ColoradoBiz articles from July 2007

ColoradoBiz archives from July 2007

FTC's not Wild about Whole Foods deal.(Federal Trade Commission)(Column)
July 1, 2007... Dear members of the Federal Trade Commission, [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I applaud your recent 5-0 decision to challenge the proposed $670 million merger between Whole Foods and Wild Oats in federal court. A chain that would command as...

The biggest management sin of all: how to lose your job or at least deserve to lose it.(ON MANAGEMENT)(Viewpoint essay)
July 1, 2007... When I was a kid I loved baseball. I practiced all the time. Across the street from our house was an open field with a small backstop with some heavy chicken wire carelessly nailed up to keep at least some of the balls in the field. The base...

Maximize profits to increase value.... It's elementary.(GUEST COLUMN)(Column)
July 1, 2007... In today's business world, many baby-boomer business owners are transitioning ownership of their businesses and looking to maximize value. The answer to maximizing value is similar to the one Sherlock Holmes would give to Doctor Watson: It's...

Rundles' brand analysis: empty.
July 1, 2007... Jeff Rundles' article in the May issue ("The brand promise: empty"), which would more accurately reflect reality were it titled "The ADVERTISING promise: empty," reflects his inability to read and understand labels as well as a total lack of...

A no vote for affirmative action.(READERS RESPOND)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2007... You prove the point of those who seek to do away with government-imposed discrimination ("We're not ready to close the door on affirmative action," Mike Cote, June). I'm from New Orleans You're right. It was a disaster waiting to happen....

We need immigration reform that includes a guest-worker program.(OPINION: COLORADOBIZ VIEWPOINT)
July 1, 2007... You can't help but see them throughout your work day and beyond: the kitchen workers who make your sandwich at fast-food joints, the janitors who empty your trash at the office, the landscaping crews dispatched from the back of a truck, the...

Executive edge: Juana Bordas; Author implores others to embrace work, heritage.(attitude at altitude)
July 1, 2007... Juana Bordas literally stepped off a banana boat when she arrived in the United States five decades ago. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] She recalls vividly stepping off the ship from her native Nicaragua at the port in Tampa, Fla., with her...

Green-screen dreams: New West Media produces custom videos for company websites.
July 1, 2007... Actress Alisa Vasquez looks into the camera and makes the pitch: vNews can help your company get its message out through custom-designed videos produced for the Web. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the short promotional spot, you might see...

An Epicurean expansion: catering company marks 25 years by moving into a bigger space.
July 1, 2007... Larry and Jill DiPasquale have been in the catering business for 25 years, but the owners of Epicurean Catering only recently realized their dream of creating a fully customized operation. The DiPasquales and partner Sharon Magness Blake...

Check please! Open Scan Technologies develops software for invoicing.(attitude at altitude)
July 1, 2007... To get to the airy, sunlit second-floor offices of Open Scan Technologies, you first squeeze into a dark, cramped elevator that betrays a faint scent of last night's beer. Open Scan, which sells software that helps companies process checks...

Spirae Inc.
July 1, 2007... INITIAL LIGHT BULB After leaving Sixth Dimension Inc., a provider of Web services to energy utilities, in mid-2002, Sunil Cherian saw a void in the market and wasted no time founding Spirae to fill it. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Labor pains at odds with the law: as baby boomers begin to retire, the U.S. economy will become even more dependent on immigrant labor--illegal or not.
July 1, 2007... "This country has benefited immensely from the fact that we draw people from all over the world. And the average immigrant comes from a less benign environment, and indeed that's the reason they've come here. And I think they appreciate the...

TOP 50 minority owned companies: tech, translation firms comprise top three for growth.(Company rankings)
July 1, 2007... Denver-based consulting and IT training firm Adventos LLC has earned the title of top grower among the Top 50 Minority-Owned Companies ranked by ColoradoBiz, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 196 percent. The 3-year-old company posted...

Biggest test for bandwidth: Qwest exec predicts next summer's Democratic National Convention will be 'bigger than two Super Bowls'.(Q3 Tech Report)(Qwest Communications International Inc.)(Charles Ward)
July 1, 2007... When most city boosters imagine next summer's Democratic National Convention at Denver's Pepsi Center, they see the stuff of a fertile economic breeding ground. Close to 35,000 people will descend on the metro area for the convention, filling...

The enemy within: Department of Revenue fraud case illustrates the threat of inside jobs.(influence and statistics of frauds)
July 1, 2007... Michelle Cawthra's tearful, red-eyed gaze and curled-up lip peers out at you from the newspaper photo of her early May court hearing, but when she was allegedly stealing an estimated $10 million from the taxpayers of Colorado, she probably...

Pueblo pitches the right price: affordable land and a cheap cost of living is driving new development.(Who Owns Colorado)
July 1, 2007... HARP's-a-poppin'. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HARP is the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo, the 26-acre district that, through its first two phases, sparked an estimated $188 million in downtown reinvestment there. Now, HARP Phase...

Machines fit for condomnation.(ON SMALL BIZ)(Chuck York's Great Western Rubber Co.)
July 1, 2007... Great Western Rubber Co. in Grand Junction is hardly what the name suggests--not some big, smoke-belching factory churning out tires and automotive belts and hoses. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Great Western Rubber Co. manufactures...

Red Robin burger cookbook.(marketing of cookbooks by Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Last year, Red Robin execs decided to put their "core product"--gourmet burgers--and their "core audience"--families--together in a promotion dubbed "The Next Gourmet Burger Kids Contest." Kids entered about 16,000 burger recipes, which Red...

RevFire.(product introduction of baseball pitching machines)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... In the 1980s, electrical engineer David Marinelli had a conversation that seeded a product launched early this year. "Some fellow engineers and myself were discussing things you can measure about athletes," he said. Somewhat circuitously--and...

Guerrilla Box.(product information of artists' tools)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... While managing Phantom Canyon Ranch in his hometown of Livermore a quarter-century ago, Carl Judson took up painting. "I read an essay by Winston Churchill about outdoor painting," he said. "He recommended it for people who were overworked and...

Funklectic clothing and jewelry.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... For her senior thesis for her bachelor's degree in Spanish/marketing/graphic design, self-dubbed "Funklectic Mistress" Heidi B. started a clothing company at the University of Denver. The company began as a green clothing company that used...

John Bandimere's fast times.
July 1, 2007... Great news for truth-seekers: You don't have to trek to a remote Indian Ashram to learn the secrets of life. You can just go to the drag races in Morrison and look up John Bandimere Jr. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At a place where cars gulp...

Can I get a hotel with that burrito?(RUNDLES WRAP-UP)(Personal account)
July 1, 2007... OK, I've had it. Officially steamed. Boiled. Cut to the quick. Flummoxed. P-O-ed. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] And even more so when I realize there's absolutely nothing that can be done. I travel a lot on business, and like most people...