U.S. trends<\/a>, saw energy costs increase by double-digit rates. For the Denver area, the energy index was up 25.4% since January, and up 13.2% from a year ago. The ongoing war with Iran has caused gas and oil prices to increase. Nationwide, the energy index rose 10.9% in March from February. The oil index was up 30.7% in a month.<\/p>\n

Coming in lower in Denver than a year ago, though, were the prices for fruits and vegetables, down 1%; nonalcoholic beverages, down 2%; and used cars and trucks, down 3.7%. Household furnishings were up 10.8%. >> <\/strong>See Denver inflation report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"AGas priceColorado are back up over $4 a gallon, much as they were in 2022, such as seen in this photo taken in Walden on April 15, 2022. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)<\/p>\n