Denver Business Journal articles from May 1998

Denver Business Journal archives from May 1998

Denver target of scouting expedition: big companies look for more office space. (Denver, Colorado)
May 1, 1998... The Denver area's strong economy continues to manifest itself in companies' demand for large blocks of space to accommodate growth. Several local enterprises and national companies with Colorado presences are looking for elbow room, sometimes a...

Orullian's circular path. (Guaranty Bank and Trust Co. of Denver board vice chairman LaRae Orullian)
May 1, 1998... She was on her way to Wall Street in 1957, a girl from Salt Lake City planning to work her way across the country. She stopped first in Denver, and, in a twist of fate that influenced both her career and the city's independent banking industry,...

Mutuals welcome new player: Aristata joins field crowded with funds. (Aristata Mutual Funds)
May 1, 1998... A bristlecone pine has taken root among Janus Funds' two-faced deity and Berger Funds' snow-capped peak. Aristata, Denver's newest mutual fund family, borrows the Latin name of the state's oldest and toughest tree and hopes to gain its...

High-tech opportunities greet grads. (high technology market for Colorado)
May 1, 1998... Colorado's largest university is churning out more computer science majors than ever before, but it still can't keep pace with high-tech industry demand for skilled software engineers and computer programmers. Enrollment in computer science at...

Dutch firm acquires Security: brokerage sells out in undisclosed deal. (Internationale Nederlanden Groep N.V.; Multi-Financial Group of Denver)
May 1, 1998... Denver's largest homegrown brokerage group is going Dutch. Amsterdam-based ING Group, parent of Security Life of Denver Insurance Co. and one of the world's largest financial conglomerates, has acquired Multi-Financial Group of Denver in an...

Debt offering brings $160M to Convergent. (Convergent Communications Inc.)
May 1, 1998... Convergent Communications Inc. has raised $160 million through a debt offering, bringing the privately held operation's fund-raising to nearly $200 million. The Englewood company plans to use $100 million from the offering to launch its...

Fleisher-Smyth buying Aurora CenterTech site. (Fleisher-Smyth Co.)
May 1, 1998... The Dueck Group of Cos. has hooked a live one in its search for a buyer for what remains of its Aurora CentreTech office park. The Boulder-based Fleisher-Smyth Co., in partnership with anonymous investors, has put the 67 undeveloped acres in...

Lockheed seeks help to educate employees. (Lockheed Martin Astronautics)
May 1, 1998... A tight software-engineering market has forced Lockheed Martin Astronautics to turn to its own employees to find talented software engineers. The company plans to offer an in-house bachelor's and master's degree program in software engineering...

Entrepreneur preaches gospel of conservation. (Interface Inc. CEO Ray Anderson)
May 1, 1998... As companies embrace the concept of corporate environmentalism, one man is leading the pack and proving that environmental and economic sustainability go hand in hand. Ray Anderson, chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based Interface Inc., charted a...

Bankrupt firm sues Aptt for $15.6M. (Financial Instruments Group's founder John F. Aptt)
May 8, 1998... John F. Aptt separated hundreds of investors from millions of dollars in what security regulators describe as one of the largest Colorado Ponzi schemes of the '90s. Now the bankrupt company Aptt founded under the pretense of building...

Light rail has plans for LoDo: but costs may curb private sector's role. (lower downtown, Denver, Colorado)
May 8, 1998... But costs may curb private sector role Private landowners, the Auraria campus, the city of Denver and the Regional Transportation District are getting on board for a proposed two-mile, light-rail spur through the Central Platte Valley. The...

Petrie's powerful deals. (co-founder of investment banking firm Tom Petrie)
May 8, 1998... If you could trade Tom Petrie as a commodity on the New York Mercantile Exchange, he would fetch a hefty premium. And he would be heavily traded. Petrie's reputation as a plain-dealing, "tell-it-like-it-is" energy industry specialist has earned...

HUD, AIMCO clash over housing. (Dept. of Housing and Urban Development; Apartment Investment and Management Co.)
May 8, 1998... Low-income apartment rates at issue One of this country's largest owners of affordable housing, based in Denver, is extricating itself from the low-income housing business and displacing poor renters, a move that has drawn fire from...

New federation chief organizes labor force: Leslie Moody takes charge of union group. (Denver Area Labor Federation)
May 8, 1998... Leslie Moody takes charge of union group For the first time in its history, the Denver Area Labor Federation has elected a woman president. Leslie Moody doesn't look like she's in charge of the group that represents about 60 local unions...

Trustee gets ready for trial: Porter McLeod's controversy lingers. (construction company)
May 8, 1998... Porter McLeod controversy lingers A protracted lawsuit in federal bankruptcy court against the Denver-based Porter McLeod construction companies should soon have a trial date. "We have a hearing in a month or so with the judge [to set a...

Internet firms debate U S West move.
May 8, 1998... U S West Communications' new high-speed Internet access service raises a world of possibilities, but it also opens a grab bag of uncertainty for the Internet service providers who rely on the phone company to make a living. The entrepreneurial...

Printers devote lives to community: AmeriCopy Printing demonstrates a public service record that is hard to duplicate.
May 8, 1998... AmeriCopy Printing demonstrates a public service record that is hard to duplicate For the Killions, owners of AmeriCopy Printing Inc., business isn't about thinking big. In fact, the company has scaled back its operations to keep a healthy...

Sileo survives in cutthroat computer market: family-owned business perseveres despite competition and redevelopment push. (Sileo Computer Inc.)
May 8, 1998... Family-owned business perseveres despite competition and redevelopment push Since 1964, when he was laid off by Martin Marietta, James "Jim" Sileo has succeeded largely because of his ability to adapt. When Sileo, now 59, found himself...

U.S. Office unwraps $100M biz. (U.S. Products Co.'s spin off of Professional Travel Corp.)
May 15, 1998... Professional Travel becomes Navigant Professional Travel Corp. is near a $100 million spinoff that will transform it from a subsidiary of U.S. Office Products Co. to a public company primed to roll up travel agencies around the globe. The...

U S West has virtual partners. (QWest Communications Inc.)
May 15, 1998... Deal with Qwest hints at Baby Bell future Telephone deregulation is creating more pairings than a high school prom, with local and long-distance companies embracing the bigger-is-better theory with a steady stream of corporate liplocks. SBC...

Nike stumbled over its own laces. (purchase of South Table Mountain acres)
May 15, 1998... As much as Golden neighborhood activists like to claim credit for preventing Nike Inc. from buying the top of South Table Mountain for a headquarters operation, the sport-shoe giant's bruised condition was really responsible. Once Nike delved...

Study: beware of rising vacancies. (Denver, Colorado's suburban office market)
May 15, 1998... Suburban office market may be too hot Metropolitan Denver's suburban office market may be headed for the overbuilding that already has hit Atlanta and Dallas. Those two southern cities have experienced rising suburban vacancy rates at the...

Ad man climbs back: Terry Barnhart builds a second agency. (Barnhart/CMI Inc.)(Company Profile)
May 15, 1998... Terry Barnhart builds a second agency Perhaps the only person in Denver surprised by the growth of Terry Barnhart's latest advertising agency, Barnhart/CMI, is Barnhart himself. "I intended to stay small and focus on consumer-related...

Pres/St. Luke's challenges Children's. (Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center)(Health Care)
May 15, 1998... Denver can handle two pediatric hospitals Before Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center expanded its pediatric and neonatal services, the only place to take a seriously ill child in Colorado was The Children's Hospital. But since mid-1990,...

Colo. tourism boosters cast lures to residents.
May 15, 1998... Promotion of Colorado tourism got a small boost last week when the Legislature approved $1 million to the state tourism board, but some companies don't think it's enough and have teamed up to promote their businesses. Small and medium-sized...

Zima makes a splash, lifts Coors sales figures. (Coors Brewing Co.'s alternative alcoholic beverage)
May 15, 1998... 'Zomething different' reverses decline Zomebody must be drinking it. Sales of Zima, Coors Brewing Co.'s alternative alcoholic beverage, are on the rise, according to the company's 1997 annual report. Although Coors does not disclose sales...

Kandel back at Blues as O'Dell steps down. (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado; George Kandel; COO Stephen O'Dell)
May 15, 1998... Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado is "staying the course" and won't make any significant strategic changes after the May 1 departure of Chief Operating Officer Stephen O'Dell, said CEO David Kikumoto. But he has brought a veteran Blues...

FTC targets alleged Ponzi scheme: feds say Colorado firms owe $5M. (Federal Trade Commission requests injunction against Sterling Multi-Media and Venture Associates)
May 22, 1998... The Federal Trade Commission is going to court to stop two Lakewood companies from promising investors they can earn 25 percent to 50 percent returns every quarter from television commercials. The FTC has asked the U.S. District Court in Las...

Dillard's double play. (Dillard's Department Stores Inc. to own two key stores at Park Meadows)
May 22, 1998... Two Dillard's department stores at Park Meadows? It is an entirely possible scenario as Dillard's Inc. makes a decision on what to do with the 10 Joslins stores in Colorado it acquired when it agreed to purchase Mercantile Stores Inc. for $3.14...

Dailies bracing for fallout: demise of Joslins means drop in ads. (purchase of Mercantile Stores Inc. spell loss of huge advertising account for The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News)
May 22, 1998... While Joslins' devotees will surely mourn the departure of the department store from the local landscape, Denver's daily newspapers will feel the loss where it hurts most - the bottom line. Dillard's Inc.'s purchase of Joslins' parent company,...

U S West prepares for split; shareholders to vote on proposal June 5. (U S West Inc. to separate from MediaOne Group Inc.)
May 22, 1998... U S West Inc. has spent the last six months preparing to separate its two largest divisions, and June 5 it will go to shareholders for approval. Its proposed split, pending a simple majority vote, will cleave the Englewood giant's phone...

Jacor ready to buy new Tech Center HQ; broadcaster would leave downtown. (Jacor Broadcasting of Colorado Inc. may reside in Denver Technological Center)
May 22, 1998... Jacor Broadcasting of Colorado Inc., part of the burgeoning, Cincinnati-based Jacor Communications Inc. radio and television empire, needs a new home and hopes to find it in the Denver Technological Center. The company - owner of some of metro...

Christie's new owner has big stake in Vail. (Apollo Advisors LP may control Vail Resorts Inc.)
May 22, 1998... New York vulture investor Apollo Advisors LP may control Vail Resorts Inc., one of the world's largest owners of ski areas, but the French financial baron who just bought the fabled Christie's auction house supposedly pulls Apollo's strings. And,...

Colo.'s commercial construction booming. (Denver International Airport project contributes to Colorado construction boom)(Industry Overview)
May 22, 1998... Denver International Airport represented the most massive mobilization of construction resources in state history, a project for the ages. In hindsight, the $3.2 billion project with its 160 general contractors and 2,000 subcontractors served...

Financing propels SignalSoft overseas. (SignalSoft Corp. ready for international markets)
May 22, 1998... Thanks to nearly $10 million raised in SignalSoft Corp.'s second round of financing, the Boulder-based software company is now ready to call on international markets. "This financing really catches us in a period of change," said David Hose,...

Mutual Life buys Tamarac Plaza buildings. (Mutual Life Insurance Co. of New York closes sale of East Hampden Ave office buildings)
May 22, 1998... Mutual Life Insurance Co. of New York has closed on the sale of its Tamarac Plaza trio of office buildings on East Hampden Avenue. Houston-based PM Realty Group, working on behalf of client Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., a Park...

Recycling Industries' buyout offer rejected. (Recycling Industries Inc. and Mindis Metals Inc. merger deal scrapped)
May 22, 1998... ATLANTA - Mindis Metals Inc. has scrapped a merger that would have formed a half-billion dollar company with an iron grip on the Southeast market in favor of a management-led buyout. Englewood-based Recycling Industries Inc. announced last...

Small businesses feel phone pinch. (slamming and emerging illegal practice of cramming or providing unwanted/frequently unauthorized telephone services to clients without their permission)
May 29, 1998... 'Crammers' attack motel operator U.S. Motels Inc. feels a bit like it's been looted. The Denver-based motel operator recently discovered bogus charges on its phone bills ranging from the subtle to the outrageous and soaring well north of...

Labor's sweet revenge. (Colorado's highly competitive, tight job market)
May 29, 1998... Do workers finally hold a trump card in their never-ending poker game with the people who hire them? If the pay, benefits, hours and environment aren't right, more employees now simply walk away from the table. New employers, hungry for...

Crossroads schedules renovation.
May 29, 1998... Boulder mall plans partial demolition A major renovation of Crossroads Mall could begin as early as this year with the demolition of the south end of the shopping center. Macerich Partnership Ltd., owner of the Boulder mall, has completed...

Freewave sharpens edge for Indy racers. (Freewave Technologies)
May 29, 1998... Pit crews use Boulder company's modem When Eddie, Cheever fired up his car's engine at the Indianapolis 500, data ranging from his steering wheel position to the oil pressure was transmitted to his pit crew via a wireless transceiver made by a...

Golden firm hoists oil well output. (petroleum engineering firm Surtek Inc)
May 29, 1998... Walter Mize refused to develop his 168 million-barrel crude-oil play in south Texas until he found a technology that would recover more than half of the field's reserves. The chairman, president and CEO of Texas-based United Heritage Corp....

FTC, Lakewood companies agree to settle TV ads case. (Federal Trade Commission; Lakewood, CO; Sterling Multi-Media; Venture capitalization Co)
May 29, 1998... Two Lakewood companies sued by the Federal Trade Commission have agreed to stop selling or promoting investments in television commercials selling products. George McWilliams and Edward Hally, principals of Sterling Multi-Media and Venture...

Miller Global plots new growth strategy. (Miller Global Properties LLC)
May 29, 1998... Vector Property Services LLC lost more than 2 million square feet of business when parent Miller Global Properties LLC recently sold a big chunk of its Denver-area portfolio. The leasing and management company, however, remains open for business....

$320 million earns Winn/Richey top. (Cushman and Wakefield Inc employees Tim Richey and Mike Winn become its top investment brokers for the Denver, CO, area)
May 29, 1998... Tim Richey and his wife Jennifer were living in San Francisco when they got the idea that they wanted to live in Colorado. Richey was in the development field, but knew he didn't want to continue. They both quit their jobs, packed up and headed...

Security-minded firms rave about Quickstream. (Quickstream Software Inc)
May 29, 1998... Although Quickstream Software Inc. has only sold a single copy of its software, big business already relies on its document management applications for guiding its most sensitive projects. The Colorado Springs-based company created a Java-based...

$48.7 million puts Bolt in lead one more time. (CB Richard Ellis Senior VP Jim Bolt)
May 29, 1998... Find something that works and stick with it. For Jim Bolt, senior vice president of CB Richard Ellis, that means offering clients an ever-expanding basket of skills to keep up with their changing needs. "I endeavor to provide the highest level...