ColoradoBiz articles from March 2008

ColoradoBiz archives from March 2008

Ritter talks up his econ plan and renewable energy in a coal and oil world.(COTE'S colorado)(Interview)
March 1, 2008... We recently sat down with Gov. Bill Ritter at the Capitol to ask him about his legislative and economic priorities. The following Q & A was culled from our videotaped interview, which can be viewed at cobizmag.com in three installments. ...

Outlasting hard times: before long we won't have to be thinking like this.(on MANAGEMENT)
March 1, 2008... If your business is anything like ours at WiesnerMedia, your whole organization gets a lot of energy and enthusiasm from the sales team. They come back with war stories of how they finally edged out the competition and tall tales of how our...

Most Powerful People list could use more women.(READERS respond)
March 1, 2008... I enjoyed the article on the 25 Most Powerful People (January). I must tell you however, I was sorry to see the same type of "people" (very white, guy-heavy) that we often see on these lists; "people" involved in the very traditional industries...

Mega-mansions could make fine group homes for patients.(READERS respond)
March 1, 2008... I just wanted to let you (columnist Jeff Rundles) know it is nice to know I am in good company, as I have agreed with a lot of what you say in your articles. They seem to be so much more about common sense than politics or personal...

How will you know a recession when you see it?(the ECONOMIST)
March 1, 2008... "What can the government do to prevent the depression?" my left-wing friend Carol e-mailed me. "Not a depression," I e-mailed back, "Just a recession." "What's the difference?" she wrote. "The dictionary is no help." Webster's...

Colorado's new energy economy is rising with the wind.(GUEST column)
March 1, 2008... Coloradans are committed to harnessing wind energy as part of a larger goal of generating and using more renewable energy, and the new energy economy is paying dividends to consumers and landowners throughout the state. Colorado picked up...

Panel recommends insurance requirement for residents.(HEALTH CARE)
March 1, 2008... A state commission says improving Colorado's healthcare system should include a requirement that all legal residents have a minimum level of insurance. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Such a mandate, part of the 27-member panel's $1.23 billion...

Richard Karlgaard.(ON THE RECORD)
March 1, 2008... "One entrepreneur can do more to change the confidence and character of a community than about anything." --Forbes Publisher Richard Karlgaard during an economic talk to the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce in January

37.5%.(BY THE NUMBERS)
March 1, 2008... 37.5% The percentage of uninsured Coloradans who work for companies that do not offer health-care coverage to their employees.

$1.25 billion.(BY THE NUMBERS)
March 1, 2008... $1.25 billion How much will be spent on Colorado's uninsured in 2007-08 for their health-care needs.

11%.(BY THE NUMBERS)
March 1, 2008... 11% The percentage of uninsured workers and dependents who are eligible for health-care coverage offered by their employers but do not take it.

82,000.(BY THE NUMBERS)
March 1, 2008... 82,000 The combined attendance expected in downtown Denver this summer for the annual gathering of American Mensa members (July 2-6), the Fire Chiefs International Convention (Aug. 14-16) and the Democratic National Convention (Aug....

88%.(BY THE NUMBERS)
March 1, 2008... 88% Percentage of Colorado small-business owners polled who were opposed to allowing state employees to collectively bargain for pay and benefits. The National Federation of Independent Business solicited poll responses before Gov. Bill...

122%.(BY THE NUMBERS)
March 1, 2008... 122% Household growth in Brighton since 2000. The city was ranked No. 2 by the Gadberry Group as one of the seven most notable high-growth communities in the U.S. In 2007, the number of households in the city grew by 13 percent, and...

Wray plugs into wind power.(ENERGY)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The Colorado town of Wray, near the Nebraska-Kansas border, planned a ceremony Feb. 15 with Gov. Bill Ritter on hand to celebrate the completion of a 335-foot wind turbine. Propelled by winds that average about 18 miles per hour, the turbine is...

Tax on carbon emissions would raise funds for renewable projects, energy audits.(ENVIRONMENT)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... An activist group aims to raise $180 million a year in Colorado for renewable-energy and energy-efficiency projects by charging homeowners and businesses a fee on carbon dioxide emissions. Clean Energy Progress wants to put a proposal...

Can't keep love out of the office.(WORKPLACE)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Even before they first kissed, Nikki Alexander and Marc Harpster had "the talk" about how they would handle it if their office romance didn't work out. "We had a lot of respect for each other, and we agreed we would continue to treat each...

Tommy Spaulding: up with people CEO helped revive the nonprofit's global brand.(EXECUTIVE edge)(Up with People)
March 1, 2008... Tommy Spaulding still bristles when he thinks about his high school counselor in Suffren, N.Y., who advised him to forget about college and head to trade school. The son of two school teachers, Spaulding was dyslexic, in the bottom 5...

'Fair' to the last bean: in the fair-trade coffee market, small Colorado roasters refine the movement--and their customers--on their own terms.(PLANET PROFIT REPORT)
March 1, 2008... Tucked deep in a nondescript Boulder office park, Conscious Coffees looks like your average shop for roasting beans. A sizeable 16-foot bean roaster dominates the company's main warehouse room, while large burlap bags of unprocessed coffee...

Coal under fire: Colorado's No. 2 electric provider, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, faces pressure to reassess its reliance on coal--now 76 percent of total output.(PLANET PROFIT REPORT)
March 1, 2008... Last fall, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association had to face an inconvenient truth: Its proposed coal-fired power plant was sacrificed in the name of environmentalism. The directors of Colorado's second largest electrical...

16th Annual Colorado Ethics in Business Alliance Awards: good business practices include community service.(PLANET PROFIT REPORT)(IMA FINANCIAL GROUP)(INSUREME)
March 1, 2008... Bring up ethics in a conversation about business, and it might stop at making the right decision, doing the "right thing." But as the four winners of the 16th annual Colorado Ethics in Business Alliance Awards exemplify, practicing good ethics...

A lost art: amid student-achievement pressure, Colorado falls to 47th in arts-education funding.
March 1, 2008... Grinning and kicking as he plays air guitar, 11-year-old O'Brien Ramirez looks like he's having a heck of a time. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Onstage with about 30 other students, Ramirez is rehearsing a scene in "A Cloudy Situation," a...

A mile high is a sweet spot for REITs: real estate investment trusts like to call Denver home.(Q1 REAL ESTATE REPORT)
March 1, 2008... The Denver metropolitan area is the real estate investment trust capital of the world. More than that, it is a worldwide real estate center. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] True? "People now don't realize it--it sneaks up on you--but we...

Radio show is its own startup story.(SMALL biz)
March 1, 2008... Rob McNealy is a former tech programmer and project manager who went back to school for an MBA after being laid off three times in 12 months at the turn of the millennium. Yet even when he was a working stiff in corporate America, McNealy...

Company Inviragen Inc.(TECH STARTUP)
March 1, 2008... INITIAL LIGHT BULB: After working together researching vaccines for companion animals at Heska Corp. in the 1990s, Drs. Dan Stinchcomb and Jorge Osorio reconnected in 2005, founding Inviragen, a startup aiming to commercialize vaccines for...

Earth imagery jewelry.(COLORADO COOL STUFF)
March 1, 2008... Among other things, Leav Bolender has worked as a wilderness guide, social worker and middle-school teacher. She took an early retirement from teaching in June 2006 to focus on her true love: jewelry-making. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Espo's Gelato.(COLORADO COOL STUFF)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... "In 2000, I was in Manhattan doing financial work, completely bored," said Jennifer Esposito, president and chef behind Espo's Gelato. "I would cook at night, and I couldn't find gelato." So she started making her own, moving to Denver and...

"Piaget" beer gauge.(COLORADO COOL STUFF)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... When it comes to beer, Chris Holloway likes to get his money's worth. "Because of the taper in a pint glass, it's easy to under-pour," said Holloway, a scientist at a federal lab in Boulder. "The majority of bars give you 15 to 10 percent less...

Extenex.(COLORADO COOL STUFF)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... "This is not a shoelace," says Mike Gonzales, inventor of the Xtenex. "This is a fastening system that will literally wrap your shoe around your specific foot profile." Gonzales came up with the Xtenex, an abbreviation for "indexed tensioning...

Suite surrender.(SPORTS biz)
March 1, 2008... The seats are great, the drinks flow freely, and somewhere down below there's a good game going on. For mixing business and pleasure, sports-arena luxury suites have been a go-to play for years--and a source of riches for team owners who...

The sham of the legislative process.(RUNDLES wrap-up)(Editorial)
March 1, 2008... I have made it well known over the years how much contempt I have for the Colorado General Assembly, aka the state Legislature. This isn't about being anti-Republican or anti-Democrat; I'm just anti-ineptitude, and it's been on display down...