ColoradoBiz articles from October 2008

ColoradoBiz archives from October 2008

Xcel chief touts solar and wind but a long future with coal.(COTE'S colorado)
October 1, 2008... Compact fluorescents in every socket won't add up to much if your power company isn't reducing its reliance on carbon fuels. Xcel Energy recently received permission from Colorado regulators to phase out two coal-fired plants in Grand...

Obama vs. McCain: for me ... not an easy call.(on MANAGEMENT)(Barack Obama vs. John McCain)
October 1, 2008... It is not hard for me to believe this is going to be a very close presidential race because it is a close race in my own mind for my one vote. A couple of issues to illustrate the point: On the one hand I can't escape my conservative...

Social entrepreneurs find money.(Column)
October 1, 2008... What gets you up in the morning to go to work? Obviously, making money is one motivator. And if you're like many people you are also looking for meaning in your work--"daily meaning and daily bread," as Studs Terkel put it 30 years ago. Money...

The economy and 35 years of innovation.(the ECONOMIST)
October 1, 2008... When ColoradoBiz Editor Mike Cote told me this issue would focus on 35 years of innovation in the state, it started me thinking about how the economic base--jobs and sources of income--has changed. Thirty-five years ago I was auditing my...

Fired up about 'global warming kooks'.(READERS respond)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... Congratulations to ColoradoBiz for finally showing some fairness and common sense on the so-called climate change crisis ("We are not in climate crisis," William Gray, September.) Although highly skeptical, I do not know for certain if man-made...

Another shade of 'Gray'.(READERS)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... I typically read at least one story in ColoradoBiz each month because the majority are thinly disguised Republican propaganda. But your new issue's trumpeting of crank global warming denier William Gray's views is the last straw. ...

Cigna health care chief touts wellness.(On ColoradoBiz TV)(CIGNA HealthCare of Colorado)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... Daryl Edmonds, general manager and president of Cigna HealthCare of Colorado, oversees a health-care plan that serves 500,000 people statewide. The following Q&A was adapted from a recent video interview with Edmonds available at cobizmag.com....

Barack Obama.(PRESIDENT)
October 1, 2008... We endorsed George W. Bush four years ago, calling for a fresh economic agenda in light of ominous signs on the horizon. We asked George Bush for economic leadership. Today, we're contemplating the wreckage of the U.S. housing market and...

2008 ballot issues impacting business.(COLORADOBIZ SPEAKS)
October 1, 2008... REFERENDUM 0: YES This measure would make it harder for citizens to place constitutional amendments on the ballot for voter approval but easier to call a vote on state statutes. As we've seen from consequences of the Taxpayer Bill of...

Bob Schaffer.(U.S. SENATE)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Examining the U.S. Senate race solely through the lens of business, we view Republican Bob Schaffer as a candidate better equipped to encourage economic growth, lure large employers to the state and create jobs than his Democratic counterpart,...

Innovative financing produces state-of-the-art crime lab.(DEVELOPMENT)(Colorado Bureau of Investigation)
October 1, 2008... If you do the crime in Western Colorado, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's new regional facility in Grand Junction might help make sure you do the time. The CBI's new 38,900-square-foot facility contains some of the most...

By the numbers.(local tax burden in Colorado )(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... 10.4% The average state/local tax burden in Colorado as a percentage of income, the 30th most onerous in the U.S. 31.8% Average total tax burden in Colorado as a percentage of income, the 23rd most onerous in the U.S. 31,400...

Ending the dysfunction.(HEALTH CARE)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Health care needs to become a top priority for the nation's next president, a panel of high-profile business leaders and politicos told a Denver audience in August. The Rocky Mountain Roundtable--a series of 10 talks on big-picture issues...

Palin flies solo in Colorado.(ELECTION 2008)(Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has acquired Merrill Lynch & Company Inc.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... On a day dubbed "Black Monday"--the 158-year history of Lehman Brothers abruptly came to a close; Merrill Lynch, the world's largest retail brokerage, was acquired for $50 billion; and the Dow dropped more than 500 points--Republican vice...

Is green the new gold?(ENERGY)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... The U.S. is falling behind other countries like Germany and Denmark in capitalizing on a renewable energy economy. That's what a panel of business executives, high-profile politicos and senior activists told a crowd of about 200 people at a...

Energy independence: realistic goal or pipe dream?(ENERGY)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... Barack Obama and John McCain have both espoused the goal of achieving energy independence for the United States, hoping to sway voters tired of $4-a-gallon gas and worried about the country's economic security Good luck with that, Stephen...

Shades of gray: Colorado's commercial real estate market is fighting the credit crunch like everywhere else, but some hot spots remain.(Q4 REAL ESTATE report)
October 1, 2008... Real estate, like life itself, just isn't fair. It isn't the fault of the commercial real estate market that so many home buyers signed up with so many slick mortgage brokers for so many subprime mortgages they must have known were a long...

Total properties sold 2007 vs. ytd Aug. 2008.(COLORADOBIZ REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP)(Statistical table)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... 2007 2008 J -15.6% 3,540 2,987 F -2.9% 3,090 3,001 M -13.2% 4,274 3,709 A -3.0% 4,399 4,265 M -8.2% 5,081 4,664 J -5.5% 5,129 4,845 J 2.9% 4,980 5,123 A -9.3% 5,010 4,542 S ...

Average sales price 2007 vs. ytd Aug. 2008.(COLORADOBIZ REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP)
October 1, 2008... 2007 2008 J -3.6% $266 $257 F -3.7% $265 $255 M -7.8% $275 $254 A -15.5% $293 $248 M -11.4% $289 $256 J -12.2% $304 $267 J -9.4% $289 $262 A -- $298 $261 S $279 O ...

Single-family units sold July 2007 vs. 2008.(COLORADOBIZ REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP)(Statistical table)
October 1, 2008... 2007 2008 PERCENT UNITS UNITS CHANGE SOLD SOLD Metro District 3,973 4,215 [up arrow] 6.1% Glenwood Spring N/A N/A N/A Grand...

Mark and Annie Danielson; Trinidad couple's ventures helped fulfill vision of downtown.(EXECUTIVE edge)
October 1, 2008... When Mark and Annie Danielson returned to Trinidad in 1990, the mine was closing and 40 percent of the people were on some kind of government assistance. Trinidad was a virtual ghost town. Annie's father, a local pastor, spoke passionately...

Business in the fast lane: 35 years of innovation, entrepreneurs and eureka moments in Colorado.(35 YEARS OF COLORADOBIZ)
October 1, 2008... The energy crisis. George Steinbrenner buys the Yankees. James Bond hits theaters in "Live and Let Die." Jack Nicklaus becomes first golfer to earn $2 million in a year. Colorado Business magazine debuts. Hey, 1973, meet...

Economies of shale: the possible production of oil from shale near Rifle raises questions about whether Colorado can afford to sacrifice the water needed to develop it.(OIL SHALE)
October 1, 2008... The Colorado River during spring runoff this year ran full-bodied. It had been a snowy winter at the river's headwaters in Aspen, Vail and Summit County, among the best in decades. By late May the Colorado was crowding its banks, spilling onto...

FasTracks to private property: RTD and land owners are battling over eminent domain as the transit project gains momentum.(EMINENT DOMAIN)(Regional Transportation District.)
October 1, 2008... Plastered along the faux-Grecian columns of Denver's Civic Center Park, giant red, white and blue banners fairly scream at the few dozen people gathered on this gray February day to protest the "land grab" of private property by Denver's...

Architect draws up blueprint for baby boomers' backyards.(small biz)
October 1, 2008... Denver home builders have had a rough time of late, with new-home sales plummeting 47 percent the first half of 2008. But longtime Denver architect Michael Kephart had his eye on a bigger trend--the aging baby boom generation--when he launched...

Company Quicksilver Scientific llc.(TECH STARTUP)(Company overview)
October 1, 2008... INITIAL LIGHT BULB While working on his Ph.D. in environmental chemistry at the University of Illinois, Christopher Shade came up with a breakthrough method to analyze samples for mercury contamination. His concept for mercury speciation...

14er knotting tool.(COLORADO COOL STUFF)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... After Darryl Lusk got out of the Air Force in 1989, he worked in a lumberyard and raised the ire of a foreman with his knot-tying skills--or lack thereof. "He said, 'I can't believe you were in the Air Force and never learned how to tie a...

Mor.(COLORADO COOL STUFF)(mor Beverage Corp)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... While working in IT sales in 2005, Matt Anderson "thought something was missing in the beverage marketplace" and struck out on his own to fill the void. The problem: "Even the Vitamin Water and the Naked Juices have 30 to 50 grams of sugar,"...

Grip-N-Strip Pepper Prep'er.(COLORADO COOL STUFF)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... "I love peppers, but I hated stripping them" Russ Primavera said. The task involved a lot of work, but the alternative--washing them in water--sapped the flavor. This conundrum led Primavera to invent his own tools for the job: a "gripper...

Treeline designs lamps.(COLORADO COOL STUFF)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... As a college student a decade ago, Nick Lasure built his first lamp out of old bicycle parts. Now the airline pilot and longtime bicyclist has turned the idea into a side business. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] He gets his raw...

In football, we believe.(SPORTS biz)(National Football League)
October 1, 2008... In case you hadn't heard, there's a theme to the 2008 NFL season: "Believe in now." According to a report in Sports Business Journal, the league's director of brand management and integration marketing, Jaime Weston, described the slogan...

Disconnecting.(RUNDLES wrap-up)(Editorial)
October 1, 2008... A week or two back I was in the check-in line at the Frontier Airlines counter in Los Angeles getting ready for my flight home, when a young woman walked up to the counter next to me, all flummoxed because, she said, someone stole her purse....