What’s the economic good of it being so cold up here in Grand County?

Let me list the ways.

Benefit No. 1 is the tons of free publicity for this remote section of the world. News of the minus 44-degree weather on the Fraser Flats near Tabernash got lots of attention across the state and on national news. The Associated Press, the premier national news service that doesn’t double as propaganda, had the story on the wire, which means it went across the nation — even to international news sites.

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Regionally, the few major Colorado newspapers that still exist carried the story along with our local newspapers up here in the mountains. News websites carried the story prominently.

The leading news hook was that we were the coldest place in the United States on that date. Not only that — it was extremely cold, in purely absolute terms, as well.

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Public relations and advertising executives, if they had placed news releases touting the cold, would be bragging to their clients (us poor souls in Grand County) that all that “free” news had a nearly priceless value in terms of exposure across the nation. They would say it was so priceless that it couldn’t even be bought.

Of course some people might say that such publicity isn’t really good publicity, to which a sharp advertising or PR person would quip: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” I guess all of us could render an opinion on that, but I can vouch for how in Fraser, and other local towns, bragging about the cold is a source of pride.

It’s a fact that 17 years ago the town of Fraser got into a branding and trademark dispute with International Falls, Minnesota, over the tagline “Icebox of the Nation.” Even Big Piney, Wyoming, wanted the brand. Actual tax dollars were spent in determining which town had the honest right to call itself the “Icebox of the Nation.” It came down to splitting hairs and meteorological tap dancing in comparing which town had the most coldest days and which town had the absolutely coldest day.

Where else in the world, I ask, would people be fighting over such a moniker that in most cases would scare people away and cast a distinctly negative connotation? I mean, how often do you think some random father in everytown USA would shout out this alluring sentence for a vacation week: “Come on kids! Pack your bags, and let’s pile into the car for a vacation to the ‘Icebox of the Nation.'”

Based on the minus 44 temperature we had, I think we deserve the moniker. So there, International Falls!

We got some free publicity, and with the continued worries about climate change and global warming, having a place that’s cold could be seen as a plus rather than a negative. Since the skiing and snowmobiling industries are part of our economy, it indeed is a good thing. Because of the cold, we get more snow, and it lasts longer.

I also know that there is a trend of calling people “climate refugees.” This is to mean that some people in the U.S. and other nations are intentionally moving away from hot places and coastal climates to locales that are colder and not as moist. That’s us here in Grand County for sure.

For me personally, I prefer cool and cold to warm and hot. That’s why I live here.

So I guess it’s a good thing that it can get so cold here. And yet, as I shiver and freeze, I just have to ask if it really has to get that cold?

Patrick Brower is the Enterprise Facilitator for the Grand Enterprise Initiative. He offers free and confidential business management coaching to anyone who wants to start or expand a business in Grand County. Contact him at 970-531-0632 or pbrower@consultbrower.com.