In Aspen, the days of heavily discounted lodging and lift tickets appear to be ending, reports the Aspen Times. Retail sales in the resort area are up 4 percent to more than $466 million, and restaurant and bar sales have increased by 3 percent. But although tourism is rebounding, construction took a harder fall and is taking longer to recover.

In northern Colorado, business appears to be on the mend, as well, although the economy there has been a bit more stable than in the state as a whole, says Mike Masclola, outgoing senior vice president and CEO of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp (via the Fort Collins Coloradoan). And while the annual volume of national office and industrial-company relocations decreased nationally by a staggering 57 percent between 2008 and 2010, the region saw a 5 percent increase in welcoming them. Meanwhile, some venture capitalists in Boulder are optimistic about the future, writes the Daily Camera, while "others caution that a bigger crisis looms: that Colorado's VC industry has been 'decimated.'"