Colorado Springs Business Journal (CO) articles from April 2003

Colorado Springs Business Journal (CO) archives from April 2003

Iraq's disarmament will boost economy.
April 4, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell When Iraq is rendered harmless and the artificially high cost of oil is reduced, the United States will enjoy an economic blip, said David Malpass, chief global economist for Bear, Stearns & Company, Inc. ...

Corporate chaos battles business ownership.
April 4, 2003... Byline: Marylou Doehrman Corporate downsizing among high-tech companies has created a barrage of unemployed creative directors, Web designers, computer technicians and Internet gurus. Some have made lemonade out of lemons and capitalized...

New computer chips aim to automate logistics tasks.
April 4, 2003... Byline: Eric Grimm If you're a retailer, how would you like to know when one of your big-spender customers is in the store so staff would be sure to treat her right? Or if you're running a warehouse, how would you like to take inventory by...

Brothers from Colo. Springs find success selling hats, novelty items.
April 4, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell They're a little Elton, a little Elvis, part Dr. Seuss, and a whole lot of successful. The brothers Johnson, Kevin and Keith, are the driving force behind the wild and wacky world of hats, sunglasses and novelties...

SBA lending pro supports local small business growth.
April 4, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley Dan Rundgren ought to run for mayor. He would certainly win the popular vote among small-business owners and commercial brokers. Wachovia's leading El Paso County SBA lending expert (and a nine-time member of the...

President Bush proposes new focus for Head Start.
April 4, 2003... Byline: Marylou Doehrman The Head Start program has been intercepting low-income pre-school children since its inception in 1965. The program serves approximately 1000 three- and four-year-olds in El Paso County, yet 75 percent of children...

Colorado Springs Real Estate Briefs April 4, 2003.
April 4, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley Seventy commercial brokers and industry representatives who stayed home during spring break attended the rescheduled March 26 RCIS meeting, hosted by America 2000 at the Polo Center on North Academy. In addition to...

Digital revolution excites prospects for local studio.
April 4, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley Hollywood actors and recording artists know Pan Digital Media. So do opera stars, Shakespearean actors, jingle writers, gravelly-voiced truck drivers, musical composers, cheerleaders and high-powered ad agencies. Even...

Online education could be Internet's biggest growth area.
April 11, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell For high school seniors, the four-year college experience is a cherry they can't wait to pluck. They are finally out of the eyes of parents, and anonymous in crowds of peers, the young adults purportedly get...

War with Iraq impacting Pikes Peak region's 2003 financial picture.
April 11, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley In January 2003, the Institute of Real Estate Management sponsored its annual downtown Economic Forecast Breakfast. Since war was declared in mid-March, some of those forecasts are being revised. Sales Tax...

The real skinny on the network marketing scene.
April 11, 2003... Byline: Marylou Doehrman Many people have reaped huge financial rewards with multi-level or network marketing companies like Amway, NuSkin and Shaklee. Network marketing is an $80 billion business worldwide. More people, more products --...

Progressive Insurance's new complex indicates better economic times for city.
April 11, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley It was a banner day for the city's economic development community. On April 2, 2004, Progressive Insurance broke ground on a consolidated sales and customer service call center that will double its current square...

Building a thriving business, one computer at a time.(Glenn Hobbs, owner of a Computer Moms technical support, training and mentoring business)
April 11, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley Glenn Hobbs, owner of a Computer Moms technical support, training and mentoring business, excels at technology, but he is also a skilled business builder. Certainly his twenty-year career with Hewlett Packard in...

'Intelligent Transportation Plan' supposed to ease city's traffic woes.
April 11, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell London (or Arizona) has nothing on Colorado Springs. The Cimarron Street bridge is falling down. And if it falls down people won't be able to drive on it, said city transportation planner Craig Blewitt. ...

Space symposium draws big, attendees overjoyed.
April 11, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell Professional euphoria could describe the mood at the nation's premier space conference in Colorado Springs this week. The U.S. owns Baghdad, Saddam may be gone, and many of the collective group of space, military...

New head of Colorado College brings different perspective to academia.(Richard Celeste)
April 11, 2003... Byline: Marylou Doehrman The leading man at Colorado College, President Richard Celeste, brings a different perspective to the world of academia. The former governor -- twice elected -- of Ohio, ambassador to India and business owner once...

Downtown florist has conquered many arrangements.
April 11, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell Sherry Brand and her high school friends lived for the St. Louis nightlife. They danced the night away as the thumping speakers blasted out songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Locomotive Breath." She loved...

Area construction activity ends the quarter with a smile.
April 11, 2003... Byline: Eric Grimm Pikes Peak region construction activity took an upturn in March with higher valuations and more building permits. The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department reported more than $79.9 million worth of building permits...

Subcontractors support bill opposing 'bid shopping'.(Brief Article)
April 11, 2003... Byline: Eric Grimm The American Subcontractors Association-Colorado is supporting national legislation against "bid shopping" on federal construction projects. Rep. Paul Kankorski, D-Penn., is seeking prohibitions against the practice...

Carter & Burgess testing lab makes Colorado Springs home.
April 11, 2003... Byline: Eric Grimm The Woodmen Road bridge and interchange project brought Carter & Burgess staffers to Colorado Springs, but the national company decided to establish permanent presence with its new materials testing lab that recently...

Colorado senate committee takes wind out of energy bill.
April 18, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell As the 11th windiest state, there is a lot of interest in wind-generated electricity in Colorado. But not quite enough for the Senate Committee on Appropriations, which last Friday voted 6-4 to table a bill...

Guiding corporate, nonprofit accounting management.
April 18, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley For some clients, bigger is better -- especially when it comes to full-service accounting support. A company like BKD, LLP, for example, is the eighth largest regional accounting firm with 26 offices throughout the...

Brewing beer and an ideal business model.
April 18, 2003... Byline: Marylou Doehrman Say the words "fat tire" in Colorado, and almost everyone thinks of beer -- not mountain bikes. New Belgium Brewing Company (NBB) owner and co-founder Jeff Lebesch named his most famous brew, Fat Tire, after a...

Despite war, loss of shuttle, Space Symposium draws big.
April 18, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell The 19th annual National Space Conference last week in Colorado Springs was its biggest ever, said Elliot G. Pulham, president and chief executive officer of the Space Foundation, host of the event. "By all...

Company updates in today's challenging economic climate.(Interview)
April 18, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley In an effort to follow the progress of emerging companies in the Pikes Peak region, here's a brief update on where two businesses stand in today's challenging economic world. Company: Sign Masters Owners:...

Colo. Springs firm offers free family voicemail to overseas troops.
April 18, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell Mail call is a military ritual -- nothing is more important to a troop than news from home. However, for troops in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and elsewhere afar, regular mail takes a long time to reach its destination....

Colo. Springs Real Estate Briefs April 18, 2003.
April 18, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley Commercial and residential real estate depend, to a large degree, on the overall health of the U.S. economy. Two key economic reports out last week could be of special interest to the local brokerage community. While...

Colorado may not be affected by Supreme Court ruling on HMOs.
April 18, 2003... Byline: Marylou Doehrman Colorado probably won't be affected by a new Supreme Court ruling that allows individual states to force health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to open up their doctor networks, said Jerry McElroy, director of...

New Colo. Springs mayor has hope for city, airport.(Lionel Rivera)(Biography)
April 25, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell Haircuts at a half-buck each made it worthwhile for the Army sergeant to take his six sons over to Juarez for haircuts, the same for sodas, which were always cheaper there than in El Paso. Sometimes they shopped the...

Mental health issues affect the bottom line.(employees)
April 25, 2003... Byline: Marylou Doehrman When issues like alcoholism, divorce, financial constraints, the loss of a loved one, etc. affect an employee, the employer is equally affected. Absenteeism, decreased production, on-the-job injuries, poor...

Furniture gallery owner prepares for expansion.(Chris Washko, La-Z-Boy)
April 25, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley Indelible stereotypes and brands exist in many industries, but few can top La-Z-Boy for name awareness. Third in the most-recognized category, after Tupperware and Kleenex, the recliner conjures up images of brown...

Five hundred women in business attend ATHENA awards.
April 25, 2003... Byline: Marylou Doehrman Dr. Pam Shockley-Zalabak, chancellor of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, told 500 luncheon attendees she was surprised to be nominated, and conveyed that her staff scheduled the luncheon under the...

Colo. Springs travel agencies party to airline lawsuit.(commission elimination conspiracy case)
April 25, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell Local travel agencies are among those from 14 states and Puerto Rico suing major airlines, citing a conspiracy to reduce or eliminate commissions paid on ticket sales. The suit was filed in federal court in San...

The Catamount Institute fosters a sustainable future.
April 25, 2003... Byline: Marylou Doehrman Take a microscopic look at Garden of the Gods through the eyes of a scientist, and one observes how a diverse biological system intertwines. From the soil and the plants to the deer and the coyotes, the habitat and...

Water wasters beware, new ordinance has no tolerance.
April 25, 2003... Byline: Lance Gurwell Those who ignore the city's newly enacted water restrictions for 2003 could find themselves warned, fined, shut off and generally shunned. The new ordinance is now in effect, and differs little from a year ago,...

Colorado Springs Real Estate Briefs April 25, 2003.
April 25, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley In the category of food for thought, here's what the experts say about our economy. "Still, there are hopeful signs that things may improve somewhat as war uncertainty recedes. At Trammell Crow, the commercial...

Business support of arts recognized.(24th Annual Arts/Business/Education Consortium Awards Luncheon)
April 25, 2003... Byline: Becky Hurley General Motors participates; so does IBM. Microsoft and American Express do, too. Underwriting and corporate support for the arts continues to attract major donors, though a volatile stock market and wartime...