ColoradoBiz articles from January 2009

ColoradoBiz archives from January 2009

A ray of hope from the young and the professional.(COTE'S [colorado])(Editorial)
January 1, 2009... Jon Severson talks a good game. The founder of Young Professionals chapters in Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Denver loves to bring people together and make connections, preferably over a cocktail. Since June, Denver Young Professionals, the...

Rugs or computers, it's all the same: if you lose yourself in your customers' problems, you will usually make the sale.([on] MANAGEMENT)
January 1, 2009... We were in the market for a rug. My wife, definitely the leader in this sort of endeavor, took me on a grand tour of all her regular places. I'm not usually included in these trips, but it was the holidays and what the hey (1) But it...

Boulder spurs innovation but faces challenges as region grows.(Column)
January 1, 2009... Colorado's economy thus far has been better able to weather the economic downturn than other areas of the U.S. due to its diverse nature and renewable energy focus. Boulder is often front and center in many of the industries that help insulate...

The things we forgot.([the] ECONOMIST)(Personal account)
January 1, 2009... I'm getting tired of the current penchant for blaming everything that went wrong with financial markets and the economy on someone or something else. There is plenty of responsibility to go around, and much of it incorporates things we forgot....

Durango tries to hang onto its steam: the credit crunch has stalled development, but big projects remain in the works.([WHO OWNS COLORADO])
January 1, 2009... Without a doubt, Durango is one of the coolest burgs on Planet Earth. How cool is Durango? Durango is Aspen without all the phonies. It's Vail without underground bumper cars, Steamboat Springs minus the construction, Beaver Creek sans...

Metro Denver.(Real Estate Roundup)(Statistical table)
January 1, 2009... METRO DENVER TOTAL PROPERTIES SOLD 2007 VS. 2008 JAN 3,540 -15.6% 2,987 FEB 3,090 -2.9% 3,001 MAR 4,274 -13.2% 3,709 APR 4,399 -3.0% 4,265 MAY 5,081 -8.2% 4,664 JUNE 5,129 -5.5%...

Riding the short-sell roller coaster.([SECURITIES])
January 1, 2009... In his 40 years as a member of the New York Stock Exchange, University of Denver alumnus Ted Weisberg has learned a few things--like there's such thing as a rationally priced stock market. That said, the market could use a bit more...

Obama No. 1 in 'space top 10'.([AEROSPACE])(Barack Obama)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Worldwide achievements in the space industry over the past year included the discovery of water on Mars, milestones by India, China and Japan, and a series of successful Air Force missions managed by United Launch Alliance, which has major...

On the record.
January 1, 2009... IF SPACE PROGRAMS ARE AS POPULAR AS WELFARE PROGRAMS, WE HAVE TO DO SOME PUBLIC EDUCATION." --Jeanette Alberg, area director for U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, referring to a 2007 Harris Poll in which 51 percent of respondents targeted the space...

[By the numbers].(economy of homeowners)(ranking of colorado)(reduction of employee)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... 3.38--Percentage of Colorado homeowners who were two months behind on their mortgages during the third quarter of last year. That was 14.6 percent lower than the national average of 3.96 percent. 20th--Colorado's rank nationally for...

Passenger numbers soar at Grand Junction Regional Airport.([TRANSPORTATION])
January 1, 2009... Spurred in part by the addition of new commercial flights to Texas, passenger numbers at Grand Junction Regional Airport were on track to set a record in 2008. Through the end of October, more than 175,000 passengers had boarded flights at...

Arts impact in Denver approaches $1.7 billion.(The KA-CHING of culture)
January 1, 2009... When Denver Mayor John Hick-enlooper opened the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts breakfast in November, he jumped straight to the largest number arrived at in the CBCA's 2008 Economic Study: $1.691 billion. That's right--nine zeroes....

Chuck Morris: veteran concert promoter finds harmony with Anschutz entertainment.(EXECUTIVE EDGE)
January 1, 2009... Twenty years ago Chuck Morris was in the thick of chaos in Moscow with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band--arranging a concert for the opening of the Anschutz Western Art Collection at the Tretyakov Gallery. "It was a year before the Russian...

Colorado's 25 most powerful salespeople: sixth annual 'power list' profiles closers excelling in tough times.(COVER STORY)
January 1, 2009... Back in 2004, ColoradoBiz launched a feature we've come to refer to in shorthand as the "power-list issue." It started off as a ranking--subjective, to be sure--of, simply, powerful people. That is, the 25 business owners, philanthropists,...

Driven by genius: Colorado inventor showcase winners.(FEATURE)(Beacon Biotechnology )
January 1, 2009... The state's inventors strutted their latest stuff at November's Colorado Inventor Showcase at the University of Denver's Daniels Cable Center. The DaVinci Institute event, also sponsored by ColoradoBiz, featured innovations in everything from...

Consumer product of the year: re: thought (BioHAWT).([INVENTORS SHOWCASE])(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Robert Irwin, the co-founder of Denver-based sustainable services firm re: thought, looked to Mother Nature for inspiration with the BioHAWT (an acronym for biomimetic horizontal axis wind turbine). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Studying...

Commercial product of the year: Vandyne SuperTurbo, Ed VanDyne.([INVENTORS SHOWCASE])
January 1, 2009... The concept of a superturbocharger was most notably used on aircraft during World War II, but it has spent most of its postwar years in mothballs. Ed VanDyne, president, CEO and CTO of VanDyne SuperTurbo Inc., has revived the concept by...

Software product of the year: Orchestr8's AlchemyGrid.([INVENTORS SHOWCASE])
January 1, 2009... "We provide infrastructure to content owners and e-commerce websites," says Elliot Turner, founder and CEO of Denver-based Orchestr8. "We provide the ability to extract relevancy from your data." An example: A reader on a newspaper's...

Young Inventor of the Year: fiberlight international.([INVENTORS SHOWCASE])(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... "I do a lot of different things," says Philip Hartman, the 2008 Young Inventor of the Year. Besides playing banjo in the Hartman Family Band with his siblings, he excels in his studies: At 14, Philip is tackling 10th grade coursework. And he's...

Going virtual: the next great data solution can increase efficiency and save energy, but it's still evolving.([Q1] TECH REPORT)
January 1, 2009... IBM came up with the concept of virtualization in the 1960s, but it's only truly sprouted wings in real-world data centers of the 21st century. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Today, these virtual machines--essentially hardware simulated by...

Business survival 101: control costs and look for new opportunities in down market.(FEATURE)
January 1, 2009... This recession can't last forever. Until the economic downturn becomes an upturn, there are some actions businesses can take to survive. "A lot of small businesses think they've got to totally hunker down, put their head in the sand and...

University of wherever you are: online education surged 12 percent nationwide in 2008.(FEATURE)
January 1, 2009... The launch of Colorado State University's online school last fall can arguably said to be a case of great timing. While the economy continues to drag and the specter of lay offs portends an uncertain future, many workers might be considering...

Jumping the curve: biotech a bright spot in Colorado economy.(FEATURE)(Sierra Neuropharmaceuticals)
January 1, 2009... Good innovators must be in denial, Guy Kawasaki says. Otherwise, "the bozos will grind you down." That's what the former Apple software evangelist, venture capitalist and author of "Art of the Start" told a crowd of about 200 in November at Bio...

As new-car sales stall, repair shops prosper.(SMALL [biz])
January 1, 2009... As a fourth-generation car dealer, Fred Emich IV doesn't have to go far to hear comparisons of the current economic crisis with other dire times in U.S. history. Emich's great-grandfather started a Chevrolet dealership in Chicago after...

Company: Clear Path Labs [a DBA for clear path group LLC].([small biz] TECH-STARTUP)
January 1, 2009... INITIAL LIGHT BULB: Sam Solt said he and his Clear Path Labs co-founders Kevin Kaiser and Michael Dillon "came from different career paths," as Solt had a background in software development, Kaiser in data security and permissions, and Dillon...

The beer buckle.([small biz] COLORADO COOL STUFF)
January 1, 2009... As a recent college grad from South Texas, Jay Kriner found himself carousing many a night with nary a place to put his beer. "I would always rest my bottle on my belt buckle," he said. Inspiration struck when Kriner realized a built-in shelf...

Delta-13 triangle racks.([small biz] COLORADO COOL STUFF)
January 1, 2009... Terry Taggart had been in the precision machining business for more than 20 years, making components for medical device, computer and aerospace companies before getting into the billiards industry last year. Company manager and pool fanatic...

Justin's nut butter.([small biz] COLORADO COOL STUFF)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... "It basically started with a food processor in my kitchen," said Justin Gold of Justin's Nut Butter origins. The vegetarian and avid mountain biker had a constant hunger for protein, but was unimpressed with the selection of nut butters on the...

Sprig toys.([small biz] COLORADO COOL STUFF)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Three veteran toy designers--David Bowen, Justin Discoe and Chris Clemmer--and engineer David Monahan co-founded Sprig Toys in 2007, then recruited "finance guy" Craig Storey as CEO to help guide the green toy startup to instant success. ...

Tough times for sports: say it ain't so, Joe: the recession's hitting the sports business.(SPORTS [biz])
January 1, 2009... That wasn't supposed to happen. During previous downturns, the sports industry generally emerged unharmed as an anxious populace turned to sports for escape and diversion. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] But team owners are preparing for...

All I wanted for Christmas ...(RUNDLES [wrap-up])
January 1, 2009... Some time back I ceased being a customer of Wal-Mart for a variety of reasons, but manslaughter wasn't one of them. Until now. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On Black Friday, the now horrifically ironic name for the holiday shopping kickoff...