Denver Business Journal articles from March 1999

Denver Business Journal archives from March 1999

Ambulance giant races for revamp.(restructuring of American Medical Response Inc.)
March 5, 1999... Aurora-based American Medical Response, the nation's largest ambulance company, is rolling out a major overhaul that will cut jobs and flatten management in a fast-track effort to turn a drag on earnings into a vehicle for growth. But...

Denver motorists in a tight spot.(includes related articles)(parking spaces anomalies in downtown Denver, Colorado)
March 5, 1999... A type of stealing is rampant in downtown Denver, and the perpetrators are especially proud of their prowess. Some even feel entitled to take what they do because the cost of the precious commodity has skyrocketed in recent years. They are...

NeXstar points toward biotech's future.(impact of the merger between NeXstar Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Gilead Sciences of California on the biotechnology industry of Colorado)(Column)
March 5, 1999... The March 1 sale of Boulder's NeXstar Pharmaceuticals Inc. to Gilead Sciences of California was heralded as a merger that will benefit both companies. Shareholders will have to wait and see whether the combined company, to be called...

New Century weighs acquisitions.(includes related article on the possible merger candidates)(New Century Energies)
March 5, 1999... A look at possible partner candidates Rumors about possible merger or acquisition candidates for New Century Energies are flying faster than an electric current through an overhead power line. The parent company of Colorado's largest...

Fresh start: Rodriguez rides again.(establishment of the Boulder County, Colorado-based Ecrix Corp. by Juan Rodriguez)
March 5, 1999... It's not the first time Juan Rodriguez has stood at the helm of a Boulder County storage startup. In fact, it's not even the second. But Rodriguez believes his latest venture, Ecrix Corp., will fill a void the tape storage industry has...

Builders grabbing permits: more apartments expected in 1999.(Denver, Colorado)
March 5, 1999... More apartment properties are under construction in the Denver area now than at any other time in the 1990s, and significantly more units are expected to be completed in 1999 than last year. Another 46 new apartment complexes including...

Columbia-HealthOne under investigation.(HealthOne Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center)
March 5, 1999... Just when it looked like hospital system Columbia-HealthOne was emerging from the shadow of its 1997 troubles, two government investigations threaten dark days for the joint venture in 1999. Company officials announced in early February the...

Corboy breaks away from Century biz unit.(departure of James Corboy from SKB Business Services)
March 5, 1999... Financiers start investment boutique Veteran Denver financier James Corboy has broken off from SKB Business Services to start a new investment bank targeting small and medium-sized businesses. Corboy is partnering with Boulderite Paul...

Firm makes portals for industrial clients.(GO Media of Lakewood, Colorado)
March 5, 1999... One Lakewood startup saw the unlikely connection between ordering flowers online and the e-commerce needs of the collision repair industry as a good reason to start a business. Founded in 1997. GO Media is building industry-specific...

Transportation, utilities driving Colo.'s economy.(Colorado)
March 5, 1999... Those worried about an overconcentration in telecommunications and construction jobs in the area better call the operator. Colorado has the second-highest dependence on the transportation and utilities sector of any state, according to an...

Colorado's exports show slight increase during '98.
March 5, 1999... Although it was a year underscored by the Asian financial crisis, Colorado exports still posted a 2 percent increase during 1998. "It's kind of a pleasant surprise," said Jim Reis, president of the World Trade Center Denver. "We seem to be...

Feds find fault with emergency care.(includes related article on survey of metropolitan Denver fire chiefs)(National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's criticism of Colorado's emergency medical response)
March 12, 1999... Panel: Weak communications, lax standards put Coloradans at risk Colorado lives up to its wild West image when it comes to emergency medical response, according: to federal investigators. For the second time in a decade, the National...

Changing the channel: new boss takes over two TV networks.(appointment of David Evans as head of Hallmark Entertainment Networks Inc.)
March 12, 1999... A Greenwood Village entertainment company with a fancy pedigree has shaken up management and may be positioning itself for an initial public offering. David Evans stepped in March 1 as head of Hallmark Entertainment Networks Inc. in the...

Resort wants its name; battle for vail.com lands in courtroom.(Vail Resorts Inc.)
March 12, 1999... Vail Resorts Inc. can't log on to vail.com. Instead, Colorado's largest ski resort has been forced into a court battle so that it can finally use its own name on the Internet. In an attempt to seize the vail.com Internet domain name...

China tilts toward Denver visit.(includes related article on the impending visit of His Excellency Jalbuu Choinkhor to Denver)(stopover of Chinese Pemier Zhu Rongji in Denver, Colorado)
March 12, 1999... Top official will be in town for 22 hours Barring any last-minute changes, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji will stop in Denver when he visits the United States next April. Premier Zhu has selected Denver over St. Louis for a fast-paced...

Encore premieres new series; programs mark first for movie channel.(Encore Media Group)
March 12, 1999... Don't look for a line of limos outside Encore Media Group's Tech Center headquarters, but the company is adding to its star power with a regular schedule of movie premieres. The collection of premium channels under the Encore and Starz...

Dancing a jig: 'Riverdance' inspires Irish high-steppers.
March 12, 1999... Irish-dancing teachers are stepping a bit livelier these days as their business rises to the tune of the increasingly popular Celtic dance craze. Enrollments at the five Irish-dancing schools in the Denver area are booming after the...

Water conservation plan drifting along.(Colorado)
March 12, 1999... Districts slow to embrace proposal Private landscape contractors and other industry groups in Colorado want to test a water conservation program that penalizes water-guzzling households. But public water districts have been slow to embrace...

Denver legal eagle prevails in California.(Darin Gibby)
March 12, 1999... In the latest David and Goliath story to come out of a Silicon Valley courtroom, one Denver attorney helped the little guy prevail. Darin Gibby, an attorney in the Denver office of Townsend and Townsend and Crew LLP. helped a California...

CSU, Re/Max teach science over Internet.(Colorado State University; Re/Max International Inc.)
March 12, 1999... Re/Max International Inc. is turning to cyberspace to teach children about science. The Denver-based real estate brokerage, with 3,000 franchises across the globe, has created a special World Wide Web page complete with lesson plans for...

Picture your goals in color.(Armantrout Graphic Design and Illustration)
March 12, 1999... Mission statements can be more than just words With the help of some paint, creativity and its employees, a business can liven up a dull and confusing vision statement by turning it into a piece of art that visually portrays what the...

Revamped Odyssey Channel offers best of Henson, Hallmark.(The Jim Henson Co.; Hallmark Entertainment Inc.)
March 12, 1999... For anyone who's a fan of Hallmark's lavish productions and the work of Muppets creator Jim Henson, Odyssey Channel is must-see TV. Previously a religious channel, the 11-year-old cable network will be relaunched April 4 with a mixture of...

Blues deal will pay off for Colorado small biz.(Anthem Insurance Companies Inc. invests in Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado)
March 19, 1999... Anthem Insurance Cos. Inc. wants to turn Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado into a formidable player in the business-to-business health-care market. That's the message Anthem Chairman Ben Lytle brought to Denver March 12, when he announced...

Brewer buys out partner.(Flying Dog acquires Wynkoop Brewing Co.'s stake in Broadway Brewing Co.)
March 19, 1999... Aspen craft brewer Flying Dog has bought out its partner in the Broadway Brewing Co. Flying Dog paid more than $1 million for Wynkoop Brewing Co,'s 46 percent stake in the Denver microbrewery and its small brewpub operation, giving it...

Convergent prepares to go public this year.(Convergent Communications Inc.)
March 19, 1999... Convergent Communications Inc. is preparing for an initial public offering in the first half of 1999, in a year that's shaping up as a memorable one for local telecommunications companies. The Englewood-based operation's designs to go...

U S West loses another key executive.(VP for consumer services group Liz Fetter)
March 19, 1999... Life may well be better here, but U S West Inc. seems to be having a hard time convincing its vice presidents of that fact. The phone company lost another young lieutenant last week when Liz Fetter, the now-former vice president of the $4.7...

Checking out Denver's mutual-fund web sites.
March 19, 1999... Determining which mutual funds to buy and from what company depends upon a number of factors - and just about any financial adviser will tell you that the process starts not with the fund but with financial planning. What the Internet...

AMR's snafus under investigation.(American Medical Response Inc.)
March 19, 1999... Littleton official: 'I have great concern for the safety of our citizens' Picking up the phone to call an ambulance is not something most people want to do. Flashing lights, screaming sirens and paramedics leaping from their rescue rig, a...

Tale of a troubled roll-up: how AMR gobbled 250 rivals to lead pack.(American Medical Response Inc.)
March 19, 1999... American Medical Response ran with lights blazing and sirens wailing for most of the 1990s, buying and merging 250 mom-and-pop ambulance companies across the country. Today AMR is by far the nation's largest ambulance business with 23,000...

Turf wars jeopardize care; patchwork of rescue districts weakens emergency services.(Frontlines: Care in Crisis, part 2)
March 26, 1999... As they travel all-too-familiar routes to offices, schools and shopping malls, metro Denver residents cross borders unknown to natives and invisible on maps carried by newcomers. The boundary lines define a virtually unregulated patchwork...

Hispanic Chamber raises stakes.(Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce)
March 26, 1999... Growing group works to build profile Throughout the spring, The Denver Business Journal periodically will profile the Denver area's minority chambers of commerce. This is the first in a series. The Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce...

Moore units part company; Mountain Realtors form new businesses.(Coldwell Banker Moore and Co.)
March 26, 1999... Most of Coldwell Banker Moore and Co.'s mountain offices have parted company with that metro Denver residential real estate firm, or are in the process of doing so. The splits are fallout from Moore and Co.'s purchase last October by New...

Tending the garden: affiliation gives independents an edge.(lawn and garden retailers in Denver, Colorado)
March 26, 1999... Independent lawn and garden retailers are counting on Denver-based Garden Master to grow their businesses. In order to compete with large, corporate-owned stores, several Colorado nurseries and garden retailers have affiliated with Garden...

Less sulfur in gas may help clean air; auto makers, EPA support restrictions.
March 26, 1999... Environmentalists and Detroit's car makers are forming an unusual alliance to press refiners for less sulfur in gasoline. The habitual adversaries want refiners to slash the sulfur content of gasoline to levels adopted in California, the...

McCormick: buyout vindicates strategy.(former MediaOne Group CEO Dick McCormick)
March 26, 1999... A key architect of MediaOne Group Inc. greeted the news of its sale to Comcast Corp. with approval, even though it promises stiffer competition for his phone company in the future. Dick McCormick, the former chief executive who oversaw' U S...

CIBER deal gives a boost to NEON biz.
March 26, 1999... A recent partnership between two Denver-based companies could shed a little light on NEON Inc. With the new agreement, CIBER Inc. will help NEON Inc. implement its products in businesses computer systems across the country. NEON, which...

Population boom stretches EMS; 1 million new residents add pressures to overburdened system.(Frontlines: Care in Crisis, part 2)(emergency medical services in Denver, Colorado)
March 26, 1999... Metro Denver's emergency medical system came close to a meltdown on the morning of March 16 when an Aurora school bus slammed into the rear of a Regional Transportation District bus. Ambulances rushed from across the metro area and hospital...

Smaller towns try it alone; Castle Rock risks independent effort.(Frontlines: Care in Crisis, part 2)(Colorado town's emergency medical services)
March 26, 1999... Fed up with poor service and only one ambulance covering its growing population, the Town of Castle Rock kicked out American Medical Response and took over the job itself. Skeptics questioned whether the town of 16,000 could make an...

Denver's long played leadership role in care.(Frontlines: Care in Crisis, part 2)(emergency medical care)
March 26, 1999... Ambulance systems in metro Denver and across the nation owe a debt to Napoleon. It was Napoleon who, in the late 1700s, established the battlefield triage, in which the most seriously injured were whisked away from the fighting on wooden cans....