ColoradoBiz articles from February 2002

ColoradoBiz archives from February 2002

Phantom fears: Attorney General's bluster is cause for concern. (rschwab@cobizmag.com).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Is U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL JOHN ASHCROFT CRAZY? I hesitated to ask that question in print this month because the symptom of craziness that brought the question to my mind occurred way back in November. On Nov. 6, Ashcroft ordered Drug...

Readers respond.
February 1, 2002... HEALTH CARE NEEDS MORE CAPITALISM, NOT MORE GOVERNMENT I just read the Jan 2002 mag, and the suggestion that we turn to a government health system is incredible for a publication that I assume supports private enterprise. Our current...

Correction.
February 1, 2002... The headline on page 55 of the January issue incorrectly identifies Compass Bank Senior Vice President Tom Kientz.

On your own: So, you're thinking of starting a business? (pwiesner@cobizmag.com).(Wiesner Publishing)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... THE DREAM SEEMS TO MAKE MORE SENSE WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH. The biggest job of top management in our company is to create an atmosphere where top people will want to spend their careers. A lot of people are content to work for the right...

Pewter for the people: Sculptor Michael Ricker no starving artist. (Attitude/Altitude).(Michael Ricker Pewter)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... SCULPTOR MICHAEL RICKER HAD NO DIFFIculty making the transition from artist to businessman. He never struggled with how to write a business plan or hesitated to sell one of his pewter figurines to a customer who simply liked the way it matched...

Funny business. (Attitude/Altitude).(Rave Reviews)(A.C.E. Entertainment)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... NOTHING CAN PRODUCE A YAWN FROM EMPLOYEES more quickly or reliably than the mention of a "team building exercise" or a "company awards presentation." That's where Rave Reviews or A.C.E. Entertainment can come to the rescue. Both are Denver...

High stakes and satellites: Portrait of a billion-dollar deal maker.(Charlie Ergen, chief executive of EchoStar Communications Corp.)
February 1, 2002... LANDING AT No. 22 on the 2001 Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, Charlie Ergen, co-founder and chief executive of Littleton-based EchoStar Communications Corp., is in appropriate company. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whom Ergen has...

Spirited venture: Alamosa water bottler sets sights on whiskey.(Colorado Water Co.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Stephen Lewis and Bucko Clark believe THERE'S ROOM FOR ANOTHER BEVERAGE IN THE LAND OF PURE ROCKY MOUNTAIN WATER, MICROBREWS AND COORS BEER. THE TWO ENTREPRENEURS LAUNCHED ALAMOSA-BASED COLORADO WATER Co. IN JUNE, BUT THAT'S JUST THE FIRST...

Relatively speaking: Family businesses balance tradition with technology.(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2002... THE ALMOND TOFFEE FORMALA THAT CHET ENSTROM SPENT DECADES perfecting in his Grand Junction basement as not changed in three generations, and Doug Simons says he will never tamper with the recipe handed down by his grandfather-in-law. ...

Web services' new promise: Integrated technologies could save millions.
February 1, 2002... I.T. departments are ALREADY BUZZING ABOUT IT, AND, IF THE TECHNOLOGY EVEN COMES CLOSE TO FULFILLING ITS PROMISE, CHANCES ARE BOARDROOMS MAY SOON BE SINGING ITS PRAISES, TOO. THE BUZZ IS ABOUT "WEB services," a loosely applied name for new...

Itech startup of the month. (Colorado Cutting Edge).(Athletic Motion Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... ATHLETIC MOTION INC., DENVER www.athleticmotion.com FOUNDED: JANUARY 2000 LAUNCHED WEBSITE: JANUARY 2001 INITIAL LIGHTBULB: "When I was a little kid, I was obsessed with snowboarding," explained Athletic Motion President and...

Balance of power.(Sixth Dimension Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Solving California's energy crisis -- and keeping it from spreading eastward -- is going to take more than a simple on/off switch. A truly efficient energy model requires the immediate exchange of information between producers and thousands...

WinFirst might be cable's bundled, sleeping giant.(multiple topics)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... So who cares if Philadelphia, home of Comcast Corp., takes away AT&T Broadband, and Denver's title to Cabletown USA? A little known Denver company, WinFirst, has the potential to make cable guy John Malone's fantasy of 500 cable channels,...

Jefferson County: Coming of age in the new millennium.(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2002... In 1955 a group of businessmen met at the Lakewood High School gymnasium to discuss ways to attract the gigantic aerospace company, Martin Marrietta, to build a new facility in the suburbs west of Denver. That meeting would forever change the...

Approaching takeoff: Centennial, Dove Valley poised for economic upturn.(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2002... BILL TRINEN STARTED SELLING COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE IN THE LATE 1980s, A TOUGH TIME FOR SALES, BUT THE BEST TIME, HE WOULD COME TO BELIEVE, FOR STARTING A BROKERAGE CAREER. Over the next decade things only got better, as he developed a...

Kathryn Paul: A life in health care. (Executive Edge).(Kaiser Permanente Group Operations West)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... QUITE BY ACCIDENT KATHRYN REAGAN PAUL FELL INTO A CAREER in the health-care industry that would take her from buyer for the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, Calif., to president of Kaiser Permanente Group Operations West in...

Cool Colorado stuff. (Small Biz).(various businesses)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... STEPHANY'S CHOCOLATES: Since 1963, Stephany's Chocolates has been indulging the sweet tooth of Coloradans young and old with line after line of delectable products. From its early days as pharmacist john Poulis' side business, Stephany's has...

Trip.com founder knows both sides of the VC picture. (Money Matters).(Venture capital)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... AMID THE RUBBLE OF FAILED DOT-COMS, Antoine Toffa stands as one of the success stories. In 1996, with a $5 million stake from his employer, US West, he launched the online travel company Trip.com. Five years later the company sold for $326...

Affordable housing, or simply undesirable? (jrundles@cobizmag.com).(Denver, Colorado)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING ME SINCE I WROTE THE "SENIOR MOMENT" column last fall -- the one about turning 50 -- whether I have actually joined AARP yet. The answer is no. I don't turn 50 until sometime this month, but in any case I still...