March Newsletter 2023

denverconcierg on April 5, 2023

Spring Cleaning

We love cleaning. We love spring.

Unfortunately, no one told the weather, as spring is taking its very sweet time arriving. No wacky, lingering winter will keep us down, so welcome to our March newsletter!

So, what are the most important things in getting our homes ready for spring? Let’s start with the outside first. One of the things we always forget about is our gutters. Of course, unless you are super handy, you might pay someone to do this since it involves a ladder and some courage.

We found a good list of outdoor “spring cleaning” from the folks at True Value, and it covers pointers on not only gutters, but your yard, aeration, and how to prepare your patio for spring and summer.

How about the inside of your home? Well besides using Denver Concierge to keep it clean, we have some ideas to share.

We found a cute list of things to do inside, which includes pointers on everything from simple rearranging to sprucing up your mudroom, and it can be found here, courtesy of Heart’s Content Farmhouse.

The list we liked the most comes courtesy of Property Nest and their full Spring 2023 checklist can be found here.

Finally, from Family Handyman, another good list of stuff we forget.

As always, we appreciate you relying on us for the “big stuff” in terms of keeping your home spotless.

Meanwhile, let’s get those grills cleaned and patios ready, we promise spring will show up eventually. We might even have a summer behind it!!!!

Happy spring everyone!

Memory Boosters

How is your memory? If you are anything like us, it could be better.

We have certainly had times when we have gotten up and walked into another room, only to say, “What did I need in here again”?

Of course, as we age most of us expect some type of cognitive decline, hopefully within normal parameters.

But, what can we do to stave off the inevitable memory issues we will all face as we age?

New research by neuroscientists may hold the key, or at least some new habits for us to engage in.

For starters, how about food? Mushrooms, dark chocolate, and cinnamon have been identified as memory boosters. Of course so are vegetables of all kinds, according to a Harvard study.

Don’t forget friendships either. Neuroscience has shown that periods of social isolation can suppress brain function as well.

The fabulous article on Inc.com also goes into lighting, hobbies, and believe it or not….walking backwards. Check it out here,

Finally, 10 ways to boost your brain health in 2023, courtesy of Harper’s.

Here’s to staying sharp as we age!

Larimer Square Future

Historic Larimer Square, Denver’s iconic “main street” is in jeopardy.

Bistro Vendome, Green Russell, John Atencio, and The Market, to name a few.

All are businesses with long and storied histories on our historic Larimer block, and all are closed. John Atencio was there for 39 years. Wow.

In December 2020, North Carolina–based investment firm Asana Partners purchased Larimer Square for $92.5 million, and to date, the reviews are not good.

On top of an absentee management style that seems to be alienating tenants, there are structural issues with many of the buildings as well.

The bottom line? Massive repairs and renovations are needed, but there are no outward indicators of Asana Partners’ plan to do so. Meanwhile, tenants are leaving, and our once vibrant part of downtown is lying dormant in many ways.

The fine folks at 5280 Magazine did an exhaustive piece about the future of Larimer Square. It covers the history of this amazing piece of Denver, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at what is going on between tenants and landlord in this messy situation.

We certainly hope that a suitable solution can be found for one of our favorite Denver landmarks.

Odd Laws

Did you know that you cannot roll a boulder in Boulder? It’s called trundling and it is illegal.

You can, however, taunt, insult or challenge Boulder Police, until they “ask you to stop”. Very handy to know.

It is also illegal to utilize upholstered furniture outside. This may include upholstered chairs, couches, and mattresses in the front, side, or backyard, according to Colorado’s “General Offenses” under Title 5, Chapter 4, 5-4-16. We suppose yard sales are ok.

As many of you know, it is illegal to sell a motor vehicle on a Sunday in our fine state as well. That’s a misdemeanor, punishable by a $1000 fine. Of course, the penalty these days might be less for stealing one, but we digress.

Other odd state laws? You cannot grow dandelions in Pueblo, nor can you fire a catapult (or other projectiles) in Aspen.

It’s also illegal to ride a horse while intoxicated. It doesn’t say anything about whether or not the horse may be.

We love silly stuff like this and hope you enjoy it. For a fun list of silly laws in Colorado and elsewhere, check out this article.

Lastly, you are indeed allowed to loan your vacuum cleaner to another person. This myth has circulated for years, but it is indeed allowed.

Of course with Denver Concierge on the case, there shouldn’t be any need for vacuum swapping!

Stay legal Denver.

Property Tax Increase

Anyone out there know about the Gallagher Amendment? Don’t feel bad, we had no idea either.

The amendment to the Colorado Constitution was enacted in 1982 and it set forth the guidelines for determining the valuation for property assessment.

This amendment sought to protect homeowners from rising property taxes by maintaining a relatively constant ratio of residential and nonresidential property values in the statewide tax base.

It mandated that, regardless of the total amount of collections, state property tax revenue be comprised of 45% residential property taxes, and 55% non-residential property taxes

The unwelcome news for homeowners? It was repealed in 2020.

This is a complex issue, but many estimates have our residential property tax increasing by 25-40% if no relief is offered.

The potential good news is that there is a proposal for a “temporary” reduction in property tax, but it would be left to local governments.

With property tax-limiting ratios gone and home prices skyrocketing since COVID, we have a perfect storm brewing.

County assessors in late April will mail out valuation notices based on property values as of June 30, 2022, which also happens to be close to when home values peaked in Colorado.

All we can say is that this issue is one all homeowners should pay attention to. Late April could be a big shock for most of us.

For a complete explanation of this amendment and the impact of the repeal visit Wiki here.

For those of you with a Denver Post subscription, they wrote a nice piece on this and it is here.

Monthly Award Winners

Our monthly award winners for February were Aurora Dominguez, Haydee Espinoza, Josefina Quinonez, Gabriella Barrancas, and Maria Zapata.

In the Team Leader ranks, it was Isela Mendoza and Juana Olivas.

We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.

We are also very appreciative to be a part of your lives and your homes. You provide the platform for our teams to perform, and for that we are grateful.

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of February.

Accidents happen no matter what precautions are taken, and as house cleaners, we know this more than anyone.

We have safety rules in place to avoid the most obvious causes of concern.

What is the most obvious hazard in a house? Unsurprisingly, the staircase. It is known that in the United States about twelve thousand people a year fall and hit the ground and don’t get up again.

There are no specific statistics to say whether the fall was from a cliff, a tree, or a front porch, but stairs are second only to car accidents as a common cause of accidental death.

Everyone trips on stairs at one time or another and puts it down mostly to inattention. However, the construction and location of the stairs play a great part. Lack of good lighting, lack of handrail, busy design on the stair carpet, and width and height of the step all contribute to what could be a nasty accident.

Our cleaning ladies when they need to vacuum steep stairs or stairs with no handrails are instructed to have another person near as a spotter, as in gymnastics. We certainly don’t want to be part of the above statistics.

Our priority is a spotless house cleaned with care.

Bee

February Newsletter 2023

denverconcierg on March 7, 2023

What Can We Do Better?

Surveys. We are not big fans of the way most places handle them.

It seems like most companies shove them in our faces every time we engage in the most basic of commerce. Then we respond, give feedback, and nothing changes. That is precisely how companies lose their most valuable resource and the people that pay the bills.

That would be our clients.

If you have been part of the Denver Concierge family for any time, you know we do things differently. We are that rare company that prefers human contact. We also like to think that our clients are pretty good at keeping us on the straight and narrow by giving us feedback in real-time.

We are lucky to have you and by the looks of things, we feel like we are doing a pretty good job for you.

But we want to know more. Rather than invite you to click on some link or go to some third-party site, we prefer good old-fashioned communication.

So, we ask today, please let us know what we can do better. Our loyal and trusty Angela is standing by to ensure you are always 100% satisfied with what we do.

We know we aren’t the least expensive company in town. Our goal each and every day is to exceed your expectations to the point where you believe every penny you spend with us is a great value.

So please email us at [email protected]. Or text us if that is easier, at 303-588-6847. If you want to call directly, you can do so at 303-975-2808 as well. We promise a quick and positive resolution to whatever you might have going on.

Remember, in the absence of feedback, we will assume we are doing things perfectly. The only way for us to improve at what we do is when you tell us.

Don’t be shy, we love getting better.

As always, thank you for being part of the unique company that is Denver Concierge. We will continue to earn your trust every day.

Senior Care Resources

The difficulty of caring for an aging loved one is a burden that one cannot relate to until you have gone through it.

We recently heard from the nice people at senioradvice.com about promoting their services and after doing some research we are happy to do so.

These folks have put together a wonderful resource for anyone looking for assistance with an aging loved one.

Their website not only includes a comprehensive list of providers but also other resources like the best cities for retirement, as well as advice, and much more.

From their representative, Julia Walker, “Many aging adults are unaware of the available care options and programs that can help them maintain their independence and quality of life. So we created a free resource that provides comprehensive information on topics like financial support and in-home care options that are available in their area.”

We think that says it all, and we are grateful that they reached out to us for publication.

The complete website with all the wonderful resources can be found here.

What is Chat GPT?

When we see interesting things, we love to share them with our readers. When we hear Elon Musk say that AI is the biggest threat to humanity, it really gets our attention.

So what exactly, is this ChatGPT that has been in the news lately?

From the CNBC article, “ChatGPT is an advanced form of AI powered by a large language model called GPT-3. It is programmed to understand human language and generate responses based on huge bodies of data.”

It first hit our radar when we saw college students using it to write papers.

Musk founded OpenAI, which is the startup that created ChatGPT.

So why should we be concerned? Well, a recent article by Business Insider referenced ChatGPT “coming for our jobs” and 10 roles that AI could replace in the near future.

Those include tech jobs like coding, media jobs like ad creation and copy, and even legal industry jobs to name a few.

There is even a belief that ChatGPT could teach classes, replacing teachers entirely.

So while we may not have to worry about AI taking over the planet in the immediate term, job security could certainly become a real thing.

As long as AI cannot figure out how to clean houses, we feel pretty good, but we are watching you closely, AI, very closely…..

Dog Lovers Paradise

The news in Colorado hasn’t been wonderful lately, as we rise up the rankings for car thefts, homelessness, and other categories we aren’t very proud of.

However, there is one nice category that we found that puts Colorado at the very top of the list.

Dog lovers. Yes, that is correct. Forbes recently did a survey and found that Colorado has the most devoted dog owners in the country.

Some fun facts about our love for furry friends:

Colorado dog owners were second most likely to move from an apartment to a house so their dogs would have a yard (19.5%).
7% of Colorado dog owners left a job they liked because another company let them work from home or had a dog-friendly office (the third highest percentage, tied with Massachusetts and Ohio).
11% stayed at a job they disliked because it allowed them to work remotely or had a dog-friendly office (the sixth highest percentage).
Colorado is also home to the fourth-highest percentage of dog owners who have lived on a tighter budget in order to afford their dogs’ expenses (43.5%), tied with Arkansas and Mississippi.

Finally, how much would you spend to save your pet? According to Forbes, 43.5% of Colorado dog owners would spend $4,000 or more out-of-pocket on life-saving medical care for their dogs.

Wow, that’s a big number but we get it. Pets are family.

For the complete comprehensive study on dog friendly states you can also visit Forbes here.

Denver Restaurant Week

Since COVID, we have written a lot less about getting out and about. Now that it is mostly over and things are getting back to normal, it might be time again.

So, one of Denver’s traditions is back once more.

That would be Denver Restaurant Week, which has been going on here for 18 years, in some form or another.

This year, and from the Denver.org website, “Denver Restaurant Week will be held for 10 days March 3 – 12, 2023. The program will showcase the creative, exciting menus that diners have come to expect – with both to-go and in-person options.”

“Once again, Denver Restaurant Week will include three price points: $25, $35, and $45 for a three-course meal. The program will also focus on advocacy for the industry while keeping the health and safety of the community top of mind.”

Every step we take toward normalcy brings us comfort, and restaurant week is no exception.

The full list of all 221 restaurants participating, along with sortable categories including price point, location, and cuisine can be found here.

Happy dining Denver, hope to see you out there!

Monthly Award Winners

Our monthly award winners for January were Sandra Vidales, Maria Zapata, Haydee Espinoza, Maria Carmen Del Estrada, and Aurora Dominguez.

In the Team Leader ranks, it was Rosa Chavez and Natalia Olivas.

We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.

We are also very appreciative to be a part of your lives and your homes. You provide the platform for our teams to perform, and for that we are grateful.

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of January.

Confusion in the house!?

Denver Concierge Team Leaders receive instructions every morning at dispatch, so each house is custom cleaned according to the client’s wishes for that specific visit.

As Client/Team Liaison, I am the translator of instructions.

Clean this room and not that room; this level and not that one. It sounds simple enough. Sometimes it isn’t. So I have to ask.

Downstairs as in lower level? Or basement (finished room)? Or cellar (as in wine)?

First floor as in American style? Or European/South American style (one level up from ground level)?

Every client has a unique vocabulary when describing the rooms, furnishings, and levels of their homes, based on their personal preferences and history.

A powder room sounds more delicate than a commode. Den has fallen out of favor and been replaced with library or study. Sunroom has myriad synonyms going back thousands of years in various cultures,

Unfortunately, to date, there has been no such upgrade for the room that is “a filter that snares the debris of the outside before it can migrate into the public areas of the house.”

The inelegant yet aptly named mudroom.

I like to think I know many of the houses well enough to quasi-intuit the instructions but if Confusion arises I hope you don’t mind me asking.

Bee

January Newsletter 2023

denverconcierg on February 8, 2023

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Wow, it’s been a rough winter so far. We are in the middle of a very cold and snowy one, my friends. Sadly, we have had a couple of closures due to snow, and Monday we tied a 38-year-old record at -10 degrees.

We have been In Denver for many years and it’s hard to remember snow being on the ground this long.

For those of you that have been watching your power bill, this has been a double dip this winter, as we have seen massive increases in our rates across the Front Range.

So what the heck can we do about it? Well, there are two aspects of our bitter winter that we have tried to tackle.

First is the excessive heating bills we are seeing, as confirmed by this piece in Westword.

For starters, if you have fireplaces, use them, as you likely won’t find a cheaper alternative than wood. Normally, it would also be wise to use your natural gas fireplace, but according to Xcel, natural gas prices have gone up faster than electricity costs.

The trend for natural gas in 2023 however, is positive, although they expect a lot of volatility going forward.

We found a good list of money-saving tips here, along with 17 ideas for lowering your heating bills here.

What about the psychological toll of a bitterly cold winter? We have you covered there as well, with some great tips from Lifespan, and they can be found here. Of course, winter stress is exacerbated by high heating bills, so we are using every technique we know of in pursuit of a nice warm spring.

If things are really bleak (and we hope they aren’t), we found an interesting article on spoon theory, which we had never heard of.

Meanwhile, stay warm and safe Denver, and we will do our part to make sure you have a spotless home to be watching the snow from.

Denver’s Best Areas to Live

Of course, we know that a headline is a very subjective thing.

Every year, 5280 Magazine publishes its list of Denver’s Best Neighborhoods.

They have adopted a specific formula for calculating this list.

From the article: “It includes four variables: home prices, crime data, school rankings, and an X factor score that accounts for things that can’t be easily quantified, such as access to open space, public transportation, and restaurants and shops.”

“Each category is weighted: 30 percent for year-over-year percentage change in home values; 25 percent for safety; 15 percent for neighborhood school ratings; and 30 percent for the X factor.”

So….who is number one?

Wellshire. Followed by Belcaro, Wash Park, Platt Park, and City Park.

Interesting and quite probably polarizing, the complete ranking and methodology can be found here.

Congrats to the best neighborhoods!

Are you in the top 1%?

We don’t spend much time worrying about this headline applying to us, but we know some of you out there might be curious.

Just how much money do you need to make to be in the top 1% of earners?

In Colorado, that number is $683,000 per year. That number is 10 times the state’s median income, and more than enough to purchase a median-priced home in the Denver area.

What state has the lowest bar for the top 1%? West Virginia at $375,000. That number is just slightly lower than Mississippi, New Mexico, and Arkansas.

The highest bar for this exclusive club? Connecticut, at $955,000, followed by Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and California.

What about net worth? In order to be in the top 1% nationally, you would need to be worth just over $10M, according to Forbes.

The comprehensive study of the “1% club” by Smart Wallet can be found here.

Finally, the tax rate on the top 1%? Colorado ranks in the top third at just over 25%.

So, if you are in this club, it would seem that you are paying your fair share of taxes to our fine state.

The Best Local Hospitals

Just how good is our medical care here around the Front Range?

Our experience is that it is pretty good, but we love data so here we go.

Every year, Healthgrades does a complete list of hospitals, starting with America’s best 250.

The complete methodology is too much for this space, but it can be found here if you are curious.

They then go down to the 100 best, and finally the 50 best hospitals in America.

It is important to note that being a top 250 hospital puts that facility in the top 5% of hospitals nationwide, a very fine distinction.

Who made it in Colorado?

Poudre Valley in Fort Collins topped the list, making the top 50 in our state. Sky Ridge (pictured above) made the top 100.

Rose, Swedish, and St. Joseph’s, along with the Medical Center of Aurora were all top 250, and they are joined by Penrose Hospital in the Springs on this illustrious list.

Overall, a very good showing for Colorado health care.

Please join us in congratulating these fine facilities on this prestigious award.

The complete list of America’s Best Hospitals can be found here.

Downtown COVID Recovery

For those of you that spend time downtown, you can probably relate to the feeling that things have dramatically changed.

We aren’t sure about you, but that vibrant, bustling feeling that we used to feel just isn’t there anymore.

It is not our imagination.

School of Cities tracked the recovery of 62 North American cities and the results are very interesting.

From the article, “Among 62 cities in the U.S. and Canada, Denver’s recovery ranks 35th. It ranks 33rd out of 52 U.S. cities, and 19th among the 27 cities west of the Mississippi. Its recovery rate is similar to that of Tulsa, Austin, Houston, and Phoenix.”

We were surprised that four cities have actually exceeded their pre-COVID levels of activity, led by Salt Lake City which is nearly 140% of past levels.

Denver sits at 59% of activity, barely half of what it was in 2019.

The complete study, entitled “Death of Downtown” can be found here.

Here’s hoping our great city recovers in 2023 and beyond.

Monthly & Annual Award Winners

It is that time again when we recognize our top performers for the year.

First off, the monthly Cleaning Associate award winners for December were Haydee Espinosa, Sandra Vidales, Maria Zapata, Cecilia Reyes, and Nimia Espinosa.

In the Team Leader ranks, it was Juana Olivas and Mayra Soto.

Now the important part, our annual winners. In the Cleaning Associate category, the winner for 2022 is Guadalupe Coloco. Runner up was Maria Zapata.

For Team Leaders, our annual winner for 2022 is Mayra Soto. The runner-up goes to Rosa Chavez.

We like to think that all our people are deserving of awards and our hats are off to all of our wonderful staff.

For the winners, we thank you for setting the pace.

We are also very appreciative to be a part of your lives and your homes. You provide the platform for our teams to perform, and for that we are grateful.

We will be back next month with our January winners for 2023.

Rugs present a challenge to housecleaning staff for the very reason that they are walked over not only by the humans in the house but also by the various pets.

We take it for granted that the primary purpose of carpets is to cover floors and add beauty to a room, but in the 15th century, carpets were so highly prized that they were hung on walls as artwork and used as table coverings but seldom as floor coverings.

Early paintings in the grand estate homes at times depicted the painter’s subjects standing on carpets as a way to signify their wealth and status.

Doubtful that family members were allowed the same privilege, let alone the dogs and cats of the house.

Many of the carpets we care for are antiques and need to be treated with a light hand. This means no beater bar to pull threads, and being given several passes with a vacuum if there is a pet in the house.

We take very seriously our responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the furnishings in the houses we clean.

Bee

December Newsletter 2022

denverconcierg on January 2, 2023

Let’s Connect in 2023

Allow us to be among the first to wish you a Happy New Year.

We have kind of a fun announcement regarding our social media presence. Since we joined Twitter years ago, we were always @bestmaidsdenver. For those of you that follow us, you may have noticed that we are now @denverconcierge.

It seems the ownership change at Twitter benefitted us in that the owner of “our” handle was inactive and that enabled us to have it placed with its rightful owner, us!!

We don’t tweet much, but we do tweet about closures and our schedule, so if you are on Twitter and want to be in the know about what is going on at Denver Concierge, give us a follow.

As a reminder, we are also on Facebook, and you can find that page here.

We certainly aren’t social media mavens, but we try to use those tools in a beneficial way for you to know what is going on with your (hopefully) favorite cleaning company.

Beyond the social media announcement, we want to take the time to thank you. Thanks for being a part of our family. Thanks for reading our newsletter, and mostly thank you for supporting our local business.

We will always be grateful for your support, your feedback, and your ideas on how we can make things better.

We wish you a wonderful New Year’s Eve and an even better 365 days following it.

Read on for some tips on how to stay healthy and safe in 2023, and how to make ’23 your best year ever.

Happy New Year!!

Apple AirTag Safety Alert

Sometimes, great ideas can go wrong. Most of the time the repercussions aren’t terrible, but the latest one we ran across concerned us, and if you haven’t heard about it, we think you should.

Apple makes this cool product called an AirTag. Many of you may be using them, as they are super handy for keeping track of things you might lose.

Great for keys, briefcases, luggage, and the like, we even have one hidden in our car, just in case it ever ‘disappears’.

Your Apple device can then locate the item, pretty much anywhere via the Find My app on your device.

But what if someone plants an AirTag on or in your property without your knowledge? Your vehicle, for example?

This technology is perfect for people with bad intentions, as they can surreptitiously plant one and then track whatever, or whoever is traveling with the AirTag.

Obviously, this is concerning, especially for anyone that might have concerns about being stalked. Thieves are also using this technology to follow nice cars to their homes for future crimes.

So, what can we do to protect ourselves?

We found a comprehensive article on this and we think you should take a look, it’s here.

Apple themselves also released a comprehensive article on this issue, it can be found here.

The good news is if you have an Apple device and there is a foreign AirTag near you for over 2 days, your phone will alert you.

Beyond that, they will emit a beep which can be hard to hear, so if you hear a strange chirp, pay close attention.

We love our AirTags, but like any good concept, in the wrong hands, they can be used the wrong way by bad actors.

Read on in this month’s newsletter to see just how likely it is that someone steals your vehicle here in our wonderful state.

Make 2023 Your Best Year Ever

How was 2022 for you?

Ours was pretty good, but it wasn’t without its challenges, which is normal.

COVID finally seems to have subsided for the most part. We hope things are starting to return to “normal”, but sometimes we don’t know what the new normal is.

With increasing crime, inflation, and interest rates, it’s easy to be down in the dumps about what 2023 might look like.

So, how do we make it an amazing year, despite these headwinds?

No, this is not about resolutions, as we all know those rarely work. But how about a process that includes goal setting, measurement, feedback, and celebration?

As we researched this, we found a number of articles that we really liked.

The first, on Medium, involves creating your personal blueprint and how to stick to it.

For those of you more business-minded, we found a very good piece by Tom Oliver and it is here.

Finally, from the folks at Craft, their take on how to do this.

The common themes?

1. Write it down/Record it somewhere

2. Follow up/be accountable/measure

3. Celebrate victories, no matter how small

We are ready for 2023 to be an amazing year, and we hope you are too.

Let’s skip the resolutions and get down to the practical details. In the words of Peter Drucker, “What gets measured gets improved”.

We agree wholeheartedly. Good luck in joining us on this wonderful journey that will be 2023.

Stay Healthy This Winter

Ah, winter. We missed you.

Snow, cold, and the spreading of germs to name only a few of your great traits.

From dry and itchy skin to arthritis pain, we have you covered.

Cleveland Clinic came up with ways to fight the winter, and it includes ideas for battling not only those things but weight gain and depression as well.

How about ways to avoid catching bugs or getting sick in general?

Also, did you know that studies show when temperatures drop, the rates of heart-related conditions increase?

Cold weather makes your heart work harder to keep your body warm.

We found some good resources on ways to take care of yourself.

SummaCare has its list of 7 Tips for Staying Healthy this Winter, for starters.

Healthgrades has its take as well and it can be found here.

And finally, from the naturopathic AANMC, came up with 9 ways to stay healthy and it is here.

We love all these ideas, and now that the holiday parties are mostly over, it’s a great time to make sure we get through winter in a healthy way.

Here’s to wellness, and again, making 2023 our best year ever.

Our Worst Statistic

Colorado is ranked near the top of many lists when it comes to quality of life, activities, and overall best places to live.

We love those lists and share them here frequently, and we still love our state and our fine city.

But this is a list we don’t want to be on.

Are you aware that the new leader in vehicle theft happens to be the State of Colorado?

Sad, but true. We are now the leader in a very ignominious category, and it’s getting worse.

From the intensive report at the Common Sense Institute:

Since 2019, Colorado’s monthly motor vehicle theft rate has increased 120.6%. The auto theft rate ranked Colorado number one in the nation.
In the first six months of 2022 (January – June), the trend has continued, and the motor vehicle theft rate has increased by 17.3%.
- Criminals stole 24,044 motor vehicles in the first six months, 3,463 more than the same period in 2021.
- The monthly theft rate is now 68.56 vehicles per 100,000 persons.
- The number of secondary offenses related to motor vehicle theft has increased more than six-fold since 2008.
- Drug crimes involving motor vehicle theft have increased 1,110%, violent crimes involving motor vehicle theft 521%, and property crimes involving motor vehicle theft 583%.

And from the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, this comprehensive report.

Wow. We share in this pain as we have had two vehicles stolen as well. Our conversations with the police are almost laughable, as most of these crimes won’t be prosecuted and there is very little incentive for them to “go after” these awful thieves.

9News did a piece on how to protect yourselves, it can be found here.

We are at a loss as to why this is happening here, and we hope that our leaders start to realize this is not the look we want for our wonderful state.

Maybe it’s time to look at how we are doing things and make some common sense changes.

Stay safe Denver and protect your cars.

Monthly Award Winners

Our monthly award winners for November were Josefina Quinonez, Mary Moreno, Patricia Rodriguez, Fidelia Bautista, and Yesica Censo.

In the Team Leader ranks, it was Natalia Olivas and Laura Varela.

We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.

We are also very appreciative to be a part of your lives and your homes. You provide the platform for our teams to perform, and for that we are grateful.

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of November.

Stay tuned for our annual winners which will be announced in next month’s newsletter!

The first reference to Housekeeping in the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1538.

The term applied to the care and maintenance of stately manors and was the subject of thick instruction manuals covering every possible aspect of home maintenance. There was an especially large section on safety in the home.

Housecleaning may not seem to be a hazardous occupation. Domestic household equipment and products are not usually associated with serious health risks.

However, records show a steady number of accidents involving housecleaning staff each year. Admittedly, many are minor, but to quote from the 1538 manual, “there is a moral duty of care owed by an employer to its staff”.

We take this seriously, which is why there are some tasks that we do not allow.

As much as our intention is to be a yes company when it comes to the safety of our employees we sometimes have to say no.

Our staff may not be “scratched by claw whilst trying to remove a peacock from a room”, but there are still potential risks in the homes, hopefully less dramatic, that require our vigilance. We appreciate your understanding and your concern for our ladies.

May 2023 be a safe, healthy, and happy year for our employees, our clients, and all your furry companions.

Happy New Year!

Bee

October Newsletter 2022

denverconcierg on November 1, 2022

Happy Halloween

We can thank the Celtics for this annual tradition. No, not the Boston Celtics, but the original Irish ones, dating back to 500BC.

Back then, New Year’s Day was on Nov. 1, which they called Samhain. The belief was that prior to the new year, the door between the worlds of the living and the dead swung open.

The trapped souls of the recently dead were then free to pass to the underworld. Since they thought spirits came out after dark, this supernatural activity reached its peak the night before, on Oct. 31.

Rituals were created for protection to fool the spirits. These included costumes and disguises. They lit bonfires and stuck candles inside carved turnips – the first jack-o’-lanterns – to scare away any spirits looking for mischief. If all else failed, they carried a pocketful of treats to pay off wayward spirits and send them back on their way to the underworld.

So, we can thank the Irish, who brought Halloween to our country in the 1800s. While the origins of Halloween had many religious undertones, the current version is most definitely an American one.

The history of Halloween is fascinating and the folks at the History Channel can give you all the cool facts if you are curious.

More locally, what is going on around Denver this weekend to celebrate this spooky holiday? Well, there is the Trick or Treat Trail at the Denver Zoo, for starters. How about Trick or Treat Street at McGregor Square?

We also found this nice list of events around the Front Range, including corn mazes and haunted houses to visit.

For the exact time and date of door-to-door trick or treating, you should consult with your local folks, as those vary quite a bit, even by neighborhood. The generally accepted window is from 3:30-7 or so on Monday the 31st, but some cities have their own rules on that one.

We did find a fun list of “candy hot spots” from last year, courtesy of 5280 Magazine and it can be found here.

Meanwhile, we hope you have a fun and safe Halloween!!!!

Big Tax Changes

We are going through a rough time economically here in the U.S.

Experts vary in their opinion on whether or not we are in a full-blown recession, but it feels like it to us.

The good news is that the IRS has made some sweeping changes to ease the pain a bit going forward.

Due to inflation, the bracket thresholds will be going up about 7% in 2023, which should increase our take-home pay.

Also, the standard deductions and exemptions changed and will rise by $900 for single/separate filers, $1,800 for joint returns, and for heads of households, it will rise by $1,400.

This marks the largest adjustment to the standard deduction since core features of the tax system were first indexed to inflation in 1985.

The folks at SHRM did a great job recapping this and the full tables can be found here.

To read it directly from the IRS, the entire list of changes can be found on their website here as well.

We welcome any financial relief during these strange post-COVID times, and we hope this helps all of us going forward.

How Safe is Denver?

For many years, we have always felt that Denver was a generally safe city.

Over the past few years, that feeling of safety has certainly diminished and the most recent statistics back those feelings up.

Of course, safety comes in many forms. Whether physical, financial, or safety from natural disasters, we all want to feel good about our situation.

Wallethub did a comprehensive study on safety and analyzed 182 cities across the U.S. for a complete look with the following methodology.

They ranked crime rates, concentrations of first responders, homelessness, traffic deaths, and drug overdose rates. Natural disaster risk accounted for the likelihood of floods, earthquakes, wildfires, hail, hurricanes, and tornados. Financial safety considered a city’s unemployment and foreclosure rates, household financial metrics such as job security and savings levels, and other economic indicators.

The bad news? Denver ranked 164 out of 182. We were sandwiched between Little Rock and New Orleans in terms of overall safety, which is also quite concerning given New Orleans’ reputation for crime.

The safest city in the U.S.? Columbia, Maryland. The least safe? St. Louis, Missouri.

A very interesting read and the full report courtesy of Wallethub can be found here.

We aren’t sure how to fix this situation, but we have the overwhelming feeling that our fine city can do better.

Is Your Phone Spying on You?

Last month we talked about your boss spying on you, this month we tackle your phone.

For years people have surmised that your phone hears what you are saying and then makes recommendations that are tied to what it hears.

While it’s complicated, the short answer is yes, it is.

In many cases, we enable this with voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and Google. With those enabled, we have certainly given permission for our information to be shared.

What about normal conversations?

Without getting too far into the weeds, we would recommend reading this piece we found which covers this in a comprehensive manner.

It includes a test by a user of mentioning things around his phone for a few days to see if ads show up. (spoiler alert, yes, they do).

Finally, there are cases where malware infects your phone, and this goes well beyond marketing, which is the root of most of our concerns.

If your phone battery is draining quickly, overheating, or randomly rebooting, you may have a phone virus or malware that needs to be cleaned up.

The folks at Consumer Affairs did a good job of outlining what to watch for regarding malware and those 10 things to look for (in two parts) can be found here and here.

Norton also put out an article on why your phone is listening and how to stop it.

The bottom line? We should probably all be more vigilant about what we put out there around our phones, and what level of access they truly have to our lives.

The global marketing machine is indeed listening to us and learning more about us every day.

Is Exercise Killing You?

Every now and then we catch a headline that grabs us.

Common wisdom about exercise is that anything helps, but vigorous, frequent exercise is the key to longevity.

But is it really? Much like the food pyramid of the 70s, we are finding that many of our long-held beliefs about things were plain wrong.

Recent data indicates this may be the case with exercise.

Fortunately, we have the Mayo Clinic to fully examine this phenomenon and turn common wisdom on its head.

From the article on Medium: “While higher volumes of weekly sports training (cardio exercise, but also ball sports, weight-lifting, and anything that makes you sweaty or short of breath) initially led to a big drop in mortality risk, those benefits began to regress among people who trained hard for more than 4.5 hours per week.”

“Their mortality risks were still much lower than those of non-exercisers, but they didn’t fare quite as well as the people who took a more measured approach to physical activity.”

A similar study was done in 2015 and corroborates the “U-shaped” risk curve among runners and high-impact training.

The big takeaway?

If you’re aiming for optimal lifespan extension, the best heart and mortality outcomes are associated with roughly 150 minutes of weekly vigorous exercise, and no more than 60 minutes of weekly weight training.

Anything more can be dangerous and have lasting effects on our cardiovascular systems.

The nuts and bolts data can be found here, courtesy of the Mayo Clinic and Science Direct.

Leave it to us to finally prove that less exercise might be better for us!!!

Monthly Award Winners

Our monthly award winners for September were Maria Zapata, Mary Moreno, Maria Concepcion Reyes, Josefina Quinonez, and Juana Luna.

In the Team Leader ranks, it was Laura Varela and Rosa Chavez.

We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.

We are also very appreciative to be a part of your lives and your homes. You provide the platform for our teams to perform, and for that we are grateful.

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of September.

How do you choose the right cleaner for your needs?

There are various categories of cleaning, Residential Cleaning, Commercial Cleaning, Disaster Cleaning, and Restoration.

Residential cleaning falls generally into two categories; an individual or a company.

Who to choose should be guided by the client’s personality. Do you want a company that will come in with 3 or 4 trained cleaners, who bring their own products and equipment and clean your house while you walk the dog or go shopping?

Or would you prefer to be in a hands-on supervisory position while an individual cleans your home? You choose and supply the equipment and products and train an individual in the way you like things done, and therefore want to be home during the cleaning.

When I speak with a prospective client, I outline the pros and cons of company vs individual and there have absolutely been times when we both leave the conversation agreeing that an individual would better fit the need.

Determining your personal style before hiring will greatly improve your chances of having a happy cleaning experience versus a frustrating one.

Bee

September Newsletter 2022

denverconcierg on October 4, 2022

2023 Wage Changes & FAMLI

Things are changing in both Denver and Colorado on January 1st.

For starters, the minimum wage in Denver will go up to $17.29/hour. This will apply only to businesses based in the city of Denver, as well as all city employees. Currently, the minimum wage in Denver is $15.87, so this represents nearly a 9% increase, which is tied to the consumer price index for the Denver metro area. That number came in at 8.94%.

The state minimum wage will also go up from its current rate of $12.56/hour to $13.65/hour, an increase of 8.68%.

Also, Colorado employers will have to begin paying into a fund for FAMLI, or Colorado’s new Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program. This was voted in by Proposition 118 in November of 2020 and it provides up to twelve weeks of paid leave for employees, with an additional four weeks under certain circumstances.

While employers will start paying into the fund in January, employees will not be eligible for the paid leave until January 1, 2024. Employees will also have deductions for their share of this program taken from their paychecks beginning on January 1, 2023.

The rate is 0.45% for both employee and employer, so if you see an odd-looking deduction on your checks in January, this will explain it.

Of course, both news items will affect all businesses, some more than others. As always, we will do our best to maintain our pricing, but raising wages and charging businesses for paid leave puts pressure on already thin profit margins for many in this post-COVID economy.

We have always tried to take great care of our associates here at Denver Concierge. We were the first cleaning company to offer vacations and have always paid our people well.

We will continue to do these things to the best of our ability but wanted to make you aware of the big changes coming to our city and state.

As always, we appreciate your loyalty and support of our small business.

Aggressive Driving

Road rage. We have all seen it, and hopefully none of us have experienced anything violent.

Unfortunately, we live in a state that is notorious for aggressive driving.

Forbes recently published a piece on aggressive driving by state, and sadly Colorado ranked third.

Surprisingly, the seemingly nice folks from Utah rated first in this category, followed by Missouri. Don’t ask us to explain that one.

From the article, “Centennial State drivers were the third most likely in the nation to say they were followed by another driver who proceeded to exit their vehicle to yell at or fight with them (14%).”

“Drivers in this state tie with Alabama, Connecticut and Washington as the fourth most likely to report being insulted or threatened by other drivers (46%). And more than half of survey respondents (52%) reported witnessing other drivers making rude or offensive gestures.”

The scariest part? 25% of us report they know of someone who sustained injuries after a road rage incident.

The full article and report can be found here.

Be kind to one another folks, this isn’t a list we should be proud of.

E-470 Widening

Good news on our tollway. Following the most recent widening of E-470 back in 2021 which expanded the tollway from Quincy Avenue to I-70, there is a new one underway.

This project will add a third lane in each direction between I-70 and 104th Avenue.

It also includes a four-mile expansion of the High Plains Trail from 26th to 64th Avenues to continue the bike trail network in the east metro area.

Construction began four days ago on the 26th, and fortunately, most of the work will be done at low-traffic times.

There will be new interchanges at both 38th and 48th Avenue as well, along with a widening of the bridge near the Gaylord Rockies resort.

The full project webpage can be found here, and if you have any questions you can reach the folks in charge at [email protected].

The project will be complete in 2025.

Spying Bosses

Boy did COVID change the way we work. Back in the old days, your boss would just swing by your office to see if you were there.

Today, not as easy to do.

We believe most folks are good and do the work they are supposed to do. That said, there are some bosses and companies that want to make sure.

One of the new terms in employment is “quiet quitting”, where an employee doesn’t officially quit, but the notion of doing anything beyond the minimum is rejected.

As you might expect, this has some employers worried, and many have taken steps to make sure you are still working while physically away from the office.

How do they do this? Well, primarily through your computer. According to a new study by VMWare, 70% of employers are utilizing monitoring software to make sure remote employees are working.

Yes, you read that right. 70%. From simple tracking software to monitoring your webcam (that’s creepy) there is more of this going on than we realized.

The full article from Mic.com can be found here. Scary stuff, as it seems some of the trust between employer and employee has been broken.

VMWare did a great job covering this as well and that piece can be found here.

Maybe Orwell was right….Big Brother is watching.

Are Earbuds Dangerous?

We sure do love our earbuds. We have some cool ones from Apple, another pair from Bose, and the ones that Samsung makes are pretty cool too.

Beware, however, as it seems many medical experts are concerned about the effect they may be having on humans.

For years there have been concerns about holding a phone next to our heads with lots of invisible waves floating about.

Wireless technology seems to have mitigated some of that, and the good news is that earbuds give off 10 to 400 times less radiation than smartphones.

The problem is that this technology hasn’t been around long enough to really measure the impact on our brains and bodies.

From The Healthy: “There is some scientific evidence that there may be a link between exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) in the range used by wireless earbuds and cancer. A 2020 rodent study by the National Toxicology Program found evidence of an association with malignant heart tumors, and some evidence of an association with malignant tumors in the brain and adrenal glands, among rats that had been exposed to RFR.”

Yikes.

On top of this, a few years back, EMF (electromagnetic field) scientists highlighted their concerns with an international appeal to take a look at the electromagnetic fields given off by these devices.

We aren’t smart enough to give advice on what is or isn’t going to happen regarding wireless technology and health. Life is full of risks and each of us needs to make our own decisions.

That said, it is probably worth some research and study going forward.

Monthly Award Winners

Our monthly award winners for August were Guadalupe Caloca, Nimia Espinoza, Josefina Quinonez, Maria Concepcion Reyes, and Maria Zapata.

In the Team Leader ranks, it was Isela Mendoza and Rosa Chavez.

We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.

We are also very appreciative to be a part of your lives and your homes. You provide the platform for our teams to perform, and for that we are grateful.

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of August.

Over the past few years, longtime Denver residents have mourned the demise of iconic Denver businesses; bolted doors and boarded windows offer a nostalgic reminder of the past.

However, several Colfax landmarks have emerged from their slumber to new incarnations. Tom’s Diner, sitting dormant for several years, has emerged as Tom’s Starlight, a Palm Springs era 1970’s cocktail venue. Major renovation plus a large outdoor seating area, brings a new vibe to the old building.

Further west on Colfax, Casa Bonita, another grande dame of the 60’s/70’s is under new ownership. The owners have some creative ideas that will retain the building’s history while ushering it gracefully into the present day.

It’s heartening to see the effort at saving the past. There is so much of it in Denver but plans for one condo with retail space can demolish a block of old brick buildings from one day to the next.

We can’t stop progress, but perhaps we can manipulate it to our advantage.

Bee

August Newsletter 2022

denverconcierg on September 13, 2022

Happy Labor Day

The unofficial end of summer. At least that is what Labor Day is known for. Since it feels like summer just started, we aren’t sure we love that moniker.

Although we are pretty much over 95-degree days, so there’s that.

In the spirit of Labor Day, we thought we would provide some fun facts you probably don’t know.

We can thank labor unrest in the American Midwest for the creation of Labor Day. Way back in the 1880s, thousands of workers in Chicago took to the streets to protest poor labor conditions and to demand an 8-hour workday.

The first holiday created due to labor unrest was actually May Day. Now called, International Worker’s Day, it happens on the first of May. Here in the United States, we celebrate our version on the first Monday in September every year. While there have been efforts to move our holiday to May 1, they have been unsuccessful to date.

So, in 1894, Labor Day was created in our country. It is remarkable to note that while Labor Day was considered a conciliatory gesture to organized labor, it wasn’t until 1938 that the Fair Labor Standards Act limited child labor, set a minimum wage, and mandated a shorter workweek, with overtime pay for longer shifts. By the 1940s, the average workweek had fallen to five eight-hour days, which is our current standard.

In short, the history of Labor Day is deeper than barbecues and gatherings, it was born as the first volley from overworked laborers to industry, and it stands today as a tribute to treating workers fairly.

For a great timeline of this interesting holiday, check out this history.com article, good stuff for sure.

More locally, we do our best to take great care of our workforce and are so lucky to have our dedicated team of professionals in your homes each week.

This year, Labor Day occurs on September 5th. We hope you have an opportunity to recharge and spend time with family and friends. We will be closed, reopening on Tuesday the 6th.

Happy Labor Day!

Unclaimed Property

Do you have unclaimed property or funds with the state?

We hadn’t really thought about it until we received a note from the state telling us we might indeed.

We investigated, and sure enough, we had $20 coming from Microsoft. Can’t really tell you why, but we reclaimed it.

From the state website: “The Great Colorado Payback is responsible for reuniting Coloradans with their lost or forgotten assets.”

“Even businesses lose track of property and payments, occasionally resulting in unclaimed property which can be claimed. Corporations, schools, hospitals, and small businesses are also listed among the many individuals whose assets are in the possession of the State.”

“Money or property turned over to the State Treasury for safekeeping always belongs to the owner or heir of the account and there are no time limits for filing your claim. The Colorado State Treasurer currently maintains a list of over 1.7 million names of individuals as well as businesses for whom property is available.”

The good news is it’s free to check and see if there is anything out there with your name on it.

To see if you might have missing property or funds, you can get started here.

Happy hunting everyone!

Knowing vs. Doing

Most of us know the right thing to do. Why don’t we always do it?

This question has been raised many times by academics, business leaders, and self-help gurus.

Quite simply, the knowing-doing “gap” is the difference between knowledge and action.

For example, we read a book, and gather lots of information in doing so, but then fail to implement anything we just read.

Or we go to a cool training class, walk away with a ton of ideas, then go right back to where we were before.

It’s real and it’s hard to overcome. We all know that exercise is good for us, but we don’t always do it. Same with diet.

Also the same in business, where organizations can fall into the same traps.

One of our favorite books on this topic is “The Knowing-Doing Gap” by some really smart folks at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

So now that we know there is a gap, what in the world do we do to bridge it? How do we start to take meaningful action when we get new information?

We found a wonderful piece on Medium that gives some good advice on how to do this. (hint, start small)

As Picasso once said, “Action is the foundational key to all success.”

Finally, we found a very illustrative piece on LinkedIn that further demonstrates this phenomenon, and it can be found here.

Here’s to taking more action with the knowledge we have.

“Brushing” Scam

Has anyone heard of “brushing”?

Not your hair or your pet, but a new scam that clever thieves are using to steal your information and use your name for fake online reviews.

From the Whatis.com website: “A brushing scam is an exploit by a vendor used to bolster product ratings and increase visibility online by shipping an inexpensive product to an unwitting receiver and then submitting positive reviews on the receiver’s behalf under the guise of a verified owner.”

“Vendors on Amazon and other websites use the scam to increase visibility for their stores and drive further sales.”

Who doesn’t like free stuff? While it certainly seems harmless, it isn’t.

From the United States Postal Inspection Service website: “While it may appear to be a victimless crime—you did after all get some free stuff—the reality is that your personal information may be compromised.”

“Often scammers obtain personal information through nefarious means and with ill-intentions, and use it for a number of scams and other illicit activities in the future.”

“In other instances, bad actors are using a person’s address and account information to receive merchandise then steal it from the home before the resident is able to intercept it.”

Not good. For ways to combat this scam and make sure you don’t fall victim to it, visit the USPIS website here.

Denver Air Quality

Air quality alerts. We have been getting them for some time now.

It’s one thing to see smog in Denver, but entirely another when we found out that this issue could lead to increased gas prices.

It seems that our state has not been able to cut down emissions fast enough to meet the 2008 federal ozone standards.

Ok, you say, “what does that mean for me”?

Depending on which expert you believe, the pending crackdown on emissions could add $.20-.50 per gallon to our already very high gasoline prices.

In fact, the EPA is planning to redesignate our area and ozone status this fall. In doing so, Colorado will be expected to change to something called “reformulated fuel” which is less volatile than current gas.

The problem is that the current refineries serving Colorado don’t make reformulated gas, and that is made worse by the fact only 40% of our gas is produced here.

Denver Business Journal did a nice job of outlining this problem and the complete piece can be found here.

Unfortunately, there probably isn’t much we can do about this one, but we wanted to make sure you knew about it.

Monthly Award Winners

Our monthly award winners for July were Sandra Vidales, Guadalupe Caloca, Haydee Espinoza, Nimia Espinoza, and Aurora Dominguez.

In the Team Leader ranks, it was Rosa Chavez and Laura Varela.

We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.

We are also very appreciative to be a part of your lives and your homes. You provide the platform for our teams to perform, and for that we are grateful.

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of July.

When I receive an inquiry regarding our housecleaning availability and it happens that our schedules are full to bursting, I have been asked why we don’t just bring on more staff.

Logical question from a layperson.

Firstly, the labor force in Denver is insufficient to carry the businesses needing employees.

Secondly, the problem is compounded by our determination to hire employees who actually want to clean houses, who basically see dirty and feel the need to just step in and clean.

These people do not grow on trees.

However, because over the years we have hired only these people, we have gained the respect and trust of our clients, a satisfied workforce, and a reputation that attracts potential clients.

It really doesn’t get any better than that.

Bee

July Newsletter 2022

Denver Concierge on August 1, 2022

Best Neighborhoods in Denver

For the record, we love all the neighborhoods that we visit our clients in.

But people love lists, so here we go. Courtesy of the fine folks at 5280 Magazine, who recently published the “25 Best Neighborhoods in Denver”.

The rankings are based on four weighted variables, including home prices, crime data, school rankings, and an X factor score. The X factor includes things like open space access, restaurants, shops, and the like.

They looked at 73 total neighborhoods and were able to narrow it down to the best 25. One of the more interesting things to be aware of is that areas like LoHi or RiNo will not be mentioned, as the rankings used the city of Denver’s official map.

So, what neighborhood is considered the most desirable? That would be Wellshire. Followed closely by Belcaro and Wash Park. Platt Park and City Park round out the top five in our fine city.

We found some interesting items of note on this list. We were quite shocked that Cherry Creek came in 19th! We have lots of clients there that will surely demand a recount. Also surprising to us was the Highlands Area, with West Highlands coming in 24th and the Highlands 25th.

I guess the good news is that all of those places made the list, as over 50 neighborhoods did not.

The entire piece from 5280 Magazine (along with their complete methodology) can be found here.

Partners We Love

One of the major costs in any business is health care. Rates continue to rise and each year it becomes more difficult for many companies to balance affordability with the quality of the plan.

This is where our friend and partner Mike Shores at Rocky Mountain Insurance Consultants comes in.

Mike has been doing health care brokerage for 28 years and is the expert that we go to for all our health plan needs.

We asked Mike about the biggest changes in his industry, and he had the following to say:

“When the next annual renewal comes across the business owner’s desk, and they see their new group medical plan premiums for the coming year, they should be asking their broker what they are going to do about helping manage those costs.”

“What are the alternatives? Believe it or not, there are a couple of really good alternatives that can save substantial premiums, and they should be examined every year at renewal, and sometimes even during a mid-year review. Level Funded health plans and an ICHRA are two options that need to be evaluated by the business owner every year.”

We don’t have the brain power (or the space here) to go into detail on ICHRA or level-funded plans.

However, Mike does, and he would love to have a discussion with anyone interested in more information on how to save on healthcare plans, or just to chat about the industry and where it is headed.

Mike can be reached directly via email here, or at 303-523-1690.

New Delivery Fees

July brought in the enaction of some impactful laws in our state.

In a quietly publicized law change, some new delivery fees went into effect in Colorado on July 1st.

Were you aware that every retail delivery that you now receive has now had 27 cents added to it?

We weren’t either until we ran across an article outlining this new law.

From the article: “Colorado has implemented a new “retail delivery fee,” which is a tax of $0.27 per delivery of a taxable product. The fee, effective July 1, 2022, will be imposed on the buyer but will require retail sellers and marketplace facilitators to collect and remit the tax by filing a separate return.”

Yep, this means every DoorDash, Amazon, Instacart, and Uber Eats order that shows up on your doorstep has had this fee added to it, starting on July 1st.

Also, there was a $0.30 fee added to all rideshares, so if your Uber seems more expensive than last month it likely was.

On a happier note, driver’s license fees were frozen for this year after lawmakers came up with $4 million to avoid it.

Finally, the 2-cent per gallon gas tax that was set to go into effect was postponed due to an ongoing lawsuit filed by Advance Colorado Institute and Americans for Prosperity over the fees, arguing voters should have had a say before it went into effect.

Not the best news for an overheated economy. The complete article on these new fees can be found here.

Colorado & Illicit Drugs

We all know the story behind Colorado’s legalization of cannabis and all that has come with it.

It wouldn’t come as a huge surprise to hear that we use a lot of it here in our state.

However, it does seem that our drug use expands beyond the legal stuff and into the illicit, at a higher rate than you might imagine.

Wallethub did an exhaustive study of drug use in the United States and the information was very enlightening.

Colorado ranks 7th in illicit drug use. We are only behind West Virginia, DC, Arkansas, Missouri, New Mexico, and Nevada. Not a great list to be on.

We also ranked 14th in the share of teenagers who have used illicit drugs in the past month and 30th in drug overdoses.

The saddest stat we read was that Colorado ranked 2nd in the share of adults who could not receive treatment for their drug use in the past year.

The lowest illicit drug use in the United States? Minnesota, with Hawaii, Utah, Idaho, and Iowa rounding out the bottom five.

The full breakdown along with methodology, main findings, and full analysis can be found here.

Denver’s New Skyscraper

It’s a big one. In fact, it will be the largest built in Denver in more than 40 years.

Developers have broken ground on the project at 1900 Lawrence.

At 30 stories and boasting over 700,000 square feet of office space and 10,000 feet of ground-level retail, this building will reside in the heart of Denver’s business district.

From the article on 9 News: “Riverside Investment & Development Company in partnership with Convexity Properties and Canyon Partners Real Estate, and represented by JLL, held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, April 21.”

“1900 Lawrence will set new standards for the workplace environment, so as to empower businesses and their employees,” said Chris Payne, Vice President for Riverside. “As the premier office building in Denver, the project is designed to include next-generation innovations in sustainability, health and wellness, technology, and amenity programming. We are excited to deliver an industry-leading office building that promotes collaboration and creativity.”

The project is slated to be complete by the second quarter of 2024.

Complete details of the project can be found here if you would like more information.

The views should be pretty sweet.

Monthly Award Winners

Our monthly award winners for June were Sandra Vidales, Brenda Garcia, Aurora Dominguez, Maria Zapata, and Josefina Quinonez.

In the Team Leader ranks, it was Mayra Soto and Socorro Ibarra.

We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.

We are also very appreciative to be a part of your lives and your homes. You provide the platform for our teams to perform, and for that we are grateful.

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of June.

I would like to send out a reminder to please run all instructions for your team through me here at the office. Sometimes the ladies are unsure of the instructions given by the client but are too shy to ask them to explain.

In the same vein, our insurance company is very strict as far as what the ladies are allowed to clean in the houses, how they clean (e.g., no ladders higher than 3 steps), and what products can be used. This is strictly for the safety of the employees, and my involvement adds another layer of assurance.

I meet with the teams each day before dispatch to give out instructions and convey any client concerns or compliments.

As always, the easiest way to get me special requests or instructions is via text at 303-588-6847.

Happy summer! Stay cool!

Bee

June Newsletter 2022

Denver Concierge on June 30, 2022

Happy Green 4th of July

Did you know that Denver Concierge was the very first certified green cleaning company in Colorado? Every year we get recertified with the Green Clean Institute and 2022 was no exception, as we have just been recertified for the year.

Back in 2007 we applied for certification and have proudly carried that with us through today.

What does that really mean for you? Simply it means that you are doing your part for the environment by using a certified company. Every product we use has been vetted as 100% green. Our people are trained in green cleaning practices and we take every step to ensure that we are taking care of the environment as we clean.

We do our best to stay humble over here, so we don’t really like to blow our horns too loudly. That said, we are very proud of this certification and what it means to our clients and the wonderful city we live in.

Also, this month we have a guest writer who covers the benefits of going green in your home. We hope you enjoy it.

We also want to wish you and your families a safe and happy 4th of July weekend. Denver Concierge will be closed on Monday the 4th so our folks can enjoy some time with their families as well.

Finally, some fun facts about the 4th. Did you know that 150,000,000 (yes million) hot dogs will be consumed in America on the 4th of July? “Enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than five times,” according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.

Fun facts like that and many more can be found here, thanks to Parade magazine.

We hope you have a fun 4th of July weekend, as always thanks for being part of the Denver Concierge family.

School Enrollment Plummeting

What exactly is going on with Denver area school enrollment?

Of course, it seems that COVID started all of this, but we didn’t expect it to stay this way.

Jefferson County, for example, has proposed a plan to close multiple elementary schools in the district due to low enrollment levels.

From the article on Fox News, “According to Jeffco, the district has the capacity to serve 96,000 students in their traditional schools and currently has 69,000 students enrolled. Jeffco expects the enrollment to continue declining to 66,000 by next year.”

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, online and at-home learning became the new norm for students in Colorado. When schools reopened to in-person learning, many failed to return to the traditional in-school education.”

The folks at Westword also did a piece on this, and they believe the declining population in Denver is also a factor.

Even as Colorado’s population grew (prior to 20-21), its public-school enrollment shrunk. Enrollment was generally increasing until 2020-2021, when it rapidly fell by a whopping 30,024 students, according to Colorado Department of Education data.

Most definitely a challenging time for education as funding is allocated on a per-pupil basis. Denver Public Schools predict another 6% enrollment decrease in the next 5 years and the plan is to establish criteria for permanently closing schools with low enrollment by 2024.

Finally, it seems we are not alone here in Denver. The New Y0rk Times recently published a piece on this topic and it can be found here.

Wages & Inflation

Before COVID, most of us were pretty happy with that good old 3% wage increase.

These days, it might not be enough.

One of the concepts few employees understand is effective purchasing power.

It is super easy to get intoxicated by a higher wage, but if all the goods and services around you are going up at a higher rate (see the chart above), then purchasing power is lost.

So even though wages have skyrocketed and are up 4.9%, inflation is up 6.2%, a net loss.

Closer to home, and from the DBJ article on this topic, “In Denver, median weekly earnings rose 6.5% over the past year from $1,163.80 to $1,239.38. Meanwhile, the cost of living rose 12.9% since 2019.”

“That combination of factors means what would have been a traditional raise two or three years ago may not cut it for many employees — especially when it’s far from what they could fetch on the open market.”

It is certainly safe to say we are in trying times both as employees try to pay their bills, and companies do their best to retain talent with fair pay.

Sadly, the inevitable conclusion of all of this could likely be fewer jobs, as companies strive to automate and eliminate humans wherever possible.

Meanwhile, we will do everything in our power to keep a happy and well-paid workforce in your homes.

Navy Seals & Neuroscience

So, a Navy Seal and a neuroscientist walk into a bar…….

Just kidding, but it sounds like the beginning of a great joke.

In reality, it was a five-hour podcast between Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and professor at Stanford School of Medicine, and Jocko Willink, an ex-Navy Seal officer.

This was a treasure trove of information about how the human mind and our nervous systems actually work. More importantly, how can we use them to our advantage.

For example, do you know what “optic flow” is? We didn’t either but it can relieve stress.

Also, if you are like us, we hit the coffee button right when we rise in the morning.

We learned that the timing of the first caffeine in your body is important and that you should wait 60-90 minutes after waking to ingest it.

This is due to a molecule called adenosine. We won’t bore you with the details, but it’s all in this wonderful article we found on Medium.

The title of the article is 15 Learnings From a Conversation Between a Neuroscientist & Navy SEAL Officer and we found it to be one of the most informative pieces we have seen in a long while.

So, if you want to learn about cool things like adenosine and dopamine, and how a simple sigh might lower your stress, this is the place for you.

The full article on Medium.com can be found here, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Going Green in Your Home

By Guest Writer Ethel Lair

Whether you’re looking to buy a new house or planning some home improvements on your existing property, think about the many benefits of having an eco-friendly home and garden. Going green isn’t just good for the planet, it can also save you money. So here are some things to consider when you’re looking for a house, or if you want to turn your existing abode into an eco-friendly haven:

Save Money on Your Energy Bill

To keep your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, thus reducing your need for costly air conditioning, make sure it is well insulated, from attic to basement. When buying a home, look for one that has been outfitted with dual pane windows that keep the outside elements from affecting the temperature inside the house.

Solar panels have become increasingly popular over the years, and for good reason: they allow homeowners to harness the sun’s energy to power their house by turning it into electricity. Additionally, installing a solar energy system will increase the value of your home, and may even help it sell faster.

When making home improvements, make sure you take before-and-after pictures of your remodeling and energy-saving projects, and keep all receipts and invoices you’ve received, both for labor and for materials. This will allow you to quantify the increase in value of your home when you’re ready to put it on the market.

Reduce Your Consumption

If you have leaks and drips around your house, you are wasting precious water and increasing your utility bill. Check your appliances such as refrigerator, dishwasher, and washing machine regularly to detect such problems early on, and replace your older appliances with high-efficiency machines that use fewer resources.

Upgrading your bathroom fixtures will also help in reducing your water usage. Replace your showerheads, faucets, and toilets with low-flow, high-efficiency options that are as effective as their older counterparts but use a lot less water. It’s a low-cost home improvement that can lead to big savings over time.

In your backyard, install an irrigation system that will help you conserve water while keeping your landscape beautiful year-round. Smart sprinklers deliver a fine mist of water that covers an area more efficiently, and if you install weather or rain sensors, they will prevent the unnecessary watering of your lawn, helping you reduce water waste.

Another way to reduce consumption, especially if you have a business, is to find ways to go paperless. For example, you can rid yourself of the hassles of printing by switching to a digital scheduling tool or a cloud based accounting system. You even save time by having automated processes and using efficient workflows. Plus, you’ll only pay for what your business needs with software that can grow with your business.

Reuse and Recycle

Use less paper and plastic products by investing in reusable cloth bags to do your grocery shopping, and opt for permanent storage containers instead of disposable plastic bags to store leftover food and snacks. Avoid using plastic cutlery and paper plates that end up in landfills, and save on gift bags and wrapping paper by creatively recycling what you already have on hand.

Choose reusable cloth rags over paper towels to clean your windows and countertops, and reusable mop covers to clean your floors instead of disposable ones to keep your home sparkling clean. Avoid harsh cleaning products that contain unhealthy chemicals, and use the power of steam to clean and disinfect your floors and other surfaces naturally. For a certified green cleaning experience created to reduce indoor air pollution, call on the services of Denver Concierge.

Repair and refinish old furniture to give it a new life instead of buying new pieces. A fresh coat of paint and some new hardware will update an old desk or dresser for a fraction of the price of a new piece of furniture. If the item is beyond repair, try repurposing the wood by turning it into a tray, frame, or bookshelf.

An eco-friendly house will save you money over time and protect your environment. Whether you’re in the market for a new home or planning some renovations, consider the green alternatives currently available and invest wisely, both for yourself and for the planet.

Denver Concierge provides more than 15,000 certified-green house cleanings per year. To see what makes us different, please visit our website or contact us today!

Monthly Award Winners

Our monthly award winners for May were Patricia Rodriguez, Gabriela Barrancas, Maria Zapata, Maria Concepcion Reyes, and Guadalupe Caloca.

In the Team Leader ranks, it was Paz Jimenez and Mayra Soto

We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.

We continue to be grateful to you for allowing us into your lives during these challenging times.

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of May.

I just completed 21 years with Denver Concierge. I have been working alongside the same two women in the office and several of our Team Leaders during the entire time. Pretty impressive.

However, I would be remiss to not include in my congratulatory mood, the many, and there are many, of our clients who came to Denver Concierge the same time I did.

Imagine 21 years of bi-weekly cleanings, given a holiday here and there. 21 years of births and marriages, celebrations and anniversaries, remodels and construction, leaky ceilings, and flooded floors. The good the bad and the ugly; we’ve been there for you through it all.

When I take on a new client it really does feel like I am welcoming them into the Denver Concierge family. We are so proud that we have stood the test of time with our clients. It is no small feat. The service industry can be brutal.

As always, thank you!

Bee

May Newsletter 2022

denverconcierg on June 8, 2022

Memorial Day

For most of us, this means a day off from work, grilling with family and friends, traveling, or just plain relaxing. It also signifies the beginning of summer for some.

For others, it is a solemn day to remember those in our lives that have been lost defending our great nation and freedoms.

Here at Denver Concierge, we are very grateful for the sacrifices that have been made so that we can run a business, send out a newsletter, and exist in our own peaceful way.

For those reasons and many others, we annually take this time to express our gratitude and humility as we know without those sacrifices things might not be the way they are today in our land.

So, in that spirit, we want to share some interesting facts about this special day. Some facts you may have seen in past newsletters, as well as a couple of new tidbits we ran across.

For starters, Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day. Originally conceived to honor the over 600,000 people that died in the Civil War, by the 1900’s it became a day to celebrate all Americans that have died in service around the world. It was renamed in 1967 and became a federal holiday in 1971.

This year it falls on Monday the 3oth, and of course, Denver Concierge will be closed.

Did you know that at 3 PM on Memorial Day every American is to stop what they are doing to remember and honor those who have died in action? Also, the flag is supposed to be flown at half-mast until noon, then raised to full mast until sunset on Memorial Day.

Many of us wonder why the end of May was chosen. Was it a significant battle, anniversary, or date? Way simpler than that, the date was chosen because flowers would be blooming all around America. So the blooms would be abundantly available for decorating soldiers’ graves.

Also, while no one is quite sure where this tradition originated, many locations claim to be the first to recognize this day. Some records indicate that one of the first such spring rituals took place in Charleston, South Carolina less than a month after the Civil War ended.

Columbus, Mississippi is also cited as an early location of celebrations when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate graves in 1866. Overall, more than two dozen locations in both the north and the south all claim to have hosted the first Memorial Day traditions.

But in 1966, the federal government headed by Lyndon Johnson proclaimed Waterloo, New York as the holiday’s official birthplace. It was there, a century earlier, that a celebration to honor Civil War vets first took place and went on to become an annual tradition.

Finally, even in this time of relative peace in America, 25 people per day are buried at Arlington Cemetery.

Please join us in honoring the fallen this Memorial Day. We wish you the best for a safe and relaxing holiday weekend.

Best Places to Live 2022

How things change.

For years we have promoted our fine state and cities here as they rose through the ranks of U.S. News and World Report’s annual “Best Places to Live” rankings.

As you might expect based on many factors, our place in the rankings has dropped.

There was, however, a change in methodology this year, as they added air quality to the rankings.

We aren’t sure how much this affected our ranks, but all of our cities except one dropped in stature.

Starting with Boulder, which was ranked #1 in 2020 and 2021 which fell to #4.

Colorado Springs was the only Colorado city on the list to receive a better ranking this year and they came in at No. 2, improving upon a No. 6 rating in 2021.

Fort Collins sank to No. 54 from last year’s No. 17, and Denver plummeted the furthest, hitting No. 55 after being ranked No. 14 in 2021 and No. 2 in 2020.

The top spot? Huntsville, Alabama, with Green Bay, Wisconsin coming in third. Evidently, the weather doesn’t factor in, as any Packer fan will tell you about winter in Wisconsin, but we digress.

The full and always interesting rankings direct from U.S. News and World Report can be found here.

Property Tax Relief

For those of you that own a home in Colorado, there is good news and bad news.

One check of Zillow will probably make you feel very good about your real estate investment.

Then, the property tax bill comes due.

Nearly all of us who own homes will feel this burden, as home values have skyrocketed and the government will be happy to collect more from us in taxes.

Thankfully there is a bit of relief on the horizon.

In early May, a bill was approved to ease the rising tax burden that comes with rocketing property values. It caps the amount of value that properties are taxed for the 2023 and 2024 tax years.

From the Denver Post article, “In its unveiling, Gov. Jared Polis said it would save the owner of a $500,000 home an average of $274 a year. It will cost the state an estimated $700 million over two years, funded via one-time money, as tax refunds required under the Tax Payer Bill of Rights or simply chalked up as lost revenue.”

“The measure was designed to head off proposed ballot initiatives, including one from state Rep. Colin Larson, R-Littleton, to cap property tax increase at 3%. But those backers, including others backed by liberal and conservative groups, put down their metaphorical arms, right down to signing affidavits as political peace treaties.”

Along with the tax refund we are all receiving (see last month’s newsletter if you missed it), this provides a bit of relief for a problem nearly all of us share in.

A full recap of the bill, as well as assessment rates for 2023 and 2024 can be found here, courtesy of Coloradonewsline.com.

Lastly, we ran across an article on ways to reduce your property tax and it can be found here.

Is Your Home at Risk?

The tragic Marshall Fire over the holidays last year was a stark reminder about how quickly the things we have can be gone.

We know a number of people that were displaced and our hearts go out to them.

Sadly, many stories have come out regarding underinsured homeowners, problems with replacement values, etc.

In fact, the problem was so rampant that many insurance agents weren’t even taking calls about it immediately after the disaster.

We ran across an informative piece by insurance.com that goes through the ins and outs of underinsurance and what you can do to protect yourself. It can be found here.

From the article, “Most homes are underinsured. Nationwide estimates that about two-thirds of American homes are underinsured. Some homes are underinsured by at least 60 percent and the average is about 22 percent. CoreLogic estimates that three out of five American homes are underinsured by an average of 20 percent.”

The bottom line? Talk to your agent and make sure you have coverage that includes new (and higher) building costs and that you are fully covered for any disaster.

The only thing worse than losing your home is realizing you are not able to rebuild it without a significant financial penalty, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Finally, we found a website that will actually calculate your risk of fire or flood based on your address and it can be found here.

Let’s hope that we never encounter these problems, but in the event we do, let’s make sure our insurance is in order.

Airport Expansion & New Gates

We have used this space frequently in the past to shed light on the debacle that has been the DIA expansion project.

It is only fair that we call out any progress that is being made and we have some news to report.

If you haven’t flown for a bit, you may be surprised to see that there are 16 additional gates developing on the C Concourse.

From the DBJ article. “Southwest Airlines will soon have 16 more gates available to travelers at Denver International Airport, bringing the airport another step closer to its goal of having the capacity to handle 100 million annual visitors in eight to 10 years.”

In fact, the new space is the largest physical expansion by DIA since the Westin hotel was built in 2015.

The ultimate goal is for DIA to handle up to 100 million passengers per year in 8-10 years.

Lots of new things to do out there as well, including eight new shopping and dining options by 2023 including Black Canyon Market and Goods, Longs Peak Market and Goods, Aviano Coffee, Mister Oso, Bar Dough, Cholon Modern Asia, Marczyk Fine Foods and Teatulia Tea and Coffee Bar.

Exciting times at DIA, and nice to see some progress on this long and drawn-out project.

The complete piece from the DBJ can be found here, and for those of you with a Denver Post subscription, their take on things can be found here.

Happy travels Denver!

Monthly Award Winners

Our monthly award winners for April were Gabriela Caloca, Maria Zapata, Gabriela Barrancas, Ivette Amaro, and Haydee Espinosa.

In the Team Leader ranks, it was Mayra Soto and Laura Varela

We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.

We continue to be grateful to you for allowing us into your lives during these challenging times.

Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of April.

Handling client cancelations is one of the toughest challenges in the service industry. To reach a balance that recognizes and accepts the client’s need to cancel while minimizing disruption to the schedule is no small feat.

Our daily schedules are made well in advance and the workload is distributed equally among the teams. If a client cancels it leaves a gap in one of the team’s schedules.

Cancelations requested in advance allow the scheduler a chance to fill the space from a short waiting list, and the team does not lose work hours.

In the case of last-minute cancelations, it is less likely that the space can be filled on such short notice, and in all probability, the three ladies on the team will lose work hours that day.

Emergencies are part of life and are unexpected and unavoidable. We understand and graciously accept this fact of life.

However, we hope the above clarification will raise awareness of the importance of canceling in advance whenever possible.

Just a small request.

Bee