Denver Business Journal articles from April 1995

Denver Business Journal archives from April 1995

Flats losers mull future. (firms who lost the management contract for the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant)
April 7, 1995... Current contracts in jeopardy, too Firms that lost their multibillion-dollar bid to manage Rocky Flats are licking their wounds and trying to set sights on other projects to fill the void. Many of the firms tied to the losing bid are also in...

Theater company takes stage uptown. (Eulipions Inc.)
April 7, 1995... Jo Bunton Keel, the soft-spoken creative spark behind Eulipions Inc., can take in the unremarkable features of the acting troupe's Five Points home with just a glance. But a few miles from the convened grocery store where actors use walk-in...

Billboard shortage a sign of times. (Denver, Colorado area billboards)
April 7, 1995... Prices soar up to 7% as local restrictions reduce signs' supply If metro-area billboard providers were to erect their own sign, it might be a big smiley face. "It's the best year we've ever had," Mark Giordano, vice president and general...

Bread making is on the rise. (includes related article)
April 7, 1995... Any way you slice them, baked goods are cutting edge, entrepreneurial trendsetters Denver never has been much of a bread town. Though thousands of acres of wheat billow in the wind just east, bread here long has paled in comparison to the...

U S West told to pay 'waiters.' (US West Communications Inc.'s offer to people waiting for phone services)
April 7, 1995... Homes on hold for phone service may win vouchers for cell phones Colorado consumers who wait for new phone service may get some relief this spring if a new proposal to provide coupons for cellular phone service is accepted by U S West...

Fitzsimons' future tied to VA plan? (proposed transfer of Colorado's Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center to the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center)
April 7, 1995... Edmee hills may be fighting a losing battle to keep Fitzsimons Army Medical Center open, but she's been successful at marshaling forces to struggle alongside her. Hills, head of a new military-widows organization, is on a self-appointed...

Builders bring LoDo to Golden Triangle. (housing development projects at the Golden Triangle district in Denver, Colorado)
April 7, 1995... Forlorn district attracts loft projects Housing projects in lower downtown have been in the limelight, but two new residential developments on the other side of downtown may signal the beginning of a LoDo-like transformation of a long-neglected...

Retail resurgence heads to Broadway. (South Broadway, Denver, Colorado)
April 7, 1995... Southern strip attracts shoppers A ragtag mix of retailers - from kitschy galleries to porno theaters to blocks and blocks of antique stores - has long dominated South Broadway. That could change, though, because of a resurgence in retail...

Printemps site may get use. (leasing of former Printemps Denver store)
April 7, 1995... A medical laboratory may be the new "in" thing at a former Denver fashion temple. Corning Clinical Laboratories, part of the New York state-based Corning Inc. conglomerate, is giving the old Printemps specialty store on South Broadway the...

Space Imaging lured to Thornton. (Space Imaging Inc. relocation to Thornton, Colorado)
April 7, 1995... City holds out $1.5 million in incentives to company The city of Thornton didn't choke at all when it decided to give Lockheed Corp. a lucrative package of incentives to locate its new satellite company here. The deal, still not final, gives...

New baseball magazine debuts at Coors Field. (Rocky Mountain Baseball)
April 7, 1995... 'Rocky Mountain Baseball' produced by ex-Camden Yards publication exec The opening of Coors Field has spawned a new monthly magazine, "Rocky Mountain Baseball." The 56-page magazine features coverage of the Colorado Rockies, regional minor...

Glut of lawyers in Denver leaves new grads among underemployed. (Denver, Colorado)
April 7, 1995... Mile High City 3rd in nation in jurists per person The yellow pages aren't the only place to look for a lawyer. With Denver's glut of attorneys, office copy rooms or neighborhood bars also might be good places to search. "I keep reminding...

Area office buildings sprout 'for-sale' signs. (Denver, Colorado)
April 7, 1995... Something big's happening in the Denver office market. The planets have aligned, or the market's mojo has kicked in, or the gods are smiling, spurring a flood of office buildings to sprout "for-sale" signs. Just looking at larger structures,...

Amoco readies to spin off Golden's Ecova. (Amoco Corp.; Ecova Corp. in Golden, Colorado)
April 7, 1995... Like a young bird ready to leave the corporate nest, Ecova Corp. is spreading its wings and getting ready to fly off on its own. Amoco Corp. wants to spin off the Golden-based environmental firm as part of a larger restructuring announced last...

Campbell mining bill 'tween rock, hard place. (Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell)
April 7, 1995... Measure's a long shot, but it might win concessions As a Democrat-turned-Republican, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell seems like the right person to find a nonpartisan middle ground. But a bill he introduced last week to reform mining on federal...

Old Elitch's inks developer. (Elitch Gardens amusement park; General Management Co.)
April 14, 1995... Builder specializes in retail centers and supermarkets The old Elitch Gardens has a new employee. The century-old amusement park's owner, the local Gurtler family, recently hired the General Management Co. of Denver, headed by Gerald Biehl, to...

Lowry authority seeks loan. (Lowry Redevelopment Authority)
April 14, 1995... Redevelopment officials want to speed process The lowry Redevelopment Authority wants to borrow $1.5 million to speed up development at the retired Air Force base, but some state officials and neighborhood groups are worried that environmental...

Stock brokerage crafts Re/Max-like network. (D.E. Frey Cos.; RE/MAX International Inc.)
April 14, 1995... D.E. Frey brokers keep 90% of commissions In an industry where most of the old models no longer seem to work, a Denver stock brokerage is crafting a new strategy it believes will set the stage for the next 20 years. Using a model similar to...

Hat parade. (Ella's Elegant Hats)
April 14, 1995... Ella Cowell's Cherry Creek shop tops list for women wearing hats of many colors If Ella Cowell had owned a bigger closet, Ella's Elegant Hats might still be just an idea she kept under her hat. "I ran out of closet space, so I started...

Lakewood woos med center. (Colorado; University of Colorado Health Sciences Center)
April 14, 1995... Municipality identifies three sites for HSC The city of Lakewood has come courting for the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Earlier this month, Lakewood's economic-development office sent the Health Sciences Center a list of...

Denver's headcount lurches. (Colorado; population)
April 14, 1995... Metro area passes Tampa-St. Pete Metro Denver is now the eighth-fastest-growing urban area in the country, gaining more than 200,000 residents in the last five years. With nearly 2.2 million residents, the metro area has passed Tampa-St....

Shhh! More firms rip documents to shreds. (Data Destruction Services Inc.)
April 14, 1995... Data-destruction business enjoys boom Diving into records at tax time can leave a business gasping for space, but more companies are finding value in shredding. Not the shredding cocky teenagers do on the ski slopes, but the kind Oliver...

Is sorbet the next food fad? (The Ice Man Cometh)
April 14, 1995... Rubens banks on it Like many entrepreneurs who fall in love with an idea before they can support it, Michael Rubens is broke right now. His most valuable possessions: his recipes, an $8,000 sorbet machine and a band of customers hooked on his...

Database firm plans to offer service on-line. (Information Handling Services)(DBJ 150)
April 14, 1995... Douglas County's largest private employer, Information Handling Services Groups Inc., serves the defense and health-care industries, and the international information-services company plans to turn its attention to general users and offer its...

Lowry pollution taints Stapleton. (Lowry Air Force Base; Denver Stapleton International Airport)
April 14, 1995... Testing verifies airport hunch Investigators have tracked the mysterious source of a solvent plume bleeding off the northern edge of Lowry Air Force Base. They have also found evidence that the mile-long finger of contaminated groundwater is...

Woodward-Clyde expands its horizons. (Woodward-Clyde Group Inc.)(DBJ 150)
April 14, 1995... Environmental engineering firm plans fourth subsidiary Environmental firms have found the '90s stormy, but Woodward-Clyde Group Inc. has held steady in waters rough enough to shrink and sink competitors. The Denver-based environmental...

Gorsuch Kirgis tacks up shingle in Limon. (Gorsuch, Kirgis, Campbell, Walker and Grover; Colorado)
April 14, 1995... Attorneys will commute to Plains town Gorsuch Kirgis is taking its practice from 17th Street to Main Street, tacking up a shingle in a town better known for its windstorms than its court battles. The Denver-based firm plans to open a branch...

Developer to build new Boulder hotel. (John Cohagen; Colorado)
April 14, 1995... Cohagen plans 142-room project Construction of the first major hotel in central Boulder in several years will likely begin early this fall. Plans for the 142-unit project, now called the Boulder Village Hotel, were approved several years ago...

Coral Systems lands $4.5M financing deal. (Coral Systems Inc.)
April 14, 1995... Software maker targets wireless communications A $4.5 MILLION financing package provided by four venture capital firms may catapult a Longmont firm to the forefront of companies that provide software products to the wireless telecommunication...

Genesee now looks to new housing products. (Genesee Co.)(DBJ 150)
April 14, 1995... The Genesee Co. doesn't just put up houses. The Golden-based home builder creates communities. Before Genesee's graders and other heavy machinery rumble into a new neighborhood, in fact, it lets the existing residents in a five-mile radius...

Cherry Creek mall hits marketing trail. (Denver, Colorado shopping center)
April 14, 1995... Campaign touts 'Center of the West' The Cherry Creek shopping center has hit the marketing trail again, launching a series of new spots in the second year of its "Center of the West" campaign. In another display of work from photographer...

R.A.S. Builders moves with Denver's retail boom. (R.A.S. Builders Inc.; Colorado)(DBJ 150)
April 14, 1995... As Denver hit a business boom, so did Englewood-based R.A.S. Builders Inc. The company entered the retail construction industry in 1979 with urban-renewal projects. R.A.S. moved into retail in centers such as Southwest Plaza and Villa Italia....

Publisher cuts local operations. (Hart Publications; Denver, Colorado)
April 14, 1995... Hart transfers much of its staff to Houston office Hart Publications Inc., an important publisher in the oil-and-gas industry, has reduced the size of its Denver office and shifted most of its editorial and advertising staff to Houston. The...

Family works together, builds business together. (Haselden Construction Inc.)(DBJ 150)
April 14, 1995... Haselden Construction fosters common goal for the company's 155 employees Twenty-five years ago, Jim Haselden set out to build a commercial construction company focused on customer satisfaction, then on fighting for business. The philosophy...

Travel agency expands on personalized services. (International Tours Travel Service)(DBJ 150)
April 14, 1995... The travel-agent business isn't exactly taking off right now, but International Tours Travel Service doesn't plan to let commission cuts ground its expansion plans. The Denver-based agency has nearly doubled in size in the last four years,...

Citicorp site lays off 200; credit-card center loses major client. (Citicorp Retail Services; Mercantile Stores Company Inc.)
April 21, 1995... Dealt a blow by one of its biggest clients, Citibank will close a credit-card service center based in the Cinderella City mall in Englewood this summer, eliminating more than 200 jobs. Citicorp Retail Services Inc., a division of Citibank that...

Celeste's crusades lead to high court. (gay-right activist Mary Celeste)
April 21, 1995... Under the TV lights, Mary Celeste sits twirling an ink pen in her hand, smiling occasionally, especially when she disagrees with what's being said, especially when she's formulating her response. On the table in front of her are white legal...

Credit-counseling exec resigns; mystery surrounds Smith's departure. (Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Great Denver Inc. President and CEO Larry Smith)
April 21, 1995... The man who built Colorado Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Greater Denver left a startling message on employees' computers Maundy Thursday. "Larry Smith has resigned from his position as president and CEO and a member of the board of...

Business is on a roll; booming downtown ushering in new entrepreneurial era for push-cart vendors.
April 21, 1995... Todd Ross reserved his spot on the southeast corner of Blake and 19th streets almost a year and a half ago, hoping to capitalize on strolling baseball fans. "When I first heard the stadium was opening, I immediately thought of hot dogs," Ross...

City seeks Air Train aid; private sources needed to fund sidetracked line. (Denver, Colorado)
April 21, 1995... Denver wants a public-private partnership to get the stalled Air Train linking the new airport and downtown rolling. "We are encouraging any private entities to get together, to put together some kind of proposal," said Terry Rosapep, Denver's...

'Phoneless' exec sues U S West over losses: claims broken vows cost firm $900,000. (Barry Diamond of UHF Power Inc.; U S West Inc.)
April 21, 1995... A small-business man whose company 's revenues were cut in half during a two-month period in 1994 when he had to go without a phone is suing U S West in Boulder District Court. If Barry Diamond, president of UHF Power Inc., convinces Boulder...

Minority group eyes campaign; plans would 'save' affirmative action.
April 21, 1995... Women and minority business owners - frustrated with the amount of bad publicity government-contracting programs are receiving - are mobilizing a pro-affirmative-action movement in Denver. Next week, the group, spearheaded by Denver's Minority...

Firms horn in on Earth Day. (celebration in Denver, Colorado)
April 21, 1995... As earth day turns silver this Saturday, going green has never been cooler, leaving local environmental leaders both excited and worried. Denver's Earth Day celebration at Larimer Square Saturday will brag 55 booths, three stages, and an...

PUC leaves door open on Aspen Limo fines; company faces $400 a day in penalties. (Colorado Public Utilities Commission; Aspen Limousine Service)
April 21, 1995... A power struggle between its board of directors and president almost threw Aspen Limousine Service down a steep mountain ravine last week. But after ejecting president David Knicely, the company's board has regained control and is trying to...

Aurora travel agency to add 345 employees; CUC Travel prospers as others struggle. (Aurora, Colorado; CUC Travel Services Inc.)
April 21, 1995... CUC Travel Services Inc., a fast-growing Aurora company, will add several hundred employees in the coming months. The national travel agency is prospering at a time when many other travel agencies are struggling. CUC plans to add 150 travel...

National TV spots tout Colo. firm's body wash.; Thomas & Perkins' biggest obstacle: showing too much skin in scenes. (Neoteric Cosmetics Inc.)
April 21, 1995... Thomas & Perkins hopes to work up a lather among consumers across the nation for a recently introduced body wash. Two 30-second television spots to be aired on network and cable channels will launch Neoteric Cosmetic's new line of Alpha Hydrox...

Inner-city workers get rides to suburban jobs; federal program transports poor to where jobs are.
April 21, 1995... Employers in Denver's booming southern suburbs are having a hard time filling entry-level positions. At the same time, residents of inner-city Denver neighborhoods find it difficult to get anything but dead-end jobs. Is this an opportunity for...

Cushman boss leaving, search on for successor. (Steve Miller, branch manager at Cushman and Wakefield of Colorado Inc.)
April 21, 1995... Local branch's manager talks to company about staying on as real estate broker One of Denver's largest commercial real estate brokerages will crown a new chief this summer. Steve Miller, branch manager at Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado...

New bank targets Asians.
April 28, 1995... Premier Bank gets nod for July start Colorado's newest bank talks not only in dollars and cents, but in yen, won and yuan. Premier Bank won unanimous approval from the Colorado State Banking Board April 20, making it the state's first and...

Industry cozies up to medical research.
April 28, 1995... Money and medicine intersect at the busy corner of Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. There, on the sprawling 47 acres the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center calls home, corporations are plugging holes left by missing federal...

Public Service, union wary of talks. (Public Service Company of Colorado; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers)
April 28, 1995... Nearly 50 years of comparative peace at the bargaining table may end this fall when Public Service Company of Colorado and its union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, sit down to hammer out a new contract. In past...

New Stapleton plan pitched. (Denver, Colorado)
April 28, 1995... City's plan not best alternative, detractor warns Edmund Merrill has big dreams for Stapleton and enough disappointment with the plan now in place to draft his own. "We have the opportunity at Stapleton to do something world-class and...

Colorado Pen inks expansion. (Colorado Pen Co.)
April 28, 1995... Denver retailer aims to open 5-7 stores annually A locally based retailer is expanding into some of the most prestigious shopping malls in the United States. Colorado Pen Co. first opened in downtown's Masonic Building in 1988 and opened a...

Famed El Rancho claims new owners.
April 28, 1995... I-70 restaurant will expand, reopen El Rancho, the landmark restaurant that has served travelers along Interstate 70 for generations, will reopen May 17 under new ownership. Mark and Susan McKenna bought the restaurant from Skip Roush at the...

Declining revenue shakes Presidio Oil. (Presidio Oil Co.)
April 28, 1995... Company warns of uncertain future Financially beleaguered Presidio Oil Co. has taken its share of hits over the past five years, but it has never called it quits. Now, it might have no choice. The Englewood-based oil-and-gas company...

Rainwater buys into Denver's office market. (real estate investor Richard Rainwater; Denver, Colorado)(Real Estate)
April 28, 1995... REIT building Colorado portfolio Richard Rainwater has a hunch about Denver's office market, and he's betting millions on it. Best known as the financial wizard who turned the Dallas-based Bass brothers' $50 million oil inheritance into a $5...

Hooks lands ultimate deal for electronics firm. (Ultimate Electronics Inc.'s planned facility in Thornton, Colorado)(Real Estate)
April 28, 1995... Associate works with parcel of sellers to bring Ultimate Electronics to Thornton Ask Kittie Hook when she knew Ultimate Electronics Inc. had captured the 35 acres in Thornton it stalked for a year, and she doesn't mince words. "At 2 p.m. on...

Big companies may forge health alliance.
April 28, 1995... Firms represent 200,000 employees Some of Denver's largest corporations are marshaling forces to forge a health-care coalition to muscle discounted prices on medical care. Companies representing more than 200,000 employees in Colorado -...

Retailers want to be in Cherry Creek North.(Real Estate)
April 28, 1995... Shopping area practically full; property owners plan to make room for more Retailers are crowding in, and Cherry Creek North is now on the verge of the first significant, and much needed, new retail development in years. Retail space is...

Fans will shell out 21% more for Rockies game. (Colorado Rockies)
April 28, 1995... The luxury of Coors Field won't come without a price. While nearly all major-league fans will ante up about the same for baseball games as they did when the season abruptly ended last year, Rockies' fans will be greeted by 34.2 percent higher...

CU takes equity in spinoffs. (University of Colorado Health Sciences Center)
April 28, 1995... University will profit when companies go public The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center holds an equity interest in three local companies with on-campus origins. CU started the "new entrepreneurial venture" program in 1987, which...

'Visible Man' reveals profit potential. (Anatomical Visualization Inc.)
April 28, 1995... Sliced cadaver becomes basis for CU spinoff To show it could be done, Victor Spitzer cut a cadaver into 1,878 wafer-thin slices, photographed each one and, using a computer, animated the images. The result, unveiled late last year, is a...