Denver Business Journal articles from August 1999

Denver Business Journal archives from August 1999

London trade flap flares up again.(plan for a trade office in Denver, Colorado)
August 6, 1999... Owens, Webb plan single office, but separate staffs to promote Colorado, Denver LONDON - Unable to resolve fundamental differences between them about how to promote trade and investment in Europe, Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and Colorado...

This time, a peaceful visit.(investment banker Tad Kelly's visit to Omaugh, Northern Ireland)
August 6, 1999... BELFAST - Twenty years ago, Tad Kelly was one of the "Peace People," a largely volunteer group with a dream about ending the violence in Northern Ireland. As a 20-year-old student at Yale University in 1970, he won a grant to spend the...

Building toward a big deal.(Home Depot's plan to acquire Builder's Square locations in Colorado)
August 6, 1999... Home Depot looks at rival's locations Home Depot may be planning to buy the Builder's square locations that are closing in Colorado, including the bankrupt chain's premier location on South Colorado Boulevard, according to retail sources....

New HOV lanes planned for U.S. 36.(high occupancy vehicle)
August 6, 1999... Interstate Highway 25, U.S. 36 and Highway 270 will undergo a dramatic change as the Colorado Department of Transportation grafts in new lanes dedicated to buses and carpools. CDOT is close to putting out to bid the final phase of a project...

'Jethro' stakes casino claim.(Max Baer Jr. who plays Jethro Bodine of the television show 'The Beverly Hillbillies')
August 6, 1999... For many years, Max Baer Jr. worked to distance himself from Jethro Bodine, the dimwitted but ever-optimistic lothario he played on the hit television show "The Beverly Hillbillies." Of Jethro, who belted his blue jeans with a length of rope...

Boulder creates own link.(fiber optic networks)
August 6, 1999... Fiber optics lines connect feds, state Telecommunications companies are spending tens of billions of dollars building fiber optic networks, but the City of Boulder and its largest state and federal tenants have decided to build their own....

Where the grass is always greener.(Green Valley Turf Co.)
August 6, 1999... On slow days at work, Joe Wilkins watches the grass grow. Of course, Wilkins does that no matter how fast or slow the pace. That's his job. Wilkins is general manager of Green Valley Turf Co., a Littleton-based family-owned company...

New York startup carrier adds DIA to its route map.(JetBlue Airways plans to include Denver International Airport in its destinations)
August 6, 1999... A new airline that describes itself as a "mega-startup" ready to slash air fares has included Denver International Airport in its list of desired destinations. JetBlue Airways expects to start service to 10 cities early next year out of...

Regus moving in to Norwest Center.(Regus Business Centers Corp.; One Norwest Center)
August 6, 1999... Executive suites replace Gulf Canada Regus Business Centres Corp., which calls itself one of the world's largest operators of executive suites, is close to finding another top-drawer - and top-floor location in the Denver area. The...

Sports deals could help boost Qwest name.(Qwest Communications International Inc.)
August 6, 1999... Chances are that when Qwest Communications International Inc. launched its hostile takeover bid for U S West Inc. in June, it was not because of U S West's lucrative Olympics sponsorship. Nor was it because of the U S West sign in right-center...

Qwest signs Amoco Tower lease.(Qwest Communications International Inc.)
August 13, 1999... Denver-based Qwest Communications International Inc., which just agreed to gobble up regional phone company U S West Inc., has further cemented its commitment to the city's center by consuming space in another downtown high rise. The...

Tamarac: for sale by owner; specialty center bids sought by Texas firm.(Tamarac Square; American Industrial Properties)
August 13, 1999... Denver's Tamarac square shopping center is on the sales block, and supposedly just got a handful of offers from opportunistic investors, according to local real estate sources. The 200,000-square-foot specialty center, located on East...

Roads bring minerals back.(demand for industrial minerals in Colorado)
August 13, 1999... While Colorado's precious and base metals mining industry continues to be pummeled by low commodity prices, one segment has grown by leaps and bounds - industrial minerals. Companies in the state that mine gypsum, rocks, sand and gravel...

Smoke signals: cigar distributor lights up success.(Cigars Unlimited International Inc.)
August 13, 1999... Despite slowing sales nationally, the cigar business is on fire for Cigars Unlimited International Inc., a Golden-based cigar distributor and marketer. The company recently acquired The Cigar Group, a Phoenix-based resort-oriented cigar...

Executives lured away from Hanifen.(Hanifen, Imhoff Inc.)
August 13, 1999... Personal reasons, competition take Denver investment firm 'all-star team' The game of musical chairs common among employees at area restaurants and retail outlets has moved to the highest echelons of 17th Street. Hanifen, Imhoff Inc....

Holland & Hart starts Indian practice group.(hiring of American Indian lawyer Doug Nash)
August 13, 1999... Holland & Hart LLP, the Denver area's largest law firm, just hired one of this country's first American Indian lawyers to launch its Indian practice group. Doug Nash, a member of the Nez Perce tribe who was born on its north central Idaho...

AT&T workers set vote on union.(AT&T Broadband & Internet Services)
August 13, 1999... The rumbling in the distance could well be cable magnate Bob Magness shifting in his grave. A group of workers at the former TeleCommunications Inc. will take a vote to unionize Aug. 20, marking a significant change for the boot-strap...

Consultant walks between docs, HMOs.(R.T. Welter & Associates' medical consulting services to doctors and health maintenance organizations)
August 13, 1999... Doctors, according to conventional wisdom, are dismal failures when it comes to the fine art of finance. They more likely are able to recite the periodic table or dimensions of an average femur bone than the teachings of Adam Smith or the...

Arapahoe hangs tough in south bistro boom.(restaurants in Arapahoe County, CO)
August 13, 1999... The influx of restaurants on County Line Road near the Park Meadows mali has offered literally dozens of additional choices for lunch or dinner plans. But what may be most surprising is that the success of those restaurants does not seem to be...

Denver, Springs trailing Boulder in job growth race.
August 13, 1999... The Boulder-Longmont area created jobs at a faster pace than Denver and Colorado Springs during the last two years. And all three metro areas did significantly better than the rest of the nation in generating new jobs. Non-farm employment...

Red Robin cooks up a successful recipe.(return to profitability)
August 13, 1999... After more than a decade of floundering under Japanese ownership, the Red Robin restaurant chain has returned to profitability under the guidance of president and CEO Mike Snyder, who took the helm in 1996. The Englewood-based company made $2...

Financial planners fight over 'lite.'.(debates on financial standards)
August 20, 1999... Battle begins over relaxed standards Certified financial planners have split deeply over a proposal to create an entry-level designation for those offering financial advice for a living. On one side are those who contend CFPs must act...

In the bus driver's seat.(power system testing of the Regional Transportation District in Denver, CO)
August 20, 1999... Tucked away in an inconspicuous warehouse in Five Points is a small startup company that could transform how buses are made. Transportation Technologies, which has a contract to build the new 16th Street Mall shuttle for the Regional...

Tenants win big in 'burbs.(Denver office buildings)
August 20, 1999... Developers cut deals to fill empty spaces The contest to attract tenants to some brand new, southeast suburban office buildings in need of occupants is heating up. Indeed, developers of the new - but slow-to-lease - higher-priced,...

Anatomy of the Robinson Dairy deal.(acquisition by Suiza Foods Corp.)
August 20, 1999... To anyone who knows the Robinsons, their dairy and their commitment to Denver, the sale of the family-owned business might come as a surprise. But Dick and brother Eddie Robinson are as good at arithmetic as they are at marketing their...

U S West to spend $275M on Y2K.
August 20, 1999... Executives say modifications nearly done U S West Inc.'s bill to fix its Year 2000 problem continues to rise, but company officials say the push to avoid a post-millennium meltdown is progressing on schedule. The Denver-based local...

Linking donors.(DonorNet)
August 20, 1999... Company helps nonprofit groups A Denver-based Internet company is helping nonprofit organizations solicit donations over the World Wide Web. DonorNet, LLC is not the only company out there se!ling e-commerce strategies to nonprofit...

Loss caps Centura's century.(Centura Health)
August 20, 1999... 17-hospital system not in the black yet After a year of rebuilding that began with the departure of its CEO and eventually led to system-wide administrative streamlining and spending cutbacks, Centura Health didn't make it back into the...

State car sales kick into high gear.(Colorado)
August 20, 1999... Automobile dealerships sold more than $2B in the first quarter Automobile sales in the state revved up quickly in the first quarter, pushing auto dealers toward what likely will be a record year. More than $2 billion worth of new and...

Voters in Denver may have to wait.(access to cable lines by Internet service providers delays)
August 20, 1999... Timing against open access decision The push by U S West Inc. and a group of Internet service providers to gain access to cable lines appears mired in regulatory and legal uncertainty. "It's very much up in the air," said Mark Stutz,...

J.D. Edwards: no sale for its office buildings.
August 20, 1999... Software giant J.D. Edwards & Co. is hanging onto its cluster of headquarters buildings at the northern edge of the Denver Technological Center for now, according to the company. But now would be a good time to sell them, as investors fat...

Pension funds slip in while REITs sidetracked.(real estate investment trusts)
August 20, 1999... The inability of publicly traded real estate investment trusts, or REITs, to make the big buys they did a couple of years ago continues to color the Denver area's real estate investment market. So says a midyear forecast compiled by the Denver...

Summitville saga's final chapter.(Robert Friedland, former CEO of Galactic Resources Inc., owner of Summitville Mine in Colorado from 1984 to 1992, files a counter suit against the federal government)
August 27, 1999... Despite legal woes, Friedland profits The seven years since Colorado's worst mining disaster have been good to Robert Friedland. The man accused of being responsible for environmental contamination at the Summitville gold mine in the...

Stevinson closes in on sale.(Denver West owner Greg Stevinson to sell sprawling office park)
August 27, 1999... Denver West owner may sell office park The rambling Denver West office park off Interstate 70 near Golden is close to selling for roughly $110 million, according to local real estate sources. That sales price is supposedly $85 a square...

ICG plots a new course.(ICG Communication Inc.)(Statistical Data Included)
August 27, 1999... ICG Communication Inc.'s new president John Kane has some interesting news for those who have come to know the Englewood company as a scrappy player in a field of telecom concerns known as competitive local exchange companies or Clecs. "To...

Aspen developer in Fla. legal feud.(Aspen, Colorado developer J.B. Turbidy involved in legal tussle with ex-partners in Florida over kickback case)
August 27, 1999... Turbidy has a big role in Stapleton A legal battle between J.B. Turbidy, an Aspen developer, and his ex-partners in Florida over an alleged kickback and debt repayment is escalating. Turbidy's metro Denver involvements include a $200...

There's a new gold mining king in Colo.(Anglogold Ltd. takes over as king of Colorado's gold mining industry)
August 27, 1999... Newmont Mining Corp. has been displaced as the largest gold mining company in Colorado. With the completion of its purchase of the Cripple Creek and Victor mining operation in Victor, Colo., earlier this year, South Africa-based Anglogold...

PrivaSeek taps into demand for privacy.(Internet service provider releases the Personal Valet, a device designed to give consumers control over their online profile)
August 27, 1999... Company releases The Persona Valet While some business have become flustered with consumer concern over Internet privacy issues, the Louisville-based PrivaSeek sees this online aggravation as an opportunity. PrivaSeek just released its...

Flight simulator firm hopes IPO takes off.(Training Devices International Inc.; initial public offering)
August 27, 1999... Training Devices International Inc. wants a "high flying" initial public offering, but not by luring people onto a Web site. The Englewood company plans to use proceeds from a planned $17.4 million IPO to build a time-share network of...

Soccer team kicks around stadium idea.(Colorado Rapids)
August 27, 1999... A new soccer-specific stadium in Denver could become a reality in three to five years, say city and Colorado Rapids officials. "Soccer is in transition," said Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. "[The Colorado Rapids] are playing at Mile High, but...

INVESCO goes online to sell mutual funds.(INVESCO Funds Group)
August 27, 1999... INVESCO Funds Group is boldly going where no other mutual fund family has gone before, allowing new customers to open and deposit money online into its funds. This October, the Denver-based fund group plans to unveil an entirely paperless...

Personal bankruptcy filings fall in U.S.(Statistical Data Included)
August 27, 1999... While he's confident his livelihood as a bankruptcy attorney is not in jeopardy, H. Jason Gold of Alexandria, Va., isn't seeing as many clients as he did last summer. "My caseload is about half of what it was a year ago," said Gold, one of...