ColoradoBiz articles from July 2004

ColoradoBiz archives from July 2004

'Minority' label worth revisiting.(On Colorado)
July 1, 2004... THREE YEARS AGO, COLORADOBIZ wrote a cover story that declared the death of affirmative action in Colorado. One of its key points was that ethnic-minority owners of businesses in Colorado no longer wanted their firms to be designated as...

ColoradoBiz appreciated.(Readers Respond)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2004... It is a pleasure to read a publication that understands the complexity of running a business in 21 st-century Colorado. Until I read ColoradoBiz, I thought all of Colorado's business-oriented publications supported the knee-jerk simplistic,...

Management columns resonate.(Readers Respond)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2004... I read your article (Pat Wiesner, "Making it in management," May) with great interest, and it has helped me renew my belief in myself. I have been in sales and marketing management for most of my business career. Unfortunately, I am now working...

No conspiracy in price hikes.(Readers Respond)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2004... After reading your June 2004 Rundles Wrap-Up ("Price hikes fuel empty feeling"), which I enjoyed, I received this e-mail from the American Petroleum Institute listing all of the investigations our industry has faced. Apparently some state...

Adversity: growth--and even life--can't take place without it.(On Management)(Column)
July 1, 2004... ONCE, AT A SALES MEETING, I ASKED A GROUP OF ABOUT 30 JOURNEYMEN SALESPEOPLE, "How many of you have a story that begins with, 'Let me tell you about the day I almost quit,'?" As far as I could tell, everyone in the room raised his or her hand....

Duo sews up zoot-suit market.(Attitude at Altitude)(Suavecito Apparel Co.)
July 1, 2004... COUNSELING THE MENTALLY ILL AND COMFORTING DYING AIDS SUFFERERS ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK is not the usual prelude to launching your own line of zoot suits and Latino fashions, but that's the route Craig Pena took when he and business partner...

Honig named chamber chair-elect.(Tom Hoing named chair-elect of Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce )
July 1, 2004... TOM HONIG, regional president of Wells Fargo Bank, Rocky Mountain Region, has been named chair-elect for the 2004-2005 Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce board of directors. Having served on the DMCC board since 2000, Honig currently serves as...

Tourism.(Insiders Biz)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... The number of pleasure travelers and overnight visitors in Denver dropped 4 percent in 2003 from record highs in 2002. Last year, 9.7 million overnight visitors spent $2.3 billion in Denver, according to data compiled by Longwoods...

Banking.(Insiders Biz)(TCF Bank)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... TCF Bank and King Soopers will offer in-store banking at eight additional Denver-area King Soopers stores to help meet the needs of a growing customer base, and to complement TCF's new branch expansion strategy in Colorado, which includes the...

Aviation.(Insiders Biz)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Adam Aircraft, Englewood, announced that a pioneering air-taxi company, yet to be named, has placed a $150 million order for 75 A700 AdamJets to be used for point-to-point air transportation, bringing the benefits of private jet travel to a...

Finance.(Insiders Biz)(Denver Investment Advisors LLC and Tempest Investment Counselors Inc. merge)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Denver Investment Advisors LLC and Tempest Investment Counselors Inc., were scheduled to merge June 30, under the Denver Investment Advisors name. After the merger, the two firms will have almost $7 billion in assets, making Denver Investment...

Resorts.(Insiders Biz)(Vail Resorts announced the beginning of $500 million in redevelopment projects)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Vail Resorts announced the beginning of $500 million in redevelopment projects over the next five years in Vail Village and LionsHead, encompassing a new pedestrian plaza and village with a luxury resort hotel, new skier services, restaurants...

Telecommunications.(Insiders Biz)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Qwest Communications International Inc. has signed a new three-year, $6 million contract with Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., a leading national retailer. Under the expanded contract, Qwest is now providing Burlington Coat with...

King of Home builders: Larry Mizel gives back plenty--but he doesn't look back.
July 1, 2004... In a sparsely decorated ninth-floor office in south metro Denver, Larry Mizel sits behind a stone-topped desk that is as big as he is. His dark suit is expertly fitted to his slight frame, and a postage-stamp-sized American flag beams from his...

Affirmative reaction: studies may decide fate of race-based programs.(Case Note)
July 1, 2004... Daniel Muse found both vindication and disappointment last November in the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear Denver's 11-year-old argument about affirmative action for minority and women contractors. In refusing to hear the case, the court...

Oh Broe, where art thou? Media-shy mogul leads ever-expanding empire.
July 1, 2004... Pat Broe takes business diversification--plus wealth and power--to a new level. And he has a massive Denver-based North American empire to prove it. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Just who is this under-the-radar, self-made powerhouse whose...

Frontier Airlines: investing in technology to improve the customer experience.(Special Advertising Section)
July 1, 2004... Whether it is through e-mailing flight values, offering online ticket sales, allowing for self-service check-in at the airport kiosk or online, or offering Live TV onboard the aircraft, Frontier is continually developing technologies to improve...

Performance gauge: software optimizes workplace talent.(High Tech Coloradobiz)
July 1, 2004... TEAH BENNETT'S I*LEVEL INC. SOFTWARE is based on two famous theories on motivation, but the idea for the product derives from personal experience, not theory. Englewood-based I*LEVEL offers a software suite that allows CEOs and managers to...

Aspen touch solutions.(Tech Startup of the Month)
July 1, 2004... INITIAL LIGHTBULB A group of touch-screen veterans came together to start a new company and make a better product--at a lower price. Aspen Touch President Jim Nations and Vice President of World Wide Channel Sales Steve Greer met as...

Durango doctors cut their own deal: state's first surgical center arouses mixed feelings.(Animas Surgical Center)
July 1, 2004... When eight dissatisfied surgeons at Mercy Medical Center in Durango approached hospital management a decade ago about a joint-venture surgical center, they got the brush-off. Operating-room schedules grew more crowded, however, and the surgeons...

New in the east growth: Fort Morgan, Sterling tout lifestyle off the Front Range.(Who Owns Colorado?)
July 1, 2004... WHAT IS THE NEXT HOT PROPERTY? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] That is the question every developer asks himself before inking a contract for a parcel of land, or laying blade to dirt on a new development. With tough competition for property in...

Wine guy: ex-engineer offers vintage wisdom.(Small Biz)
July 1, 2004... CLAUDE ROBBINS WAS SCHOOLED AS AN ARCHITECT AND MECHANICAL ENGINEER, BUT AS far back as his undergraduate days at Kansas State University 30 years ago, he has been as passionate about wines as has been about engineering. [ILLUSTRATION...

Rainbow Plastics.(Colorado Cool Stuff)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Rainbow Plastics has a remarkably deep catalog--1,700 different floats, lures and other fishing accessories in all--and an annual volume that is "well into the seven figures," said Scott Ekx, the company's owner. Ekx bought the company in 1998,...

Rick's rods.(Colorado Cool Stuff)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Founded in Denver in 1945, the Phillipson Rod Co. grew to be a renowned manufacturer of bamboo and fiberglass fishing rods. In 1972, 3M bought the company from founder Bill Phillipson, only to shutter it a few years later. But about 10,000 of...

Creek Co. watercraft.(Colorado Cool Stuff)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... Before company founder Wilson Creek invented and patented the U-Boat circa 1990, personal fishing watercraft was limited to "just tires and tubes," said Creek Co. President Chris Timmerman. The U-Boat outdid its predecessors with an open-front...

FlyteDeck.(Colorado Cool Stuff)(Chest Flybox)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2004... After Jerry Moore lost his balance while trying to simultaneously hold his rod and tie on a fly, inspiration struck the soaking-wet architect and avid angler. He came up with "a better way to carry gear" in the FlyteDeck, which replaces the fly...

Executive meetings travel guide.(Special Section)(Directory)
July 1, 2004... BR BEAVER RUN RESORT & CONFERENCE CENTER [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WE GO BIG for groups and meetings with the largest, most comprehensive gathering facilities in Breckenridge. Enjoy 35,000 square feet of versatile options for groups...

Armel Santens: home is where the Brown Palace is.(Executive Edge)(Biography)
July 1, 2004... ARMEL SANTENS HAS DONE EVERYTHING from peeling potatoes and serving fine wines to running room service and the dining room in a small hotel in France, with no days off and little sleep between shifts. As general manager of a Dallas hotel,...

Caught in the advertising web.(Sports Biz)
July 1, 2004... THOSE OF US WHO GREW UP AS DEVOTEES OF STAN LEE'S Spiderman found it disheartening that a superhero who has held his own since 1962 against seriously evil cats like Venom and Green Goblin couldn't muster a better fight against baseball's...

An eye for an eye, but a fortune for a tooth.(Rundles Wrap-Up)(Column)
July 1, 2004... NOT TOO LONG AGO, MY 6-YEAR-OLD SON LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH AND I WAS suddenly thrust into the role of Tooth Fairy for the first time in something like 10 years. The wand was a little rusty, the dress tight, the wings somewhat less gossamery, and...