ColoradoBiz articles from January 2008

ColoradoBiz archives from January 2008

Curious George goes to China.(COTE'S colorado)
January 1, 2008... When Curious George came home from China last year, he had a face painted full of lead. Though parents should be alert about toy safety, where those toys are produced is usually ignored until something goes wrong. Anti-China backlash...

Hatfield vs. McCoy part II: Colorado Water wars just getting warmed up.(from the PUBLISHER)
January 1, 2008... In his influential 1986 book, "Cadillac Desert--the American West and its Disappearing Water," Marc Reisner tells of then-Arizona Gov. B.B. Moeur calling up the National Guard in 1934 to prevent California from appropriating Arizona water. His...

Three simple ways to be a better manager in 2008: to tap the strength of your workers, get to know them.(on MANAGEMENT)
January 1, 2008... It is the time of year to be resolving to do things a little better. I recently came across these ideas that will make us all better managers and people in 2008. Here are three simple ideas: * Get out of your office. * Ask two extra...

Colorado's rough ride through 30 years: a forecasting retrospective from the 'Duchess of Doom'.(the ECONOMIST)
January 1, 2008... "Now that you aren't going to be writing an annual economic forecast," said ColoradoBiz Editor Mike Cote, "why don't you write a monthly column for us? You can write on any topic you wish." That's an intriguing offer, although my guess is...

Democratic National Convention aligns for real estate success.(GUEST column)
January 1, 2008... Coloradans should be honored, regardless of political affiliation, to have the Democratic National Convention in our backyard during the week of Aug. 25. With an expected 35,000 participants and their families partaking in our fine dining,...

As drilling booms so does scramble for royalty dollars.(ENERGY)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Colorado used to be known as quite an oil town in the late 1970s to early '80s, until the bottom dropped out of the market in 1982 and helped cause a myriad of economic problems in Denver. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the later part of...

Palisades wants whitewater kayak park.(TOURISM)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Palisades would like to offer its own whitewater kayak park on the Colorado River. Town Administrator Tim Sarmo has been working on the $1 million project for several years and now has the money raised and wants to begin construction. ...

Colorado still lean but gaining girth.(HEALTH)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Colorado still scores high for the health of its population, but as previous studies have shown, we're getting fatter just like the rest of the country. Colorado is the 16th healthiest state, unchanged from a year ago, according to the...

Jeffco business leaders want beltway link, but Golden fears a great divide.(TRANSPORTATION)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Should transportation improvements be fueled by the need to ease congestion or to encourage development? The battle to complete the beltway around metro Denver raises that question. The Northwest Corridor of C-470 ends at the 1-70...

Michael Swanson.(ON THE RECORD)
January 1, 2008... "Everyone thinks I'm so romantic because I hold my wife's hand everywhere I go. When I let go, she goes shopping." --Wells Fargo economist Michael Swanson, during a 2008 forecast he presented to Jefferson County business leaders in...

51%.(BY THE NUMBERS)
January 1, 2008... 51% Percentage of 96 Colorado CEOs who say they are seeing an increased demand for green products, compared to 42 percent nationally, according to the Vistage CEO Confidence Index.

5 million.(BY THE NUMBERS)
January 1, 2008... 5 million The size Colorado's population is expected to hit in 2008, just 11 years after reaching 4 million, according to state demographers.

$25 million.(BY THE NUMBERS)
January 1, 2008... $25 million The bill for annual campus energy needs at the University of Colorado. To reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions and promote conservation to students, the school is giving $1,000 cash bonuses to building proctors...

50.(BY THE NUMBERS)
January 1, 2008... 50 Number of hours the average Denver commuter spends sitting in traffic annually, 12 more than the national average and the 11th worst in the country, according to a study by the Texas Traffic Institute.

27.(BY THE NUMBERS)
January 1, 2008... 27 Number of downtown hotels selected to house 5,000 delegates scheduled to attend the Democratic National Convention in August.

$160 million.(BY THE NUMBERS)
January 1, 2008... $160 million How much money the Democratic convention is expected to pump into the metro area's economy. Organizers estimate it will draw 35,000 visitors to the region.

Film society festival director's passion is no act.(EXECUTIVE edge)
January 1, 2008... Toss a bunch of questions at Britta Erickson, newly named director of festivals for the Denver Film Society, and she ticks off responses as if the paparazzi are flashing photos on a Hollywood red carpet. All-time favorite movie? "Breakfast...

Vail Resorts goes for 'green' dining.(ORGANIC/NATURAL PARTNERSHIP LATEST MOVE TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY)
January 1, 2008... When Vail Resorts does something, it usually does it big, and so it goes for its latest move to serve organic and natural foods at its restaurants. A recap: The expansion of Vail Mountain in 1999 and 2000 was the largest in North American...

Rising from the west: Rifle resident and state transportation chief Russell George is among the power brokers from the Western Slope wielding influence statewide.(colorado's 25 most POWERFUL PEOPLE)
January 1, 2008... By the simple numbers of population, the fundamental basis for power has not shifted in Colorado during the last 80 years. The census then showed that only 12 percent of all Coloradans lived west of the Continental Divide. From all the...

Colorado Inventor Showcase honors innovators: making headway into the future.(INVENTOR SHOWCASE)(Optibike)(LucidLights)(Txtbus)
January 1, 2008... There was no shortage of worthy entrants at last November's Colorado Inventor Showcase at the Daniels Cable Center at the University of Denver. The DaVinci Institute event featured innovations in everything from tailgate parties to robots, with...

Riding the rails to the mountains: congestion relief plan for I-70 likely to include train service.
January 1, 2008... Years of study, bickering and efforts to build consensus should finally produce a long-term vision in 2008 of what Coloradans can expect for improvements to the sometimes snarled Interstate 70 corridor. It's looking like rail service could be...

Travel companies find the ticket to ride: agencies survive and thrive by focusing on business clients and customer service.
January 1, 2008... Beware the death knell in commerce: When Internet technology emerged as an easy solution for booking travel, some believed it signaled the end of the travel agency world as we knew it. In some ways, it did. But evolution has shown that many...

A tale of two cities--in one: entertainment venues are hot in downtown Fort Collins, but residential demand isn't ready for prime time.(WHO OWNS colorado)
January 1, 2008... Fort Collins is about as hot and cold as it is possible for a municipality's downtown real estate market to be at one time. The hot part is what has been going on in Fort Collins downtown for the past five years or so, and what it all could...

'Tis the season for CU-inspired hangover remedy.(SMALL biz)
January 1, 2008... Hangovers go with New Year's Day like gift-wrapped boxes go with Christmas, so it's no surprise that a new hangover remedy called The Cure was enjoying brisk sales as Jan. 1 neared. The Cure's creator, Robert Scholl, was a student at the...

Company AVA Solar Inc.(small biz TECH STARTUP)
January 1, 2008... INITIAL LIGHT BULB: Based on the pioneering solar-panel technology developed and patented by Colorado State University mechanical engineering professor W.S. Samprath, AVA Solar is ready to join the renewable energy rush. "The technology...

aXXa caps.(COLORADO COOL STUFF small biz)
January 1, 2008... The husband-wife team of Irina and Vladimir Saveliev started aXXa in 2006 after Irina tired of her housecleaning business. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I always loved baseball caps," said Irina, who is originally from Russia but has lived...

Snot Spot.(COLORADO COOL STUFF small biz)
January 1, 2008... In the mid-1990s, Monica Martin was skiing with her friends Greg Queen and Susan Miskovsky when inspiration--in the form of a runny nose, strangely enough--struck. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "We were pretty active ski bums," Martin said....

Rebit.(COLORADO COOL STUFF small biz)(Rebit Inc)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Founded in 2006 by a group of engineers from the Front Range high-tech industry, Rebit "is dedicated to relieving the burden of backup from PC users," said Charlene Murphy, the company's executive vice president of sales and marketing. ...

BetterWall.(COLORADO COOL STUFF small biz)
January 1, 2008... "I used to work at the Art Institute of Chicago," Nora Weiser said. "Whenever we had an exhibition, I'd try to get a banner. I just thought they were cool." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Weiser traded cities--Windy for Mile High--in 1997 and,...

Our 2008 SportsBiz wish list.(SPORTS biz)
January 1, 2008... This column sometimes points out how business considerations can compromise the very product of the sports business itself--the game. But for the moment we're going to set aside the cynicism, given that it's still sort of the holidays, and...

Pet Rocks in cyberspace.(RUNDLES wrap-up)
January 1, 2008... I have written several times over the years on the virtues of small, as in "Small is Beautiful" and other paeans to the notion of less consumption. The older I get the more I find I need fewer things, and the less impressed I am with other...