ColoradoBiz articles from September 2007

ColoradoBiz archives from September 2007

Hot fun in the summertime and beyond.
September 1, 2007... This month, staffers from ColoradoBiz and our sister publications at WiesnerMedia will trek to Coors Field and watch the Rockies take on the Dodgers. That the Rockies and their status as a business enterprise grace the cover of the magazine...

Trust: the one vital ingredient.
September 1, 2007... I recently bought a car. It's always difficult for me. I'd rather take a beating than walk into a car dealership. Here's how it started: Janet and I got married in 1960, and I brought an old 1953 Plymouth into the marriage. It wasn't too...

2007 Top Company finalists.
September 1, 2007... It's all about excellence. Excellence in financial performance. Excellence in business operations. Excellence in community involvement. The 30 companies profiled in the following pages are finalists for the 2007 Top Company...

A grand challenge: inspiring women to embrace IT careers.(National Center for Women & Information Technology)(Column)
September 1, 2007... The TV broadcasts of the Apollo missions in the '60s inspired millions to look toward the stars. But some were more curious about the technology used to get there. The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) launched an...

Customer service on the decline.(READERS RESPOND)
September 1, 2007... Jeff Rundles nailed it again ("Can I get a hotel with that burrito?" July). Our country's rapidly declining corporate customer service is not only apparent when dealing with our airlines; I've experienced it in spades with Macy's, Home Depot...

DIA: at least it beats DFW.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... I travel very frequently too, and have been to all 17 airports. I agree with you about the terrible state of this nation's airports ("We travelers deserve better," Jeff Rundles, August), but do disagree with you about your conclusions regarding...

Executive edge: Joe Martinez; Elitch GM shaped by early amusement.(Elitch Gardens Amusement Park)(Biography)
September 1, 2007... Three decades ago, Joe Martinez interviewed at Astroworld amusement park wearing a suit and tie--determined at age 17 to land a job as a ride operator, to pay for college, to rise above the poverty of his Houston neighborhood, where in a...

Doing a baby's body good: workplaces are making it easier for nursing mothers.
September 1, 2007... For Ninali Sanchez, the ability to continue breast-feeding her baby when she returned to work was a must. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "It was difficult enough for me to return to work after maternity leave--I don't think I could have done...

'Cowboy way' bucks down south: Professional Bull Riders leaves Colorado Springs for Pueblo.(Professional Bull Riders Inc.)
September 1, 2007... Randy Bernard has worked 80- or 90-hour weeks for longer than he can remember. It's July and Bernard, and the rest of the Professional Bull Riders Inc. headquarters staff is packing up to move from Colorado Springs to Pueblo. Everything is...

Luminous electronics recycling.(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... INITIAL LIGHT BULB: Steve Fuelberth was an engineer for UPS in Kansas City, Mo., before getting into the waste industry with BFI in Colorado in 1998. He then bounced around the Southwest, working waste- and recycling-related positions in...

A slice of the sun: Namaste Solar Electric takes employee ownership to the limit.(Namaste Solar Electric Inc.)(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... It's the kind of place where everybody knows your name. And they know what's on your paycheck. Namaste Solar Electric Inc., a Boulder-based company that designs and installs residential and commercial solar Photovoltaic Electric systems...

Rough diamonds: beleaguered owners Charlie and Dick Monfort may try to sell you on their baseball business model, but they're not selling the Colorado Rockies.(Colorado Rockies Baseball Club Ltd.)
September 1, 2007... Charlie and Dick Monfort without a doubt are the most reviled, despised, maligned, smeared and slandered businessmen in the Rocky Mountain region this side of Joe Nacchio. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] That is because the Monfort brothers run...

Fallen forests salvaged: woodworkers' enterprise rises out of beetle-kill devastation.
September 1, 2007... A few miles east of Evergreen, up a winding, narrow canyon cloaked in million-dollar mansions and under the shadow of Mount Evans, a tiny cabin is nestled into the side of a hill. The lot is scarcely bigger than the timber-frame cabin, and...

Top 250 Private Companies: where's the beef? Swift sale leaves CH2M Hill alone at top.(Statistical data)(Company rankings)
September 1, 2007... The most obvious change in this year's Top 250 Private Companies ranking is at the top, where former No. 1 Swift & Co. of Greeley has been supplanted by Englewood-based CH2M Hill, the worldwide engineering giant. But the bottom of the list...

The cult of Cabernet: Silver Oak Cellars soars with single-minded niche.(Silver Oak Wine Cellars)(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... California cult wineries are by definition small and their wines exclusive, expensive and predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon. About a dozen wineries have reached cult status. One of the first, if not the first, cult wineries in the United State...

Old World wines in the new World.(Waters Winery)(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... Among the newest wineries in Washington state is the Waters Winery, which has started earning a reputation in its short life for Old World-style wines. The winery, started in Walla Walla in 2005, was founded by Colorado Springs entrepreneur...

Viva Italia: six from the old country.(Product/service evaluation)
September 1, 2007... SALICE SALENTINO ROSSO RISERVA -- 2001 This blend of two varietals from Puglia, Italy (Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera) is very rustic and has these great notes of dried cherry and wood. In the mouth, this wine lets you know it's there, and...

Shelter's surgical unit hits the road.(Denver Dumb Friends League)
September 1, 2007... This may not be news that dogs want to hear, even if it will make them happier companions in the long run: The Denver Dumb Friends League this month is launching the "Lulu Mobile," a surgical unit on wheels that will travel around the state...

Pixie Mate.(Pixie Mate LLC)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... After working with the Silk soy milk brand at White Wave, T.J. McIntyre and Duane Primozich went on their own and founded Pixie Mate in 2005. "We witnessed the type of success an organic food brand could have," said McIntyre of the company's...

Spike Shooter.(Spike LLC)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The owner of nutritional supplement maker Biotest Labs, Tim Patterson crossed over into the energy drink business late last year. "It was always interesting to me that (energy drinks) were very successful when they didn't taste very good...

Pangea Organics bodycare.(Company overview)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... In 2001, Joshua Onysko started Pangea Organics in a garage when he was just 23 years old. Six years later, CEO Onysko has fostered Pangea into a multimillion-dollar company by making organic soap and skin-care products with a serious commitment...

Museum Store Company reproductions.(MuseumStoreCompany.com)(Website overview)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... If you're in the market for a gift for an art lover, the MuseumStoreCompany.com is your website. Founded by Jon Fetzer, a Web designer in Michigan during "the early days of the Internet," the site was born in 1997 to sell reproductions and...

Kicking it: media startup targets adult co-ed sports.(PlayCoed.com)(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... There are two strategies for blasting a home run in kickball, says Steven Martin, a former auto industry advertising manager who returned to Colorado a few years ago after working in Dallas. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One relies on aim:...

The promise of telecommuting virtually here.
September 1, 2007... Beginning about 20 years ago, I remember hearing a lot about "telecommuting"--modern technology allowing people to eschew the office and work from home or wherever--and it was going to be the next big thing for business. [ILLUSTRATION...