Tag: Local business

Corporations, Crime, Economics, Ethics, Local business, Red Rock dealerships, Red Rock GMC Grand Junction, Scams, Worker advocacy

Red Rock Auto wage theft lawsuit headed for trial Dec. 9-11

by Anne Landman • November 20, 2024 • 6 Comments

Red Rock GMC on First Street in Grand Junction, where Derek Paíz was employed as a detailer

A civil wage theft lawsuit, 23CV52 (pdf), filed by a tenacious former vehicle detailer against Red Rock Auto Group II, Inc. and Red Rock’s local minority owner Bryan Knight, is headed for a fast-approaching jury trial December 9-11, 2024 at the Mesa County Justice Center.

At a virtual pre-trial conference this morning, November 20, Judge Matthew Barrett confirmed that the trial is set for those dates and will be heard by a 6-person jury.

Bryan Knight, now listed as a minority (10%) owner of Red Rock GMC

Derek Paíz worked as a detailer for Red Rock GMC at 741 N. First Street in Grand Junction from April-September, 2022. He filed the case pro se (on his own, without an attorney) on October 26, 2023 seeking wages he alleges Red Rock failed to pay him for work he did while employed at the GMC dealership in 2022.

Sports car with Red Rock dealer plates parked in handicapped spot at Target, with two able-bodied, 20-something men loading stuff into it

by Anne Landman • October 10, 2024 • 15 Comments

Car with Red Rock Nissan license plate frame and dealer tags parked illegally in a handicap spot at 4:05 p.m. on 10/10/24 in front of Target at Mesa Mall, Grand Junction.

Today, Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 4:05 p.m., someone snapped this photo of a red, two-door Dodge sports car with dealer plates and a Red Rock Nissan license plate frame, parked, idling, in a handicap parking spot in front of Target at Mesa Mall, with two able-bodied, 20-something young men loading stuff into it. The license plate number was DQP-G43. The plate had the letters “DLR” vertically on the left side, meaning it is a dealer plate. This means at least one of the two young men had to work at a Red Rock Auto dealership in order to have access to the plate. The license plate frame said “Red Rock Nissan.”

State opens case into alleged forgery at Red Rock Hyundai

by Anne Landman • September 17, 2024 • 4 Comments

Subpoena related to a 2022 transaction at Red Rock Hyundai in which allegedly forged signatures were discovered by a credit union on purchase documents for a used 2020 GMC Sierra truck. Mr. Acevedo, the customer who tried to buy the vehicle, was the victim in the case.

The Colorado Attorney General and Auto Industry Division are subpoenaing documents related the alleged forgery of signatures discovered during a customer’s attempt to purchase a used truck at Red Rock Hyundai in 2022.

Jesus Acevedo, the victim of the alleged 2022 forgeries in the case, received a subpoena dated 8/29/2024 in the state’s case.

In January, 2022 Mr. Acevedo attempted to buy a 2020 GMC Sierra pickup from Red Rock Hyundai. He was never shown any of the documents from his purchase while he was at the Hyundai dealership. He saw them for the first time at the Sooper Credit Union, where he went to arrange financing. A loan officer printed out the documents from the sale and saw four signatures that didn’t look like Mr. Acevedo’s signature. He showed the signatures to Mr. Acevedo, who affirmed they were not his. One of the questionable signatures was on an agreement to buy a $10,000 extended warranty that Mr. Acevedo wasn’t told about and did not approve.

The person most likely to benefit financially from the proposed I-70 interchange at 29 Road

by Anne Landman • August 24, 2024 • 14 Comments

Red outline is the land around the area of the proposed I-70 interchange at 29 Road that is owned by N70 Tech LLC, whose sole registered agent is local oil and gas consultant and land developer Quintin Shear. The City and County are planning a ballot measure to ask area taxpayers to subsidize construction of the interchange. The project is expected to cost $80 million and would be split evenly between the City and County.

The person in Mesa County who stands to benefit the most financially from the proposed 29 Road/I-70 interchange, if it gets built, is the owner or owners of most of the land surrounding the spot where the interchange will be built.

That person, or those people, include Quintin Shear, who is the sole registered representative of a company called N70 Tech LLC, which owns almost all the land surrounding the location of the proposed interchange. N70 Tech LLC has no website. It’s operating address is listed as 330 Grand Ave., Unit B, Grand Junction, CO 81501, which happens to also be the address of the headquarters of Shear, Inc., Quintin Shear’s personal business. Shear, Inc. is listed as being in Unit A at the same address.

Defrauded by a dealership and can’t afford to sue? There’s another way to get compensation: Make a claim against the dealership’s surety bond.

by Anne Landman • July 13, 2024 • 6 Comments

Did you buy a vehicle from a local dealership only to find out later you were defrauded in some way? Can’t afford an attorney to help?

Fortunately, there’s another, completely unpublicized way car buyers can get compensation for a fraudulent deal committed by a dealership.

Surety bonds

Colorado law requires every licensed motor vehicle dealer to carry a surety bond. The bond is meant to protect customers from fraudulent business practices.

Red Rock elevates former owner, who presided over frauds and arrests, to General Manager over all five dealerships

by Anne Landman • July 6, 2024 • 3 Comments

Red Rock Nissan at 2582 Highway 6 & 50 in Grand Junction

In February, 2024, the sole local owner of Red Rock Auto dealerships, Bryan Knight, was removed from the Auto Industry Division’s list of owners of the business. The change came about after two years of customers and former employees speaking up about the questionable business practices the dealerships were found to be using under Knight’s ownership. Yet despite Knight getting booted as an owner, he was reportedly still present and working at the dealerships. So with all that has been revealed about how Red Rock was operating in Grand Junction to the detriment of the community, why would the other owners of Red Rock Auto decide to push Knight out, only to keep him around with a hand in the business?

New information explains why.

Tractor Supply throws LGBTQ+ customers and investors under the bus

by Anne Landman • July 1, 2024 • 18 Comments

Tractor Supply Company, a farm, ranch and feed company which previously had touted its efforts at diversity and inclusion, did an about-face June 27 after it issued a press release saying it will stop sponsoring events like gay pride festivals and voter registration drives, stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign, eliminate its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) roles, “retire” its DEI goals and will “withdraw our carbon emission goals and focus on our land and water conservation efforts.”

The company says they “work hard every day” to “represent the values of the communities and customers we serve. We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart.”

High speed fiber optic internet lines getting installed throughout the Grand Valley

by Anne Landman • May 24, 2024 • 5 Comments

A roll of fiber optic conduit awaits installation underground in northwest Grand Junction. If you’ve seen construction scenes like this in your area, it means high speed fiber optic internet will be coming to your neighborhood in the not-too-distant future. This is a photo of Clearnetworx operations ongoing in northwest Grand Junction, near the Foresight Circle area.

Two companies are currently racing to install high speed fiber optic internet lines throughout the Grand Valley, particularly in areas that have been underserved with high speed internet.

The two companies are ClearNetworx and Highline.

Clearnetworx is based in Montrose. It is a local company privately owned by Doug Seacat, who was born and raised in Montrose. Clearnetworx has already installed high speed fiber lines in Palisade, and their system went live on December 21, 2023. Clearnetworx started installing fiber lines in Fruita in May of 2023, and have made significant progress in bringing fiber to the west central area of downtown Fruita. You can see a map of their progress for installation in the Grand Junction area here.

High cholesterol? Go to Bella Balsamic & the Pressed Olive on Main Street

by Anne Landman • March 10, 2024 • 6 Comments

A 750 ml bottle of Bella Balsamic’s butter-infused olive oil

Western slopers who are struggling with high cholesterol need to know about Bella Balsamic and the Pressed Olive on Main Street in Grand Junction.

We’re really lucky to have this store in Grand Junction. The only other one in the country is in Punta Gorda, Florida. I love it because not only are its products unique, delicious and not available in grocery stores, but they could save your life.

Soils report at heart of lawsuit against Cody Davis & Chronos Builders recommended alternative foundations, but plaintiffs say Davis never disclosed the report to them as Colorado law requires

by Anne Landman • January 31, 2024 • 4 Comments

Swelling clay soils can triple their volume when they get wet, causing them to exert tremendous force on a home’s foundation, and hence damage, if no measures are taken to mitigate the potential damage. Clay soils are very common across Mesa County. [Click photo to enlarge for better view.] (Photo: Colorado Geological Survey)

The geotechnical soils investigation (pdf) done on a building lot on Horseshoe Drive in Fruita where Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis and his construction company, Chronos Builders, built a spec home in 2015-2016 stated clearly that expansive clay soils were present on the site and that “Based upon our experience with the Mancos shale in the vicinity of the site, the shale is anticipated to be slightly to moderately expansive.”

Michael A. Berry, the professional engineer who authored the report, recommended three types of foundations that would better protect the structure from “heave related movements” than a typical shallow foundation, but also admitted such foundations are “usually cost prohibitive.”

Why are the Mesa County Commissioners sending taxpayer money out of town?

by Anne Landman • November 19, 2023 • 7 Comments

The Commissioners used a roofing company in Keenesburg, Colorado to replace the roof on the Old County Courthouse on Rood Ave., instead of a company located in Mesa County

The Mesa County Commissioners recently had the roof replaced on the Old Courthouse at 544 Rood Ave.

They gave the job to Better Line Roofing, LLC in Keenesburg, Colorado, 279 miles from here, instead of a local roofing company.

School Board candidate forum cancelled after threat of violence posted on Facebook

by Anne Landman • October 17, 2023 • 6 Comments

A school board candidate forum that was planned for last evening, Monday, October 16, was cancelled abruptly the day of the event after the venue hosting the event, Good Judy’s Bar & Club downtown, received a violent threat on Facebook.

Former Red Rock principals who left under a cloud open financial consulting business, go into real estate locally

by Anne Landman • September 30, 2023 • 11 Comments

Note that “Bookcliffs Investment Group, LLC” is not be confused with “Bookcliffs Financial Planning and Investments,” which is an entirely different company unaffiliated with Reade and Adams’ business.

Former Red Rock Nissan and Kia managing partner Brantley Reade and the former General Manager of Red Rock’s GMC dealership, Cord Adams, who both left Red Rock under a cloud on the same day last January, opened a financial investment business together last February, shortly after leaving Red Rock.

Reade and Adams were part of the so-called “fraternity” of managers from Tim Dahle dealerships in Salt Lake who came to Grand Junction to help run the Red Rock Auto Group. They were high-management casualties of the large-scale personnel churn that began near the end of 2022, after customers started revealing the illegal and unethical business practices they fell victim to while buying vehicles at Red Rock dealerships.

What’s going on with the Tennis Bubble next to Sam’s Club?

by Anne Landman • August 13, 2023 • 0 Comments

SAD SACK: The deflated Tennis Bubble by Sam’s Club

If you’ve entered Sam’s Club’s parking lot using the driveway off 25 1/2 Road lately, you’ve probably noticed a sad sight.

The longstanding “Tennis Bubble,” an inflatable structure otherwise known as the Junction Indoor Tennis Center at 535 25 1/2 Road. which houses four tennis courts inside an inflatable vinyl bubble that protects players from the weather, has deflated.

So what happened to The Bubble?

Did somebody stab it? Did the owners forget to pay their electric bill? Are the tennis courts being converted into pickleball courts?

The answer is, none of those.

Unlike the G.J. Chamber, Bin 707 Walks the “Local” Talk

by Anne Landman • July 3, 2014 • 0 Comments

Bin 707 Foodbar in downtown Grand Junction is serious about supporting local food products and organic food producers. “We’re local first, Colorado second,” says Bin’s new website. “Locally purchased products keeps money in the local economy for longer, instead of investing it in large corporations.”

Yup, Bin gets it.

When the time came to create a new website, Bin patronized Synergy Marketing Consultants at 2478 Patterson Road, a full-service digital marketing agency located right here in Grand Junction. Cat Mayer of Cat Mayer Studio, located at 3360 Star Court in Grand Junction, did the photography for the new site, and the photographs are gorgeous.

Bin’s seeking out of local talent and expertise contrasts starkly with the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, which claims to promote local business while frequently taking its own business out of town, and often clean out of the state.

Bin 707’s true devotion to local, and its creative, innovative culinary offerings have catapulted it to success — all without joining the chamber.

Now the highest-rated restaurant in town on TripAdvisor and the second highest-rated on Yelp, Bin has quickly become a well-loved local institution. It provides GJ residents with a top-level eatery for special occasions as well as everyday dining.

Thank you, Bin 707, not just for helping to bring our town’s culinary offerings into the 21st century, but for demonstrating you are truly devoted to the real meaning of “local.”