Who runs this, and how it pays for itself

About this site

Tri-Lakes Colorado is a free, independent directory of the businesses, events and history of the Palmer Divide. It is not a chamber of commerce, it is not affiliated with one, and it does not require anyone to join anything.

What this is

A directory of every business we can verify in Monument, Palmer Lake, Woodmoor, Gleneagle, King's Deer and Black Forest — plus a calendar of what's happening and, over time, a record of how this place came to be what it is.

Listings are compiled from public records and public sources. Businesses don't submit themselves to be included, and they don't pay to be included. If you'd rather not be here, say so and you'll be removed.

What this isn't

It isn't a chamber of commerce. Chambers do real work — advocacy, networking, referrals — and this site does none of it. What it does is answer the narrow question a chamber directory answers badly: who around here does this thing, and how do I reach them?

It also isn't a review site. There are no star ratings and no comments. Deciding who is good at their job is your business; this site's job is to make sure you can find them at all.

Who owns it

Tri-Lakes Colorado is owned and operated by Monument Independent LLC, which also publishes The Monument Independent. The two are run separately: buying a listing or an ad here buys nothing from the newsroom, and appearing in the newsroom buys nothing here.

That connection is worth stating plainly rather than leaving to be discovered. The practical rules that follow from it:

• Buying a listing or an ad here earns no coverage, no favorable coverage, and no protection from coverage in The Monument Independent.
• Where this site links to Monument Independent reporting about a business, it's labeled as such, so you can weigh it accordingly.
• Paid placement in this directory is always visibly labeled. Nothing is ordered by who paid except in the one place where it says so.

How listings get here

Three ways, in roughly this order of reliability:

1. Public records — municipal business license lists and state business registrations, which is the closest thing to an authoritative roster that exists.
2. OpenStreetMap, for locations, categories and coordinates. Contributed by volunteers and licensed under the ODbL; credited in the footer.
3. Direct submission from owners, and our own legwork checking that a business is actually open and reachable.

Every listing carries the date it was last checked. That date is the honest measure of how much to trust it, and it's why it's printed on the page rather than hidden in a database.

Corrections

Email [email protected]. Corrections are free, removals are free, and neither requires you to create an account or talk to anyone on the phone.