Denver Business Journal articles from May 1995

Denver Business Journal archives from May 1995

Celestial explores retail: herbal-tea firm seeks partner. (Celestial Seasonings Inc.)
May 5, 1995... Move over, Starbucks - Celestial Seasonings may be about to bring something new to your local coffeehouse. The Boulder-based tea manufacturer is exploring the possibility of opening its own retail stores or going into a partnership with a...

Nonprofit to take over Stapleton. (redevelopment of former Stapleton International Airport)
May 5, 1995... Denver is poised to pass redevelopment of the massive Stapleton site to a new nonprofit corporation. The city is about 30 days away from launching the new organization, pending approval from the City Council, said Max Wiley. director of the...

Restaurants decry manager shortage.
May 5, 1995... Denver's most vicious food fight isn't at the school cafeteria, but at busy suburban intersections and in bustling lower downtown brewpubs. But the tussles don't involve airborne mashed potatoes. Increasingly, restaurants are raiding...

High hopes: ex-banker aims to hire and serve women in fledgling financial brokerage business. (Catherine Chandler; First Colorado Financial Services Co., Inc.)
May 5, 1995... From her 12th-story window high above 17th Street's financial district, an April blizzard blurs Catherine Chandler's view. It is 8:45 a.m. and Chandler, president of First Colorado Financial Services Company Inc., has been on the job almost two...

Calif. owner markets 'Darth Vader Building.' (State of California; Mountain Towers)
May 5, 1995... Landmark high-rise could fetch $16.7M The force may soon be with a Denver office high-rise nicknamed the "Darth Vader Building." The 209,000-square-foot Mountain Towers, whose black facade rises out of a bustling retail and residential area...

Adding theaters draws fire. (theater complex in Auraria campus)
May 5, 1995... But Auraria board says revenue needed to offset fees A proposal to build a 12-screen theater complex on the Auraria campus has opponents claiming the plan would use state property to unfairly compete with the private sector. The deal between...

Three ad firms vie for lottery account. (Karsh & Hagan Advertising; McClain Finlon Advertising; Thomas & Perkins; Colorado Lottery)
May 5, 1995... Two seek to wrest account from Karsh The colorado Lottery picks winners from millions of Coloradans, but the state agency has to pick from only three advertising shops to find its next agency of record. Incumbent Karsh & Hagan Advertising,...

Ruling rattles PrimeStar; new TV technology descends on Colo. (PrimeStar Partners; FCC's rule against transfer of rights)
May 12, 1995... A recent federal ruling has disrupted the rocket-fueled race to capitalize on direct broadcast satellite, the fledgling TV programming-delivery venture that employs hundreds of people in the Denver area. The Federal Communications Commission...

AT&T long-distance charges irk callers.
May 12, 1995... Bob Rubin expressed a little more than surprise when he saw a $5 charge on his phone bill last month, especially since he didn't make any long-distance calls on the line. "I don't need long distance, but they assigned me a carrier anyway,"...

They're off, running at Stapleton; stretch of airport earmarked for race cars. (Denver Stapleton International Airport)
May 12, 1995... In one month, the burning rubber on Stapleton's runways won't be from jets touching down but from race cars taking corners, and planners of a new Stapleton track hope the squeals will be heard around the nation. The Colorado Motor Sports...

Wheeeeeeeee! Small businesses bring big expertise, plenty of local pride to new Elitch's. (Elitch Gardens, amusement park in Denver, Colorado)(Small Business Strategies)
May 12, 1995... When you're rocketing through the new Elitch Gardens' Disaster Canyon river-rafting ride, gasping for air and getting drenched, don't forget to notice the rocks. The canyon "walls" and other stone-like scenery were sculpted from concrete by...

Baggage system for people? LoDo visionary proposes system to move people. (PRT Associates)
May 12, 1995... San Francisco has the BART, Chicago has The El and if a Denver developer gets his way, Denver will have the DART. Tom Anthony and his two-man operation, PRT Associates, envisions people flocking to one of 20 Denver Area Rapid Transit (DART)...

Global team crafts deals on handshake; real estate investors foster ethical rep. (Global Holdings Inc.)
May 12, 1995... Global Holdings Inc., one of the new investors in the Denver office market, sailed into the metro area last year shrouded in fog. The family-owned international company, whose money originally came from shipping, takes its privacy very...

Legislature concludes quiet year; telecomm reform was one exception to hand-off session. (Colorado)
May 12, 1995... A booming Colorado economy prompted legislators to take a hands-off approach to business issues this year, in contrast to the sense of urgency found on Capitol Hill just a few years ago. While stimulating economic development was once foremost...

Reaping DIA rewards expected to take years. (Denver International Airport)
May 12, 1995... Build it, and they will come - but maybe not for another five years. A Denver Business Journal/Coopers & Lybrand survey of Colorado business owners reveals that most of them believe it will take two to five years to realize economic benefits...

Mordini took challenge, led investment market. (real estate broker Robert Mordini of Sevo Miller Inc.)(Heavy Hitters: Top Investment Brokers)
May 12, 1995... Robert Mordini was selling laser printers in Des Moines, Iowa, when his brother-in-law taunted him with "real men work in commercial real estate." Mordini decided to take him up on the challenge and moved to Colorado to sell apartments in...

Rockies Brewing planning expansion; company will look eastward.
May 12, 1995... Boulder-based Rockies Brewing Co. plans an ambitious expansion that will take the firm's microbrews into several new states. The company's products are distributed in 12 western states, but plans are in the works to expand distribution into...

Vacated space slaps southeast buildings; Raytheon, Alert add space to market. (Raytheon Engineers and Constructors Inc.; Alert Centre Inc.)
May 12, 1995... Like a convoy of big trucks, some hefty chunks of office space have rumbled onto the southeast-suburban office market, possibly slowing that runaway train for a while. More than 430,000 square feet in seven structures alone need tenants....

Lawmakers pull plug on health commission; agency compiled reports on prices tried to rate HMOs. (Colorado Legislature; Colorado Health Data Commission; health maintenance organization)
May 12, 1995... A gap will appear in the organizational chart of Colorado's government this summer. The state Legislature refused to extend the life of the Colorado Health Data Commission, which means the commission will vanish June 30. "There's less...

Qwest inks pact with CSX; telecom outfit plans national fiber-optic lines. (Qwest Communications; CSX Transportation Inc.)
May 12, 1995... Denver-based Qwest Communications has found the missing right-of-way it needs to lay down the "tracks" for a transcontinental information highway. An agreement reached last week between the builder of fiber-optic systems and the Richmond,...

Uniform firm slips into something bigger; Cincinnati-based Cintas plans $2 million facility near DIA. (Cincinnati, Ohio; Cintas Corp.; Denver International Airport)
May 12, 1995... Cintas Corp. is tailoring its Denver operation to accommodate new growth. The uniform-rental company will more than double the size of its local operation with the construction of a new $2 million, 43,000-square-foot facility. Its girth can...

Denver service sector 15th fastest-growing; service jobs grew 5.5% last year, half as fast as No. 1 Atlanta's pace. (Denver, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia)(Industry Overview)
May 12, 1995... Denver's service-sector employment edged up 5.5 percent last year, ranking it 15th in the country for growth in that sector, according to a Denver Business Journal study. Service-sector employment in the Denver area jumped to 274,300 last year...

Hotel chains eye Thornton for facilities. (DPC Development Co.; Thornton, Colorado)
May 12, 1995... Hotel developers are taking a close look at a 3.7-acre site in Thornton next to that city's Civic Center. The interest in the property is part of a larger trend, reflecting growing interest in the northern suburbs on the part of developers....

Up With People stumbles. (dance troupe fails to recover financial losses)
May 19, 1995... Global nonprofit hit by rising costs Up with people, the Broomfield-based dance troupe, took steps to recover its financial footing this week. The international nonprofit organization eliminated positions and reassigned duties as part of a...

Post, News explore online newspapers. (Denver Post; Rocky Mountain News)
May 19, 1995... Coloradans are accustomed to getting their papers with the flick of a paperboy's wrist, but they may be getting their favorite newspaper with flick of a button in the coming months. The Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post both are exploring...

Pepsi Center may go all private.
May 19, 1995... Developer mulls revamp of city deal A recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling could alter the proposed $132 million Pepsi Center arena's game plan, shifting it to a purely private deal from a public-private one. The deal may be on hold,...

Silverado figure inks Dallas deal. (Silverado Banking, Savings and Loan's saviour Ken Good signs deal to purchase 700 acres of land in North Dallas, Texas)
May 19, 1995... After '80s defaults, Ken Good turns to Texas land buys Former Denver developer Ken Good, whose financial distress helped torpedo the Silverado Banking, Savings & Loan in the 1980s, has surfaced in Dallas' real estate market. Good recently...

Boulder builders donning 'specs.' (speculative building)
May 19, 1995... Lack of space in city of Boulder drives more risky developments As Eastern Boulder County becomes an increasingly popular locale to do business, the availability of commercial square footage has dried up. The trend has ushered in a kind of...

Port of ... Denver?(Small Business Strategies)
May 19, 1995... Not exactly, but SBA export loans lead U.S. Land-locked Denver has pushed past cities that are home to international ports to take the top ranking in the nation in the number of local working-capital export loans backed by the U.S. Small...

Builders hit homers in ballpark district. (Coors Field)
May 19, 1995... LoDo developers transform blight into neighborhood Coors Field has done more than boost the spirits of Rockies fans. The new ballpark is spurring a remarkable transformation of the once derelict neighborhood across Blake Street, creating a new...

Californians still coming. (Colorado's prosperous economy attracts Californians)
May 19, 1995... Regulations, not real estate, drive exodus California's economy looks sunnier than it has in a long time, but a question remains whether its recovery will be strong enough to stop or just slow the flow of Golden State refugees into Colorado....

Trucking firm makes play for Silicon Valley. (Trans-Western Express Ltd.)
May 19, 1995... Denver's Trans-Western zeroes in on high-tech routes Trans-Western Express Ltd. has taken a big step to shorten the distance between Colorado and the Silicon Valley. The Denver-based trucking firm has leased a 50,000-square foot warehouse in...

Railroad test center picks Pueblo for HQ. (American Association of Railroads consolidates technology operations at Pueblo Transportation Technology Center in Colorado)
May 19, 1995... City 'uncontested capital' of train tech To the many things Colorado is known for, add railroad technology. The American Association of Railroads is consolidating its technology operations from Chicago and Washington, D.C. into its Pueblo...

Business leadership wants road projects.
May 19, 1995... Light rail, interstates emerge priorities Denver's movers and shakers view improving the city's clogged arteries as the top priority, according to a recent sampling of 105 business leaders. Transportation dominated the leaders'...

Sale is in works for Riverfront. (Riverfront Festival Center, Littleton, Colorado)
May 19, 1995... If Riverfront Festival Center, which formerly housed a farmer's market, were a melon, several interests would be squeezing it to see if it's ripe. But one would be close to actually plucking it. "Riverfront is the emotional heart of Littleton,"...

Rapid growth. (adventure travel)(Tourism)
May 19, 1995... Consultant helps develop adventure travel opportunities After years of consulting for various groups, such as President Reagan's Commission on America's Outdoors and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Jerry Mallett turned his dedication to...

Limited accommodations. (federal support to tourism)(Tourism)
May 19, 1995... Tourism-related businesses work on promotion without state funds Every night, about 2 million of the nations' 3.1 million hotel rooms sell, generating $120 million in nightly revenue. Hotel rooms have a one-day shelf life, so when the economy...

LoDo one-of-a-kind in convention competition. (lower downtown; Denver, Colorado)(Tourism)
May 19, 1995... Denver's convention world has a new star: lower downtown. The opening of Coors Field and the proliferation of brew pubs and restaurants in LoDo has changed Denver's profile as a convention city. Suddenly, Denver has a thriving and funky...

32 golf courses tee up: Metro Denver's site for most projects. (Denver, Colorado)
May 26, 1995... A whopping 32 new golf courses are either under construction or planned for the state of Colorado, the lion's share of them roaring into the Denver area. Almost a dozen local links have yet to get a tee time, including ones at Stapleton and...

HMO execs reveal disparate salaries. (health maintenance organization)
May 26, 1995... INDUSTRY PROFILE What HMO executives earn For the first time, executives at HMOs in Denver and elsewhere have to reveal the size of their paychecks. Kathryn Paul Kaiser Permanente $250,340...

Archdiocese asks $65M offering; Denver-based Catholics seek capital for St. Thomas seminary, schools, churches. (Denver, Colorado)
May 26, 1995... The Catholic Archdiocese of Denver may soon launch a $65 million capital campaign that would fund the purchase of St. Thomas Theological Seminary and dozens of other projects in the sprawling archdiocese. Negotiations between the Vincentian...

Columbia/HCA raises stakes in Denver. (Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.; Denver, Colorado)(Health Care)
May 26, 1995... Local providers join forces to compete against nation's largest provider The view from Jeff Dorsey's 12th-floor office window stretches for miles, taking in the traffic whizzing by on Interstate 25 near the Denver Technological Center and the...

Feds' budget wings Colo.
May 26, 1995... Deficit-cutting pinches RTD, impacts farms Proposed Cuts to slash $1 trillion from the federal deficit teeter over the state like a boulder ready to crash down Clear Creek Canyon. The budget debate now raging in Congress could determine...

Flats jobless worry over health risks; no special health insurance held out. (Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant)
May 26, 1995... As the end draws near for many workers at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, anger is growing that the government hasn't followed through on what employees understood as an implied promise to take care of them. "We were the Cold...

Rockies propose parking; new garage across from Coors Field to add 1,000 spaces. (Colorado Rockies)
May 26, 1995... The Colorado Rockies plan to build a 1,000-car parking garage across the street from Coors Field, substantially easing the parking crunch in lower downtown. The Rockies are in discussions with the Denver Metropolitan Major League Baseball...

Distributor buys into market for Columbia; Owens & Minor acquires companies to better serve nation's hospital giant. (Owens and Minor Inc.; Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.)(Health Care)
May 26, 1995... While Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. is expanding into the Denver metro hospital market, a leading medical-surgical supply distributor also is making its presence known in the Mile High City. Richmond, Va.-based Owens & Minor Inc. entered the...

Deal with GE shakes local equipment service market. (contract between Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. and GE Medical Systems Group)(Health Care)
May 26, 1995... When Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. entered into a joint venture agreement with Denver's HealthOne, the nation's largest for-profit hospital company brought with it a deal that put responsibility for the sale and service of thousands of pieces of...

Denver's per capita small biz rate No. 4. (Denver, Colorado)
May 26, 1995... Metro area lags Calif., Fla. cities Small business remains big business in Denver. The Denver area, encompassing Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson and Weld counties, ranks No. 4 nationwide for the number of small...

Fischer caught in surgeon-radiologist battle; physicians don't want to lose control of treating breast cancer to biopsy device. (Fischer Imaging Corp.)(Health Care)
May 26, 1995... A strong dose of hospital politics, surgical-suite turf battles and simple homage to the dollar have created a costly, if not potentially lethal combination that has put women at a sharp disadvantage in the battle against breast cancer. As a...

Competition heats; four HMOs coming to market. (health maintenance organizations)(Health Care)
May 26, 1995... Health-maintenance organizations began sprouting in the Denver market 10 years ago, like dandelions on an unmowed lawn. Now, after market forces have weeded out some HMOs, a new crop is about to spring up. The Colorado Division of Insurance...

Homebuilders new to Denver crack top 10. (Denver, Colorado)
May 26, 1995... California, Texas builders among permit leaders Even though metro Denver's grizzled home builders continue to ride herd over this market, some young guns have blazed their way in. Kaufman and Broad Home Corp., California's biggest builder and...

Shuttle firms' bid for Aspen routes rejected. (Colorado Mountain Express Inc.; ABC Carriers Inc.; Aspen Limousine)
May 26, 1995... The public Utilities Commission turned thumbs down on two competitors who wanted to take over routes from the state's largest ground-transportation company serving ski resorts. Colorado Mountain Express Inc. and ABC Carriers Inc. asked the PUC...

City threatens Auraria with suit over Tivoli; Denver contends AMC movieplex subject to city zoning regulations. (Denver, Colorado; Auraria Higher Education Center's Tivoli Student Union)
May 26, 1995... The controversial plan to expand the AMC theater complex at Auraria's Tivoli Student Union has a new and powerful opponent: the city of Denver. Denver officials are insisting the project is covered by city zoning regulations and must be...

Mercy Housing nets $2M loan for homes. (Mercy Housing Inc.)
May 26, 1995... Prayers answered after 2-year effort Mercy Housing Inc., a Denver-based builder of affordable housing, dropped down on its knees and clasped its hands together a couple of years ago, hoping to snag a $2 million loan. Last week, the Ford...

Heart group zeroes in on cardiac data. (Rocky Mountain Heart Consortium)
May 26, 1995... The Rocky Mountain Heart Consortium is trying to reinvent itself. The consortium wants to shrug off its past scattershot approach to improving cardiac care and focus only on producing data and in-depth analysis. The changes are being made in...

Nursing homes are wiping out nest eggs; half of all retirees will require nursing-home care before they die.(Health Care)(Wealth Health: Money & Investing)
May 26, 1995... When Dave Smith retired at age 65, he was confident he'd thought of everything. Through his company pension and a careful investment plan, he had amassed a modest sum of money that he felt should carry him through his retirement years. He even...