Denver Business Journal articles from July 1998

Denver Business Journal archives from July 1998

Bennett's Liberty strategy. (Liberty Media President and CEO Dob Bennett)
July 3, 1998... Dob Bennett has a problem, but it's the sort of dilemma most chief executives would like to face. The president and CEO of Liberty Media Corp. has to figure out how to spend the $5.5 billion paycheck that his restructured operation will...

Echoes of TCI's big deal: MediaOne boss: alliances ahead. (Tele-Communications Inc.; MediaOne Group President and CEO Chuck Lillis)
July 3, 1998... The deal has been inked, and Wall Street has been assuaged at least temporarily. Now AT&T Corp. has to figure out how to marry its gold-plated system built to serve long-distance customers with the patchwork of Tele-Communications Inc.'s cable...

N.E. warehouse market softens. (northeast corridor around Interstate 70)
July 3, 1998... The Denver area's premier industrial enclave, the northeastern corridor around Interstate 70, is headed toward significant overbuilding and softening by the end of 1998. As of the second quarter, that submarket had 830,000 square feet of space...

Exotic 4th of July fare. (bison, elk and ostrich are becoming exotic alternatives to meat)
July 3, 1998... Snakes, elk, others garner mixed reviews While most statistics point to beef's ever-increasing popularity, alternatives like bison, elk, rattlesnake and alligator are capturing their own share of the meat market. As the summer barbecue...

Convergent pledges $40M to take over Tie. (Convergent Communications Inc.; TIE Communications Inc.)
July 3, 1998... Convergent Communications Inc. of Denver is proposing to buy substantially all the assets of financially strapped Tie Communications Inc. for $40 million in cash. Convergent also has pledged to retain at least 90 percent of Overland Park,...

Race is on for work on new rockets. (competition for a US Air Force contract for the Evolved Expandable Launch Vehicle family of rockets)
July 3, 1998... The push to nab the next big launch contract with the United States Air Force is on at Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Astronautics division. The deadline for proposals for the Evolved Expandable Launch Vehicle family of rockets has been set for July...

Denver Water accuses Zell of siphoning assets. (Sam Zell)
July 3, 1998... Denver Water is suing Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell for the $17 million it will take to replace a 10-mile section of 66-inch water main that ruptured last year, flooding North Broadway with 20 million gallons of water. In a lawsuit filed...

Graebel plots Gateway HQ; moving giant's expansion will triple Aurora operation. (Graebel Companies Inc.)
July 10, 1998... Graders have begun rumbling over the Gateway Park ground where moving giant Graebel Companies Inc. will triple the size of its Aurora headquarters. Construction is slated to begin later this summer. Graebel, which is moving to 22 acres at the...

Centura in hunt for profits: consultants helping ailing hospital group. (Centura Health; The Hunter Group)
July 10, 1998... Centura Health, one of Colorado's largest hospital systems, has hired a heavy-hitting consulting firm to fill vacant executive posts and reverse a shrinking bottom line. Centura officials confirmed to The Denver Business Journal that The...

The new look of business. (Hispanic American-owned businesses)
July 10, 1998... Hispanics in Colorado are not just growing in population, they are increasing in wealth and influence, starting more businesses and carrying more weight in the corporate and political arenas. A strong economy has paved the way for more business...

PSCo proposes sale of network; regulators worry that price tag for fiber-optic loop will shortchange customers. (Public Service Company of Colorado Inc.)
July 10, 1998... A proposal from Public Service Company of Colorado Inc. to sell its extensive metro-area fiber-optic network to an unregulated sister company is raising concerns from consumer advocates. The Office of Consumer Counsel said the proposed transfer...

Cable modem services gaining speed. (Online Systems Services)
July 10, 1998... Steve Adams believes the cable modem, placed in the hands of small-town residents, can become a community water cooler. "If your son is allergic to peanut butter, then you want to know what the school lunch menu is," said Adams, the president...

Outsiders keep real estate robust. (commercial real estate in Denver, Colorado)
July 10, 1998... Forecast: Strong market to continue Commercial real estate in the Denver area continues to reflect the robustness of the economy in general, with a few hiccups, according to a Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado Inc. mid-1998 report. A sign of...

Denver opens DIA clinic to treat what ails travelers. (Denver International Airport)
July 10, 1998... Denver International Airport's passenger trains may be a continuous headache for airport executives and passengers, but starting July 1 ailing visitors to DIA have found a new way to get relief. Physicians and nurses from Denver Health Medical...

New partnership promotes southeast area. (Southeast Business Partnership)
July 10, 1998... A new economic partnership in the south metro corridor is proof that necessity is the mother of invention. The Southeast Business Partnership, or SEBP for short, emerged from the Southeast Denver and Douglas County Economic Development Council...

Sprint ads profile Wheat Ridge businessman; Asmus' testimonial gets national play. (One on One Nutrition Pres. Roger Asmus)
July 10, 1998... When Roger Asmus, president of One on One Nutrition Inc., selected Sprint for his business's telephone services he had no idea this simple decision would land him in the pages of The Wall Street Journal. Sprint choose Asmus as a testimonial...

Kohl's covets north suburban sites; Wisconsin retailer takes aim at Mervyn's. (Kohl's Department Stores Inc.)
July 17, 1998... Wisconsin retailer takes aim at Mervyn Kohl's Department Stores Corp. is shopping around for sites to build at least two of its stores in the Denver area. Kohl's has zoomed in on Louisville and Westminster as' possible sites for its...

Crowe builds his nest; Level 3 CEO plots a survival strategy. (Level 3 Communications CEO Jim Crowe)
July 17, 1998... Ask Jim Crowe about the telecommunications industry's frenzied corporate convergence and he'll turn it into a discourse on survival. The CEO of Level 3 Communications Inc. views the mating dance that is melding voice, data and video under...

Demand for DSL soaring: U S West suffers Internet backlog. (digital subscriber line)
July 17, 1998... U S West Inc.'s high-speed Internet access service has reached its initial capacity in several neighborhoods across the metro area less than three months after its introduction, forcing some would-be users to wait until October to receive the new...

From Thunderbeam to BrainPlay. (renaming of BrainPlay.com's website)
July 17, 1998... Changing the name of a commercial website is by no means child's play, but Srikant Srinivasan thinks it's worth the trouble. In fact, Srinivasan, the president, founder and CEO of BrainPlay.com, says it's good for business. To kick off a...

'Space fertilizer' product launched for earthly use: ZeoPro, made for NASA, goes to market. (Zeoponix Inc.)
July 17, 1998... Zeoponix Inc. boasts that its ZeoPro fertilizer is "Now available on Earth." The Louisville company can make such an eye-grabbing claim because its product was developed by NASA to grow food on future space flights. Zeoponix is still probing...

Zions adopts new name; acquisition creates Vectra Bank Colorado. (Zions Bancorp)
July 17, 1998... Zions Bancorp will roll out a new name for its properties in the state after its first pick, Bank Colorado, spelled conflict. The new name, Vectra Bank Colorado, is a combination of Denver-based Vectra Bank, Zions' largest acquisition in the...

Expansion broadens Cherry Creek's lineup: Rainforest Cafe set for August debut. (Denver, Colorado shopping mall)
July 17, 1998... Bigger is better when it comes to the expansion at Cherry Creek. The mali will open the first phase of a 176,000-square-foot expansion next month adding Rainforest Cafe, Tiffany & Co., Restoration Hardware and a new 8,000-square-foot Banana...

Town clings to rural heritage; Parker maintains an identity as Denver suburbs boom.(Small Business Strategies)
July 17, 1998... The community of Parker is striving to work through its economic growing pains without letting Denver absorb its somewhat rural identity. "Parker definitely is a bedroom community," said Mary Looney, executive director of the Parker Chamber of...

Metro population growth shows no sign of slowing. (Metro Denver, Colorado)
July 17, 1998... Metro Denver's population could grow by more than a third through 2020, offering only slight relief for those tired of the region's rapid swell. Population growth will slow to an average rate of 1.4 percent a year, down from the 2.5 percent...

Steamboat pilots a health-care plan. (Steamboat Springs Health Care Association and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado)
July 24, 1998... The Steamboat Springs Health Care Association and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado are teaming up to offer northwest Colorado residents a low-cost health plan that rewards healthy habits. The Yampa Valley Health Plan will open to self-insured...

Collin's new biotech role. (Cobe Laboratories Inc. owner Bob Collins)
July 24, 1998... When Bob Collins moved his biomedical business from California to Lakewood in 1964, ambassadors in red coats from the Denver Chamber of Commerce were canvassing the Golden State for pioneer business people ready to tackle the Rocky Mountains....

Satellite company gets down to earth. (EarthWatch Pres and CEO Herbert Satterlee III)
July 24, 1998... EarthWatch rebuilds after failed project EarthWatch Inc. has a new chief executive, a line on funding and a plan to bounce back from the bitter loss of its first satellite. The privately held Longmont-based company recently installed Herbert...

16th St. Mall took 10 years to finish. (Denver, Colorado shopping center)
July 24, 1998... The city of Denver signs on to some amazingly farsighted mega-projects. Some were completed 10 years or more after their original target dates. A Jan, 1, 1973, Journal headline read the "16th Street Mall is a distinct possibility by 1974."...

StorageTek refits campus to match high-tech image. (Storage Technology Corp.)(Special Report: Real Estate)
July 24, 1998... When Storage Technology Corp. began building its rambling headquarters near Louisville in the late 1960s and early '70s, it was the only computer company off the Denver-Boulder Turnpike. Today, Silicon Valley computer giant Sun Microsystems...

Design reflects company's emphasis on communication. (Prime Response Inc.)
July 24, 1998... Prime Response Inc.'s new offices on the fifth floor of the Denver Place Tower, near the inner city's financial district, literally reflect that company's business - communication. The creator of software for marketing campaigns wanted space that...

Hospitality industry lobbies state for funds.
July 24, 1998... Denver and Colorado tourism may be up, but the hospitality industry says it needs state funding for tourism promotion and is focusing its efforts on convincing state legislators that tourism promotion dollars should be a line item in the state's...

US West, PUC come to an understanding. (Public Utilities Commission)
July 24, 1998... But competitors reject service accord U S West Inc. has reached an agreement with the Public Utilities Commission to improve a controversial order processing system needed to cultivate local phone service competition. But the latest plan has...

Women make a mark on commercial realty. (InSite Properties Inc. Pres Naarah Turpen and CEO Pat Wassik and Poucel Commercial Real Estate owner Jane Poucel)(Special Report: Real Estate)
July 24, 1998... Firms emerge in male-dominated field Owners of two Denver-area commercial real estate firms say the fact they are women in a male-dominated field did not make a difference in the pursuit of building their thriving businesses. "We never used...

Software cuts out call to customer help line. (3si Inc.)
July 24, 1998... 3si releases Internet-based product The latest software tool designed for the call center industry might just eliminate the need for the call center as we know it today. Englewood-based 3si Inc. is releasing its first software product this...

DIA courts Air France, Lufthansa. (Denver International Airport; airlines Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air France)
July 31, 1998... With British Airways finally racing down the runway. Denver officials are looking to see who they can clear next for an international take off. Air France is researching the viability of a Denver-Paris route, several sources report. Mayor...

Chiller gets cool reception. (chiller plant of Public Service Company of Colorado Inc)
July 31, 1998... Skyscrapers cautious about PSCo's prices Public Service Company of Colorado Inc.'s new $40 million chiller plant in downtown Denver is getting a lukewarm reception from the office buildings it was designed to serve. Most operators of...

Boom times leave Dahlia Square behind. (need to redevelop Denver, CO, retail center Dahlia Square)
July 31, 1998... Just east of the Park Hill Golf Course in north Denver, there's a place called Dahlia square. At a time when Denver is experiencing unprecedented prosperity, Dahlia square appears to be in a time warp. It looks like a poster child for...

Hospitals seek 'bug' cure. (Denver hospitals upgrade computers in preparation for the Year 2000 computer-compliance problem)
July 31, 1998... Although modern medicine can't immunize itself against the millennium bug, Denver's hospitals are hoping a dose of preventative care will prove the cure for their computer systems come the year 2000. "As an industry we continuously have to be...

British Telewest scores with telephone service. (telephone firm Telewest Communications PLC)
July 31, 1998... Denver-based cable companies are pondering if American consumers will buy telephone service from their operations, but the programming purveyors already know British customers will take the alternative dial tone. Telewest Communications PLC, a...

Colo. builders brace for fiberglass shortage.
July 31, 1998... Producers unable to keep up with demand Colorado's building boom has developed a nasty side effect. Builders of both residential and commercial buildings are "looking down the barrel" of a severe fiberglass shortage, according to industry...

Competition heating up for titanium contracts. (titanium firm Titanium Metals Corp's anti-dumping duties)
July 31, 1998... Denver-based Titanium Metals Corp. soon will face sharply increased competition from foreign suppliers in winning U.S. aerospace industry contracts. In a 3-0 decision, the International Trade Commission voted to revoke anti-dumping duties on...

Catering through the 'Net. (catering firm Options Box Lunch and Catering accepts catering orders via Internet)
July 31, 1998... Companies get mixed results from the Web While catering isn't an industry driven by technology, Options Box Lunch and Catering of Denver has staked a claim in being the leader in advancing the catering technology in the Denver-metro area....