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Running a restaurant is expensive 鈥� and Northern Colorado has seen a recent wave of local favorites closing down. So what鈥檚 behind this trend 鈥� and can state lawmakers do anything to help? KUNC鈥檚 Emma VandenEinde joins In The NoCo to explain.

Five years ago, the coronavirus pandemic upended life for millions of people around the world. And it had an impact on Colorado鈥檚 economic landscape in ways that still linger today. We talk with a CU Boulder economist about how COVID changed the state鈥檚 economy, today on In The NoCo.

Some restaurant owners who had previously signed up to speak out at the Capitol in support of the bill are now having second thoughts.

As nuclear waste piles up at power plants around the country, many states are aggressively fighting plans for new storage facilities. But Northwest Colorado is quietly opening the door to the idea. On this special edition of In The NoCo, we hear why some people like the idea of what nuclear waste storage could do for northwest Colorado鈥檚 economy 鈥� and why others are dead set against it.

Most states have 鈥渨inter protections鈥�, meaning a utility company can't shut off power when the weather is below a certain temperature. But less than half of states have similar 鈥渟ummer protections.鈥� And utility rates have risen almost $300 more than they were a decade ago.

According to GasBuddy, the average price of gas in the U.S. is $3.56 for a gallon of unleaded gas. In the Mountain West, you'll see prices range from $3.30 in New Mexico to $4.31 in Nevada.

LendingTree analyzed small business data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and found that almost 1 in 4 businesses fail in their first year. The 23% failure rate from 2023 is two percentage points more than the year before and four percentage points more than in 2021.

A record surge of new outdoor participants helped grow gear sales for a few years. But a report from the Outdoor Industry Association earlier this month found that sales of outdoor gear, apparel and accessories was down 3% for 2023. Sales at independent stores also declined 10%.

The city of Longmont recently won designation for a CHIPS Zone, providing tax incentives for companies engaged in semiconductor design and production. Longmont became the second Colorado city after Fort Collins to receive such a designation.

Across the United States, chronic worker shortages have led many companies to invest in machines to do some of the work they can't find people to do.