ColoradoBiz articles from March 2003

ColoradoBiz archives from March 2003

Thinking big about health care. (Rschwab@cobizmag.com).
March 1, 2003... C. DAVID KIKUMoTo, FORMER CEO OF BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF Colorado, left the health insurer in April 2000. He took some time off, then briefly got involved in a health-care equipment distributor. But within a year, he helped start Denver...

The best business decision I ever made. (pwiesner@cobizmag.com).(Pat Wiesner, retired chief executive officer of Wiesner Publishing)
March 1, 2003... Now THAT I'M SORT OF RETIRED, someone asked me the other day what I thought was the best business decision I ever made, Tough question. Fortunately for me, the best decision I've ever made wasn't the result of some excruciatingly difficult...

Spreading the wealth: Ranya Kelly finds home for surplus goods. (Attitude at Altitude).(The Redistribution Center)
March 1, 2003... THE ONLY THING RANYA KELLY WAS LOOKING FOR when she climbed into a dumpster 17 years ago was an empty carboard box. What she found instead changed her life. "Shoes," the Wheat Ridge housewife says, shaking her head in disbelief as she...

Springs' airport director steps down. (Playmakers).(Gary Green of Colorado Springs Airport)
March 1, 2003... * GARY GREEN, director of aviation at Colorado Springs Airport, announced his retirement, effective May 31, Green is responsible for projects totaling more than $200 million, including the construction of a new terminal in 1994. The success of...

Interlink launches Global Service Center. (Success Profiles: Special Advertising Section).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Over the last 14 years, Interlink Group has distinguished itself as one of Colorado's most successful private technology services companies. Specialists in technology architecture, deployment and management services, Interlink has...

United's return ticket. (Bankrupt Airline Braced for Future).(United Air Lines)
March 1, 2003... On Dec. 9 United Airlines' parent company UAL Corp. turned the page on a history more than 75 years in the making. Unfortunately, the page began at Chapter 11. [paragraph] Shaken by labor disputes, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and innovative...

Art, tax politics and a sales: galleries depend on community's passion.(Denver, Colorado)
March 1, 2003... THE LIGHTS WERE BRIGHT ON THE SEVEN MAYORAL CANDIDATES' FACES, and extra chairs brought into the theater to accommodate an overflow art-and-politics crowd brought the audience up very close. An Zavaras hunched over the end of one candidate...

Space-age material not an easy sell. (Hightech Coloradobiz).(Outlast Technologies)
March 1, 2003... GEORGE CATTERMOLE, CEO AND president of Boulder-based Outlast Technologies, may be sleeping a little better these days, but his Outlast mattress pad is not the only reason. Time magazine chose the company's bedding for its annual list of...

Tech startup of the month. (High Tech).(References-Online Inc.)
March 1, 2003... REFERENCES-ONLINE INC., DENVER www.references-online.com FOUNDED: JULY 2002 ERIC PETERSON INITIAL LIGHTBULB: Throughout his 17-year sales career, Jim Mooney has found the process of referring existing customers to prospects to...

Pay for online interviews. (E-Buzz).(Specpan)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Think of market research, and the image conjured up is likely one of handpicked consumers sitting around a table discussing a product while researchers watch behind mirrored windows. Or worse, a phone interview fired off at dinner time. ...

Tech school preps for homeland defense. (E-Buzz).(Colorado Technical University)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The U.S. government figures to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into homeland defense and security programs in the coming years, and Colorado Technical University plans to play a part. At a briefing in January, CTU announced a new series...

Free computers. (E-Buzz).(Beaumont Foundation of America)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... It looks like Coloradans might now have a reason to embrace Texas. The Beaumont Foundation of America, headquartered in Jefferson County, Texas, announced on Jan. 16 it is granting $1056 million worth of computers to Colorado schools, community...

Scientists seek breakthrough treatment for infections. (E-Buzz).(Rose Biomedical Development Corp.)(Colorado State University)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... If it works on rats and dogs, it might work on humans. A research project conducted by a Colorado State University veterinarian and two Boulder scientists with Rose Biomedical Development Corp. may lead to new medical technology for reducing...

Owens names chief info officer. (E-Buzz).(Colorado Governor Bill Owens)(Leroy Williams, Colorado's chief information officer)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Gov. Bill Owens named Leroy Williams Colorado's chief information officer, effective Jan 1. Williams previously was Colorado's chief information officer for the Department of Personnel and Administration. In his new role, Williams will report...

Passing grades: tech schools sell well during downturn.
March 1, 2003... THE PROMISE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO: attend technical school for a few weeks, earn a Cisco or Microsoft certification, and get a high-paying job at a dot-com with Foosball tables, massages, and free dry cleaning. The promise now: attend...

Golden opportunities: Denver still a mining town.(Denver, Colorado)
March 1, 2003... IN 1858, SMALL GOLD DEPOSITS were discovered near the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek, turning all eyes toward Colorado and setting off a gold rush stirred by the slogan, "Pikes Peak or Bust!" While actual gold mining...

Overlooked firms put stock in Genesis. (Money Matters).(Genesis Select)
March 1, 2003... BUDD ZUCKERMAN SPENT 21 YEARS AS AN INSTITUTIONAL SALESMAN, selling Small-cap stocks to major mutual-fund managers and pension-fund managers around the country. It was time well spent. In those two decades he built a mile-long database of...

Bison Sportlights. (Cool Colorado Stuff).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... In 1998, attorney Steve Halasz teamed with his engineer brother Chris to make a better flashlight. The typical transition from spotlight to floodlight results in a familiar "ring surrounded by an empty area," said Steve. Not with the Halasz's...

Klackers. (Cool Colorado Stuff).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... In 1988 in Vail, then-bartender Mike Lynagh began playing an old dice game (which apparently has roots in 17th century France) with his customers. On a wooden board with tiles numbered from one to nine, players take turns rolling and taking...

Joe Grooming. (Cool Colorado Stuff).(Joe Products Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... After ownership changed for the second time in five years at Denver-based American Crew, the company's top minds decided it was time for a new men's hair-care venture. The result: Joe Grooming, launched in February 2002. "We found there were...

Wishbone utensil. (Cool Colorado Stuff).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Engineer-inventor-journalist Rory F. Krieger sat down for a meal in 1996 and came away with an idea for a new product. "We were in Vegas for the Super Bowl at Benihana," he said of the meal. "The waitress walked away with my spork. All I had...

Frank J. Puzio: restoring trust in public accounting. (Executive Edge).
March 1, 2003... NEVER IN HIS 32 YEARS IN PUBLIC ACCOUNTING HAS FRANK J. PUZIO faced the kinds of world changing challenges that he has in the past four years. In 1999, the managing partner of PrideWaterhouseCoopers LLP in Denver helped captain the merger...

Rainy-day mayor. (jrundles@cobizmag.com).(Denver, Colorado)
March 1, 2003... WITH THIS COLUMN I AM FORMALLY ANNOUNCING MY CANDIDACY FOR MAYOR of Denver. I figure, why not? Everybody else is running. I am eight days younger than John Hickenlooper, better looking than An Zavaras (who isn't?), have never been a member...