Denver Business Journal articles from February 2000

Denver Business Journal archives from February 2000

Debt load downside of prosperity.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Denver's economy feels as good, as Strong, now as it has in recent history, but some financial, industry insiders have a bad feeling about that. The solid economy has truly provided people in this area with more income, but it's also...

Everything is clear again.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Littleton entrepreneurs John and Linda Catania are marketing a cure for a widespread but little diagnosed side effect of the information age. Opthalmologists have dubbed the affliction Computer Vision Syndrome; symptoms include sore...

Ascent lacked a strong reason to exist.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Liberty Media Corp.'s $755 million deal to buy what's left of Ascent Entertainment Group Inc. would finally end Ascent's agonizingly slow death. A company that shouldn't have existed in the first place would finally be gone. Liberty,...

Oil prices climbing skyward.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Motorists feel pinch in their pocketbooks Consumers are starting to grumble about "price gouging" at the pump, but most industry insiders say today's gasoline prices, adjusted for inflation, are lower than they've ever been. With an...

Foreign workers ease labor crunch.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Telecommunications and technology employers look overseas to fill job vacancies Denver's largest telecommunications and technology employers are enlisting more foreign workers in their fight against a tight labor market. Union...

List cheapens Denver's reputation.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Denver is a cheap place to bring a date -- or a convention. According to the 2000 Corporate Travel Index, prepared by Business Travel News, Denver dropped from its 1999 ranking as 17th most expensive city to 37th with an average daily...

Stop the stereotypes!(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... There's no doubt about it, mob stereotypes have to go. A recent article in the food section of The Denver Post so incensed the Italian American population living in Denver that it prompted a scathing letter from Maria Scordo Allen,...

Teacher shortage.
February 25, 2000... Colorado schoolteacher recruitment programs are severely lacking and more than half of the state's districts report difficulty in attracting full-time math and special education teachers. A report issued by the National Conference of...

Nuggets.
February 25, 2000... The Denver Nuggets were highlighted in a new publication NBA Off the Court, a community report this month. The team was recognized for its numerous youth programs, including the Nuggets Team Up program, where students learn the benefits...

Pena to speak.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Former Denver Mayor Federico Pena will speak about "Hispanics in America. The Population Explosion" at a March 3 U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce event "Labor Challenges 2000-The Mexican Solution." In an attempt to increase the state's...

Primary colors.
February 25, 2000... Are you planning to vote in Denver's 2000 presidential primary election? Well, now you don't have to dig through drawers of paperwork to locate where you need to go to vote.

Institute changes identity.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... The Colorado Institute of Art has changed its name to The Art Institute of Colorado. I'm glad they told us otherwise we might not have been able to find them.... The institute, which is owned by The Art Institutes, has moved to 1200 Lincoln...

Shop dresses execs for success.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Fashion may have changed over the last 49 years, but Homer Reed certainly hasn't. Homer Reed Ltd., the store, was recently named one the county's top 39 retailers in a study by the University of Florida for the National Retail Federation...

Green Party breaks with convention.
February 25, 2000... Political organization will hold national gathering in Denver Presidential candidate Ralph Nader may not make it to the White House, but the path he's on will take him straight to Denver. Nader announced Feb. 21 he would seek the U.S....

Baking soda miners plan Parachute digs.
February 25, 2000... Plant previously used for oil shale The world's largest nahcolite mine is scheduled to begin operations in about nine months in the abandoned Unocal oil shale processing plant north of Parachute. Operated by American Soda LLP, the...

Most IPOs from 1999 follow upward track.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 25, 2000... Colorado's newest public companies are off to a strong start despite a choppy stock market. After a record-setting wave of mergers washed away most of the state's large public companies last year, the health of Colorado's youngest...

Forest City projects popping up all over.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Stapleton redeveloper had a busy year Locally, Forest City Enterprises Inc. may have spent 1999 trying to get its $4 billion redevelopment of the old Stapleton International Airport off the ground, but it managed to actually open new...

Laker arena sued.
February 25, 2000... Poor views at Denver's new Pepsi Center sports arena ignited talk of lawsuits by premium seat buyers in the wake of its fall 1999 opening. But the premium seat holders at Denver business mogul Phil Anschutz's new Staples Center in Los Angeles...

GE Capital.
February 25, 2000... GE Capital loans again. The financial services giant's Denver office recently closed a $16.5 million mortgage on the Timber Ridge Apartments in Boulder. The 311-unit complex, owned by a Boulder investment group called West Point Properties 18...

Building Owners and Managers Association International.
February 25, 2000... A new "e" has joined the ranks 01 e-mail, e-commerce, e-trade, e-publications, etc. The 1990s that spawned those innovations is now the e-decade, according to the Building Owners and Managers Association International of Washington D.C.

Three companies hope IPOs will raise millions.
February 25, 2000... Three Denver-area companies have filed for initial public offerings, while a fourth wants to cancel its planned IPO. Evoke Inc., which formerly was known as VStream Inc., hopes to raise as much as $115 million from its IPO. The...

Document Imaging sold.
February 25, 2000... Denver-based Document Imaging, a digital image and electronic management company, has been acquired by Global DocuGraphix Inc. of Chicago. Founded in 1993, Document Imaging provides CD-ROM and electronic document storage solutions to...

Coldwell Banker expands.
February 25, 2000... Coldwell Banker Moore and Co. has gobbled up another Denver-area residential real estate brokerage firm. The company acquired Best Properties Ltd. of Greenwood Village and its 25 sales agents. Coldwell Banker Moore, which is owned by New...

Forest City takes over.
February 25, 2000... As Forest City Enterprises Inc. becomes more involved in the redevelopment of the old Stapleton International Airport as a residential and business community, the Stapleton Development Corp. will fade away. To that end, SDC spokesman Tom...

O'Briens.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Two O'Briens are doing well for themselves in the Denver area. Dan O'Brien is the new CEO of Denver-based High Speed Access Corp. O'Brien has risen through the ranks since his arrival at the company in the fall as chief operating officer....

Ascent courted again.
February 25, 2000... Liberty Media Corp. is taking a second run at Ascent Entertainment Group Inc.'s hotel room pay-per-view movie business. Liberty of Englewood this week offered to buy what's left of Denver-based Ascent for $755 million -- $15.25 a share,...

J.D. Edwards to buy partner.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... J.D. Edwards & Co., which makes business-management software, has agreed to acquire its business partner in Australia and New Zealand, J.D. Edwards New Zealand Ltd. The purchase would lead to the company's expansion into the Asia Pacific...

Media group enters Canada.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... AT&T Corp.'s Liberty Media Group agreed to buy a 19.9 percent stake in Canadian media company Corus Entertainment Inc. for about $137.7 million to expand into Canadian markets. Liberty Media, the cable TV programming company run by John...

C2 Media acquires Keogh.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... C2 Media Inc., a leading provider of Web-enabled media graphics services in North America, has acquired Keogh & Co., a large format screen printing facility in Denver. In business for more than 30 years, Keogh & Co. has 60 employees. It...

Hookup allows kids to reach out to others.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Young patients at The Children's Hospital in Denver are using a high-speed communications network that most CEOs only dream about installing in their conference rooms. The private, interactive computer network allows children from 50...

Swedish team recognized.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... PR Week Magazine awarded Swedish Medical Center-HealthONE an honorable mention at the 2000 Gala Awards in New York City. Swedish Medical Center was one of six finalists in the Crisis Management category. The Englewood hospital's public...

National Jewish has funds.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... The Boettcher Foundation donated $500,000 in challenge grant moneys to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center's Centennial Campaign. The Boettcher grant completes the medical center's $8.1 million capital improvement...

Surviving growth bill comes under attack.
February 25, 2000... The only growth bill to survive the House and make its way to the Senate is experiencing some growing pains of its own. House Bill 00-1223, sponsored by Rep. Matt Smith, R-Grand Junction, passed on its third reading in the House, but only...

Multi-Link's deals put it in 3rd place.
February 25, 2000... Company struggles with low stock price Multi-Link Communications Inc. makes its money taking messages. Now it wants to leave one of its own. "We would seem to be relatively undervalued," said CEO Nigel Alexander, a British transplant...

Powwow keeps cultural traditions alive.
February 25, 2000... Next month's Denver March Powwow is an anomaly in a market best known for its ever-changing, cutting-edge technology companies. The powwow's business is keeping alive old, American Indian cultures the Indian way. "We'll maintain our...

Transportation pays off in Colo.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... If Colorado's economy were a college student, its major would be in transportation and telecommunications, with a minor in construction. Colorado has the second-highest concentration of annual personal earnings in the transportation and...

Kaddy Shack franchise falters at first.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... But owner of landmark barbeque restaurant vows to expand concept nationally Dave "Woody" Woddard has big plans for the Kaddy Shack name, but his first franchisers just paid $20,000 to distance themselves from it. Practically a...

USDA wants Americans to eat more lamb.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Sheep growers may pony up funds to improve nationwide marketing of products Sheep growers across the country are beginning to feel like the ugly stepsister of the agricultural industry. That's because pound for pound, more dollars...

Ebags.com rolls out national ad campaign.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... There's more than one way to get into the glossy, fashion filled pages of Vogue magazine. Ebags.com, the Denver-based online retailer, launched an advertising campaign positioned in the fashion press, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and...

DBJ wins for ambulance series.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... The Denver Business Journal won second place for best series of stories published by weekly newspapers with at least 4,000 subscribers Saturday in the Colorado Press Association annual newspaper competition. The award was given to...

Revenue for CSG up by 30%.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Englewood-based CSG Systems International Inc. reported $90.5 million in revenue for the fourth quarter of 1999. That represents a 30 percent increase over the $69.6 million reported for the fourth quarter of 1998. CSG Systems also saw...

Basin Exploration Inc.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Basin Exploration Inc. reported a net income of $4.6 million for the 1999 fourth quarter. The company had a $30.7 million net loss for the 1998 fourth quarter. For the year ended Dec. 31, 1999, Basin posted a net income of $12 million,...

Forest Oil Corp.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Denver-based Forest Oil Corp. announced net earnings of $9.7 million for the 1999 fourth quarter. The company posted a net loss of $54.3 million for the same time period in 1998. Forest Oil had net earnings of $19 million for the year...

Callahan establishes itself in TV land.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Denver-based Callahan Associates International became a big-league player in international cable television and information networks this week after acquiring a controlling interest in a German cable network that currently has 4.2 million...

Chambers of Commerce.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Chambers of Commerce Patrick Sweeney (Ranked by number of members) Rank/ last year's Chamber of Commerce/ Number of ...

Massachusetts answers MediaOne's call.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Regulators approve Denver company request for enough telephone numbers MediaOne Group, the Denver-based cable television company, has received critical support from Massachusetts regulators in its bid to expand its budding telephone...

Sports-minded barbers moving into Denver.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Men like sports. Men need to get their hair cut. The pairing of these two seemingly unrelated concepts prompted the idea for Sport Clips Inc., a Georgetown, Texas-based chain of sports-themed hair salons targeted toward those who prefer...

Tort reform protects small businesses.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... The sun shone on business lobbyists as they stood outside the Capitol to buttonhole House members on their way to consider legislation designed to protect small businesses from frivolous lawsuits. The aggressive lobbying effort worked; by...

House declines to help small firms fight agencies.
February 25, 2000... Prospects look bleak for legislation that would reimburse small businesses for their legal costs when they win cases brought against them by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or the National Labor Relations Board. The...

McCain falters in funds.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... As chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. John McCain can make or break telecommunications legislation. So it's no surprise that telecommunications is McCain's "sweetest industry" for campaign contributions, said Larry Makinson,...

Bush's tax plan favored.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... The Small Business Survival Committee gave George W Bush's tax plan a B+, praising the Republican presidential candidate's "broad-based" tax cut and elimination of the estate tax. The Texas governor's rival for the GOP nomination, Sen....

Lawyers ban 'pay-to-play'.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... The American Bar Association voted to prohibit lawyers from making campaign contributions to state and local officials in hopes of winning legal work from them. The vote ended three years of debate on "pay-to-play" by the ABA. It...

Owners more optimistic.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Thanks mainly to expectations of increased sales, small-business owners are more confident about the future than they were at any time in the past two years. The Small Business Optimism Index, compiled by the NEIB Education Foundation,...

'Moonstruck' a better film than 'Return'.(Review)
February 25, 2000... From the opening pan of Chicago's skyline to Dean Martin singing "Return to Me," the new movie of the same name is a pale imitation of Norman Jewison's luminous "Moonstruck." The similarities seem unintentional, but they are apparent...

Beach Boys movie falls short.(Review)
February 25, 2000... Despite all the hallmarks of a great tragedy: domestic abuse, sibling rivalry, drug addiction, mental illness and death, ABC's two-part "The Beach Boys: An American Family" squanders another opportunity to do justice to rock's most celebrated...

Smothers delight even 42 years later.(Review)
February 25, 2000... From the beginning, Tom and Dick Smothers mixed their music with comedy. That's because the brothers weren't good enough to play it straight as musicians, according to Dick, who on stage portrays the more serious, older brother even...

A constant from day one, Corvettes are cool.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Tom: It's good to know there are some things in life that you can count on. One of them is the timeless appeal of a Corvette. When I was a kid, I can remember crowding around a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette gasping at how cool it looked, with...

Coos Bay's bad service will drive diners away.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... My sincere hope is that I caught Coos Bay on a bad day. Don't get me wrong -- the food was actually quite good; but no salad, no matter how delicious, can make up for terrible service. Even an impeccable pesto can't overcome the memory of...

'Unexpected Guest' flawed from the start.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Murder and mystery, especially with a British flair, has become a winter tradition at the Country Dinner Playhouse. This winter the playhouse is doing another play by Agatha Christie, "The Unexpected Guest," which is filled with the kinds of...

Small biz sees study as 'insult'.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Shared health plans stir debate in D.C. WASHINGTON -- A new Congressional Budget Office study concludes that only 330,000 additional people would gain health insurance coverage if more small businesses could buy insurance through trade or...

Pay disparity is g1obal problem.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... In honor of this year's International Women's Day, women around the globe are joining forces to combat an old enemy: Pay disparity. On March 8, a global women's strike is planned to highlight women's contribution to the economy and...

Experts on contract.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Marketing without an in-house staff The record-setting number of startups in Colorado is sending profitable ripples through the economy to other sectors of the business community -- not the least of which is the business of marketing. ...

NEWSMAKERS.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Accounting AuditForce made several additions to its growing staff. Maxwell Wahlquist joins AuditForce from Rocky Mountain International Inc. where he was chief financial officer and controller. He also worked at Don Ward Transport Inc....

Marketing audit can put you back on track.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... The term "audit," especially at this time of year, often sends shivers through the spines of most company executives. But, unlike checking balance sheets, a marketing audit can clarify what business-generating activities have worked and which...

Thornton grants available.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Businesses located within the Thornton Development Area are encouraged to apply for business grant funds to upgrade business properties and promote business activities. Currently $100,000 in grant funds is available. Each grant is...

UNIX workshops offered.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... The Rocky Mountain region of the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council at the Colorado School of Mines is offering a series of workshops to teach UNIX to participants of all levels. Course dates are Feb. 26, April 8 and May 20 from 8:30...

American Consulting Engineers Council of Colorado.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Winners of the American Consulting Engineers Council of Colorado Engineering Excellence Awards for 2000 are S.A. Miro Inc., which took top honors for its role in Ocean Journey, receiving the Grand Conceptor Award for engineering achievement....

E-mail applications are better than ever.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... My own introduction to e-mail came through a mainframe-based system called TN3270. Its features were about as user-friendly as its name, and it was so awkward and prone to accidental message destruction that I actually forswore e-mail for...

New breed of pros finds success on foreign soil.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... You'll find them in every country, in every industry, and in most companies. They are the growing army of people who willingly leave the security of their home turf to live and work abroad, cut loose from familiar support systems. ...

Speak the language of venture capitalists.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Venture capitalists can be an invaluable source of funding for the growth and expansion of your business, but not all venture capitalists are alike. You need to know what differences to expect, and what traits to seek out to find an investor...

How to plan for sale of ownership rights.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Shareholder agreements should be made at beginning of a new venture When more than one person has an ownership interest in a business venture, whatever its legal form, the question eventually arises as to when, and at what price, the...

There's still time to deal with growth.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... It is disappointing, but not surprising, that a single proposed law dealing with growth issues remains alive on the Colorado Legislature's calendar as the month draws to a close. HB 1223, sponsored by Rep. Matt Smith, R-Grand Junction,...

Is this final chapter in Ascent's history?(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... People who have been through buyouts and takeovers can appreciate the stress created when knowing your company is for sale, but not knowing who the buyer might be. Now, imagine going through that while playing professional sports. That's...

Watching the sparks fly.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... I can't wait until U S West and Qwest come together later this year. The resulting pyrotechnics are sure to rival the Year 2000 celebrations seen elsewhere around the globe, but unfortunately, not here in Denver. There always is...

Viewpoint of nurses overlooked.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... In your recent report on changes to expect in health care in Colorado in the new millennium, you interviewed three health care experts ("Perspectives on health-care's future," Feb. 11-17). Leonard Kalm, of HealthONE, "ranks the nursing...

DBJ STOCK REPORT.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... DBJ STOCK REPORT DBJ Index -1.7% 2141.75 NASDAQ 0.37% 4411.74 S&P 500 -2.96% 1346.09 Dow Jones Industrial -1.97% 10219.52 Top 10 Weekly...

DBJ FUNDWATCH.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... Our exclusive weekly report ranks the top Denver-managed mutual funds, ranked by year-to-date total return. For Week ended Feb. 17 General equity funds 1 Wk. 4 wk. YTD ...

Ad claims could spark lawsuits.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... In the latest skirmish in the Pizza Wars, the score is Pizza Hut 1, Papa John's 0, but the baffle over advertising claims is far from over. It's a fight that some say could affect the advertising of all kinds of products, from cars to...

Survey: Expense accounts growing larger.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 25, 2000... Sixty-two percent of chief financial officers polled say spending is higher than five years ago It could be another sign of the tight labor market, or maybe it's because employers are realizing the value of keeping their customers -- and...

Let's kill off Snoopy, give others a chance.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2000... I come to bury Charlie Brown, not to praise him. Charlie Brown is dead. He never did get to kick that football, kiss the little red-haired girl or win a baseball game. Poor ol' Charlie Brown. Good ol' Charlie Brown. ...

Savings Account Yields.(Statistical Data Included)
February 25, 2000... Listed are the effective annual yields, after compounding, on a variety of savings instruments offered in the Denver area. Yields are fixed rate for all certificates of deposit (CD). Rates paid are for deposits of $2,500, except jumbo CDs,...

Who's Who in High Tech and Telecom.(Statistical Data Included)
February 25, 2000... Steve Adams CHAIRMAN WEBB INTERACTIVE SERVICES INC. Adams founded Webb Interactive Services Inc. and has served as chairman since its incorporation in 1994. He took the company public in 1996. Webb, at www.webb.net, licenses...

Scott Bemis.
February 25, 2000... PRESIDENT, PUBLISHER THE DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL Bemis, who took the helm at The Denver Business Journal in 1996, has 16 years experience in the newspaper industry. Before moving to Denver, he was publisher of business newspapers...

SBA reaches out to Asians.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 25, 2000... The Small Business Administration signed partnership deals with five New York-based Asian-American organizations, the SBA's first agreements in its national effort to increase business opportunities for Asian entrepreneurs. More than 1...