ColoradoBiz articles from June 2009

ColoradoBiz archives from June 2009

VC is out there - if you've got the right stuff: active investors advise entrepreneurs at 21st Annual Colorado Capital Conference.(BUSINESS CAPITAL)(venture capital)(Conference news)
June 1, 2009... The good news is venture capitalists are still funding Colorado startups. The bad news is VCs are taking far fewer risks. Entrepreneurs need to create business plans that require less money; they need to do more bootstrapping; and most of...

Colorado clean tech goes to Washington.(COTE'S colorado)(Colorado Cleantech Industry Association)(Conference news)
June 1, 2009... Forget that schism between Wall Street and Main Street. If you want money these days, you'll find your bankers at the nation's capital, especially if you're a clean-tech company from the state whose governor swears he coined the phrase "New...

So you want to start a business? I have pretty much lived my dream ... perhaps I can help you do the same.(on MANAGEMENT)(Conference news)
June 1, 2009... In the early '80s, things got tough for the Wiesner family. I was working for a medium-sized publishing company. A pretty good company. I was its president, doing well, but I wasn't happy. I don't remember exactly why, but looking back it...

The end of advertising as we know it.(Karsh and Hagan Advertising Inc.)(Pasquale Marranzino Jr. )(Personal account)(Column)
June 1, 2009... As Mick Jagger sings in the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil," please allow me to introduce myself... My name is Pasquale "Pocky" Marranzino Jr. I am co-president of Karsh & Hagan, a 32-year-old advertising agency headquartered a...

It's a puzzlement.(the ECONOMIST)
June 1, 2009... "It's a puzzlement," sang Yul Brenner in "The King and I," as he tried to understand the differences between East and West. Alan Greenspan chose a different word in testimony before the House Finance Committee more than four years ago. He...

Bursting bubbles: after tech stocks and housing, what's next?(ECONOMY)(Society of American Business and Economic Writers)(Conference news)
June 1, 2009... A few things are certain in life: death, taxes and financial bubbles, be they tech stocks or subprime mortgages. A panel that convened in Denver in April as part of the annual convention of the Society of American Business Writers and...

Beer by the numbers.(STATE OF THE STATE)
June 1, 2009... No. 3 - New Belgium's ranking among the top craft beer makers in the country by volume. The Fort Collins maker of Fat Tire was outranked in 2008 only by Boston Beer Co. and Chico, Calif.-based Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., which were first and...

On the record.
June 1, 2009... I HAVE PICTURES GOING UP AND PICTURES GOING DOWN, BUT THEY'RE ALL BAD NEWS." --Wells Fargo economist Gabriel de Kock referring to a series of indicator charts he was using during a presentation on the global economy April 30 at World Trade...

Left Hand extends its reach to Europe.(Left Hand Brewing Co.)
June 1, 2009... When we talk American craft beer, you're likely thinking in terms of Americans enjoying American-brewed beers from small (less than 2 million barrels of beer brewed annually), independent brewers. How about those same beers being enjoyed by...

Chipotle tests lower-priced menu items.(RESTAURANTS)(Chipotle Mexican Grill)
June 1, 2009... Despite a 22.7 percent revenue increase in a year that clobbered other restaurant chains, Chipotle Mexican Grill announced a trial run in April of a new menu in its Denver-area restaurants featuring smaller portions and cheaper prices. ...

John Lester: bear markets no match for UBS chief, who has found courage battling kidney disease.(EXECUTIVE EDGE)(Boettcher and Co.)
June 1, 2009... John Lester's career and life started on the same day - July 10, 1986. That was the day he landed his first job - at the prestigious Boettcher & Co. - freshly armed with an MBA from the Daniels School of Business at the University of...

ColoradoBiz real estate roundup.(Statistical table)
June 1, 2009... TOTAL PROPERTIES SOLD 2008 VS. 2009 2008 2009 JAN 2.987 2,469 -17.3% FEB 3,001 2.484 -17.2% MAR 3,709 3,206 -13.6% APR 4,625 3,390 -13.6% MAY 4,664 JUNE 4,845 JULY 5,123 AUG...

Telluride: comatose but not dead: smaller houses gain fashion in downturn.(WHO OWNS COLORADO)
June 1, 2009... In this state, Telluride vies only with Aspen and maybe Vail when it comes to glamour and glitz: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and now Jerry Seinfeld. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Oprah. Need more be said? ...

Fueling the economic fire: these fast-growing businesses are building tomorrow's economy.(50 COLORADO COMPANIES)
June 1, 2009... However many billions the federal government pumps into the economy, one truth rings clear: It will be business that will lift the country out of the doldrums and thrust it forward into the 21st century. Here are 50 companies you can expect...

Too much beetle wood ain't enough: wood from beetle-killed trees can be used as fuel, yet biomass heating systems require more wood than even Colorado's 1.5 million acres of infected lodgepole pines could provide for long-term use.(PLANET-PROFIT REPORT)(Survey)
June 1, 2009... In Vail, the specter of dead and dying lodgepole pine trees presents both adversity and opportunity. Mountain bark beetles, always present in forests but in epidemic proportions since 1996, have turned adjacent slopes the color of cheaply dyed...

Colorado's share of the stimulus: the state is expected to receive more than $3.5 billion in funding, benefits and services.(PLANET-PROFIT REPORT)
June 1, 2009... President Obama signed the stimulus bill in February at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, returning to the state where he accepted the Democratic nomination for president. That Obama has borrowed the "New Energy Economy" phrase first...

Goodwill Industries of Denver.(sustainability SPOTLIGHT)(Goodwill Industries International Inc.)
June 1, 2009... SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES Most people recognize Goodwill Industries of Denver by the nonprofit's 18 retail stores selling secondhand goods, but that arm of the organization only serves the greater mission of helping members of the community...

Colorado's public companies reflect, defy recession's ill effects.
June 1, 2009... Publicly traded companies based in Colorado showed the effects of the recession in 2008, with moves out of state, mergers and bankruptcies combining to push 15 companies off this year's Top 100 Public Companies ranking. [ILLUSTRATION...

Redemption for Wile E. coyote.(SMALL biz)(Column)
June 1, 2009... Early last month a co-worker and I watched with fascination from my third-floor office window as a coyote ambled across our business park in the middle of the Denver Tech Center. Stopping at the edge of Greenwood Plaza Boulevard, the coyote...

Company: Advanced Regenerative Therapies.([small biz] TECH-STARTUP)
June 1, 2009... INITIAL LIGHT BULB: The genesis of Advanced Regenerative Therapies came when Colorado State University experts cross-pollinated their expertise in tissue regeneration and equine orthopedics. Dr. John Kisiday, who specializes in the former,...

Boure bicycle clothing.(COLOREADO COOL STUFF)(Boure Sportswear Inc.)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Drew Bourey started Boure in Tucson in 1988 after a two-week crash course from a friend. Bourey, who was racing bikes at the time, moved his fledgling manufacturer to Durango a year later and partnered with Ned Overend to make jerseys, shorts,...

Char Bloom fishing vests.(COLOREADO COOL STUFF)(Company overview)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... After she got into fly-fishing in the mid-1990s, Char Bloom found that the gear wasn't designed with a woman in mind. "They lacked color and style," she recalls. "Since I was living in mine, I also found they lacked organization." ...

Down River Equipment boats and frames.(COLOREADO COOL STUFF)(Company overview)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Founded in the late 1980s, Down River started as "two guys just making frames" for whitewater rafts, says Zach Svoboda, the company's store manager. New owners Mike and Christine Prosser bought the outfit in 2000 and the growth curve got...

Optic Nerve Eyeque.(COLOREADO COOL STUFF)(Company overview)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... The company behind the $50 pair of technical sunglasses, Optic Nerve was founded in the early 1980s. In the late 2000s, its catalog keeps on growing. After debuting a line of ski goggles in January, the company is expanding its biking eyewear...

Draw play.(SPORTS biz)
June 1, 2009... When the Denver Broncos played for the first time in 1960, players took the field in uniforms that were (with apologies to Pat Bowlen) predominantly mustard. The Broncos, one of eight ragamuffin teams in the newly formed American Football...

Be wary of cheap.(RUNDLES wrap-up)(economic conditions)(Column)
June 1, 2009... When I was in college at the University of Denver in the 1970s, my friends and I liked to enjoy a few beers. Then a few more. And a few more after that. But, being the college students we were, and on budgets and all, we had a "quantity versus...