Denver Business Journal articles from November 1996

Denver Business Journal archives from November 1996

Trillium's LoDo gamble. (Trillium Corp.'s commercial project in lower downtown)
November 1, 1996... Larry Grace unveils details of Commons With a name and a ground-breaking date to shoot for, Trillium Corp.'s 63-acre Central Platte Valley development is gaining momentum. Trillium's project, called the Commons, will include residential,...

Let Rockies be model for Ascent future. (Colorado Rockies; plan to sell Ascent Entertainment)
November 1, 1996... Strong local sports team ownership is the best option for any city. Denver is no exception. That's why it makes sense for a group of metro area business people to make a spirited bid to pry the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche loose...

Retailer tries direct approach. (Andrisen Morton; direct sales)(Small Business Strategies)
November 1, 1996... Andrisen Morton, the upscale retailer of men's clothing, is forecasting the growth of its fledgling direct sales division will equal sales of its retail side in the next three to four years. The Denver-based retailer launched the direct sales...

Helena's enjoys 10th; beauty maven caters to thousands. (Helena's Cosmetics and Collection Ltd.)(Small Business Strategies)(Company Profile)
November 1, 1996... Beauty maven caters to thousands Helena Saltzman has been helping people look and feel better in Denver for 10 years. Helena's Cosmetics & Collections will celebrate a decade in business this month, having grown from a 200-square-foot space...

Computer giants vie for office market.
November 1, 1996... A desktop revolution is brewing in the Silicon Valley, but the villagers aren't exactly rioting for the technology. A host of computing giants announced this week plans to change the way offices operate, offering a bare-bones, network dependent...

MountainBoard glides to top innovative honor. (MountainBoard Sports)(Most Innovative New Colorado Products)
November 1, 1996... MountainBoard Sports wants to show the world that snowboarders need not mothball their sport when the snow melts. And it insists beginners don't need a gallon of Bactine and a gross of gauze pads to master what the year-old company claims is...

GoJack boot remover one for the road. (S and B Bootjack Co.'s portable boot jack)(Most Innovative New Colorado Products.)
November 1, 1996... Mart Shannon was tired of lugging around his big, wooden boot jack when he traveled, so he decided to make one that was convenient for travel. Shannon, who grew up on a ranch in southeastern Colorado, has worn cowboy boots all his life....

J.D. Edwards goes big with OneWorld. (business software)(Most Innovative New Colorado Products.)
November 1, 1996... Are you looking for a gift for that multinational company of yours that seems to have everything? Well. computer software producer J.D. Edwards may have just the item. OneWorld business software can manage every aspect of a large organization...

Kmart peddling parking lots to bolster finances.
November 1, 1996... WASHINGTON, D.C. - Kmart Corp. will sell or lease pieces of its parking lots across the nation to restaurants and retailers to boost revenue. Troy, Mich.-based Kmart, which has teetered on bankruptcy for the past year, has long-term leases on...

Bolder Tech's little battery packs big punch. (BOLDER Technologies Corp.)(Most Innovative New Colorado Products.)
November 1, 1996... Imagine a 1-pound battery the size of six rolls of quarters that can start a car engine - repeatedly. If you think this is science fiction, it's not. This is Bolder Technologies Corp.'s Thin Metal Film rechargeable battery. "It's...

California fires shine spotlight on Intelagard. (Intelegard Inc.'s fire-defense system)(Most Innovative New Colorado Products.)
November 1, 1996... Mark Feuer was busy fielding calls Oct. 23 about his company's product - a protein-based foam used for protecting homes and other structures from wild fires. They weren't complaints. He was handling calls from newspaper and television...

Building toy Zometool takes on industry kings. (Zometool Marketing Inc.)(Most Innovative New Colorado Products.)
November 1, 1996... A versatile building toy that has been in development for more than 20 years is finally edging its way into competition with toy giants such as Tinkertoy and Lego. The Zometool, developed by Denver-based Zometool Marketing Inc., uses a unique...

MedLogic Global Corp. develops SuperSkin.(Most Innovative New Colorado Products.)
November 1, 1996... MedLogic Global Corp., a 5-year-old Colorado Springs biomedical company, is preparing to aggressively market its flagship product, a synthetic skin adhesive that could be used by 16.5 million patients. MedLogic's chief product, SuperSkin, is...

Two resorts opening high-speed ski runs. (Aspen Skiing Co.; Vail Resort)
November 1, 1996... Aspen introduces language school Colorado ski resorts, hoping to tap some narrow market niches, are using speed and language training as selling tools. The Aspen Skiing Co., celebrating its 50th anniversary, will let skiers test speeds up to...

Land Info's digital maps charting new territories.(Most Innovative New Colorado Products)
November 1, 1996... Mike Blakeman attributes the growth of his small, Aurora-based company, in part, to a simple fact: "I haven't met a person on the face of the earth who doesn't like maps," said Blakeman, president of Land Info International Ltd., which sells...

Horizon says cheese the way to double sales. (Horizon Organic Dairy Inc.)
November 1, 1996... Horizon Organic Dairy is expanding its line of organic cheese products in an effort to double sales over last year. The Boulder-based company, which also increased its distribution in the Southeast, expects to see sales exceed $15 million this...

PharNetRx puts physicians on the Web. (World Wide Web)(Most Innovative New Colorado Products)
November 1, 1996... Yet another use for the Internet has been discovered in the form of a prescription-drug delivery system. PharmNetRx has developed software that will allow doctors to select medication for their patients, check for conflicts with other...

Westminster plant key for Lucent sales. (Westminster, Colorado; Lucent Technologies Inc.)
November 1, 1996... Vital phone product made in area Lucent Technologies Inc. reported strong earnings for the third quarter, thanks in part to telephone gear produced in its factory in Westminster. The equipment company, which spun off from AT&T Corp. on Sept....

Bus maker Neoplan shifts to higher gear. (NEOPLAN USA Corp.)(Company Profile)
November 1, 1996... L.A. awards contract to grow fleet Neoplan USA Corp. wants to carefully shift into a higher gear and has an armful of contracts to do it. The bus maker's president, Annemarie Chenoweth, recently returned to Lamar with a signed order to...

Great-West considers building third tower. (Great-West Life and Annuity Insurance Co.)
November 1, 1996... One of Colorado's largest insurers, Englewood-based Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co., wants to ensure it had room to grow, so it's considering building a third office tower in metropolitan Denver's southeastern suburbs. Great-West real...

Kaiser docs consider taking new approach. (Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc.)
November 1, 1996... The physicians who have been the exclusive core of the Kaiser Permanente medical-care philosophy are preparing to create a national federation that eventually could lead them into the competitive world. Initially the federation is seen as a way...

PSC turns up heat on big coal suit. (Public Service Company of Colorado)
November 15, 1996... Natural gas producers are furious about Public Service Company of Colorado's decision to continue burning coal at its Hayden Generating Station, but some coal companies are fuming about the way the state's biggest utility is trying to slash its...

Making a splash in Vegas. (Colorado hardware and software companies participating in Comdex Fall 1996 trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada)
November 15, 1996... It's Glitter Gulch meets the Silicon Valley; high gloss meets high tech; Siegfried and Roy meets Bill and Andrew. "It's a convergence of P.T. Barnum and Thomas Edison" said Dan Lucarini, a vice president for software developer Information...

Feds take close look at ski deal. (Department of Justice; Vail Resorts Inc.'s purchase of Ralcorp Holdings Inc.'s Colorado ski resorts)
November 15, 1996... How Justice might view Ralcorp play Despite the fact that the U.S. Department of Justice wangled more time from Vail Resorts Inc. to evaluate its $310 million purchase of Ralcorp Holdings Inc.'s Colorado ski resorts, the feds probably are...

United and the upstarts begin round 2. (United Air Lines Inc.; airlines)
November 15, 1996... Big companies and raw startups must learn how to adapt to change. How fast they learn often determines how long they stick around. It has taken United Airlines, and other major U.S. carriers, nearly 20 years to figure out how to operate...

Coors castoffs twist canning biz. (former Coors Brewing Co. employees Sam Wu and Glenn Bott)
November 15, 1996... Former Coors Brewing Co. engineers Sam Wu and Glenn Bott spent all of their severance pay and then some on a piece of red rubber. At least that's how it looks. In truth, their invention of the elastomer spring they call "EaseOut" - which looks...

Dog takes bite out of pottery market. (artist Tom Edwards' Wallyware pottery products)
November 15, 1996... Evergreen Tom Edwards finds success with 'Wallyware' Evergreen artist Tom Edwards claims to have no artistic talent, but that hasn't stopped a growing number of "Wally the Dog" followers from snapping up his eclectic pottery. Called...

Wall Street burns steak house stocks. (Denver, Colorado steak houses)
November 15, 1996... The steak house boom is drawing big crowds in Denver and elsewhere, but increased competition and an upturn in beef prices could sear area chains' bottom lines. "From a stock-market standpoint, a lot of steak houses are getting punished," said...

Celestial carves niche in Japan's tea market. (Celestial Seasonings Inc.)
November 15, 1996... Celestial Seasonings Inc., the Boulder-based tea maker, will share its lessons in exporting during a Nov. 20 seminar on exporting food products to Japan. Larry Bosch, international director of sales and marketing for Celestial Seasonings, will...

Popcorn dispute delays theater deal. (construction of Colorado Center entertainment complex)
November 15, 1996... Popcorn proved to be a culprit in the five-month delay in construction of the long-suffering, hotly anticipated Colorado Center entertainment complex at Interstate 25 and Colorado Boulevard. While the $16 million, 130,000-square-foot project...

Metropoint on market after year under Hines. (office building; Hines Interests L.P.)
November 15, 1996... Hines Interests LP has put its suburban office gem, the Metropoint building, up for sale a little more than a year after buying it, but may still develop land next to it. Indeed, Houston-based Hines, known as a developer of urban skyscrapers...

Space Imaging will orbit new Thornton HQ. (Space Imaging Inc.; Colorado)
November 15, 1996... Space Imaging Inc., a Thornton-based startup company that plans to commercialize satellite spy technology, spied a real estate bargain and snapped it up. On Nov. 7, the company closed on its purchase of the 58,000-square-foot Tri State...

Saab consolidation puts Shaw in the driver's seat. (Mike Shaw Buick Chevrolet Geo Saab; Denver, Colorado dealership)
November 15, 1996... Built to handle cold and snowy climates, the Swedish-born Saab and Colorado have always carried on a love affair. But the former symbol of entrance into Yuppiedom has pushed its way higher up the luxury market. The result - fewer and fewer...

Author: wealth an attainable goal for everyone. (Brett Machtig)
November 15, 1996... Give $500,000 to the average person on the street, and most will blow it within four years. Fewer than 1 percent of the population would know how to double it within 10 years, said Brett Machtig, author of "Wealth in a Decade." Machtig...

Battle for records opens window into defense. (government documents)
November 15, 1996... On April 9, at the first Oklahoma City bombing hearing held in Denver, prosecutors and the defense teams fought like Tyson and Holyfield over what information the government would be required to turn over as part of its discovery obligations....

Failure to obtain capital forces Etta into Chapter 11. (ETTA Industries Inc.)
November 15, 1996... Etta Industries Inc. of Boulder has filed for bankruptcy protection, seeking relief from more than $2.6 million in debt. The manufacturer of electronic ballasts used in light fixtures found itself unable to scrape up working capital after it...

Indian foods staple of gift basket biz. (Native Earth Products)
November 15, 1996... New mail-order company debuts When Dana EchoHawk leased office space to Ben Sherman a couple of years ago, she had no idea she would end up in business with him. The two Louisville residents recently launched Native Earth Products, a line of...

Habitual author plans appearance in Denver. (Stephen Covey; Colorado)
November 15, 1996... Stephen Covey, the man behind the hugely successful book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," will visit Denver Nov. 19 for a talk and book signing at the Park Meadows Town Center. Following a private breakfast sponsored by Nordstrom, the...

Re-engineering revisited.
November 15, 1996... As companies recover from downsizing's fallout, new strategies emerge Although a mandate from the board of directors to downsize staff can send corporations scrambling faster than Buckley Field fighter pilots, massive layoffs often create more...

Average Joe strategy wins for Republicans. (Colorado's Republican Party)
November 15, 1996... Just a few years ago, Colorado's Republican Party looked like a shambles. Senate candidate Terry Considine was beaten handsomely by Democrat Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Onetime GOP bigwig Phil Winn was under indictment in the HUD scandals....

In the praise of the new library design. (Denver Public Library)
November 15, 1996... As I rode the Denver Public Library's escalator from the ground floor to the second level, I thought about M. Gordon Brown s recent column disparaging the new Denver landmark. Brown jumps through a variety of hoops to compare the building's...

Colorado well-positioned for coming telecom battle.
November 15, 1996... Advances in information technology have altered our lives dramatically over the last decade. How we live, work and communicate has evolved, and as the telecommunications industry changes, the public policy that governs it has to change as well....

'Lone eagle' couple flies from Maryland: calling the shots from Fort Collins. (Syscom Services Inc., Betsy Markey and Jim Kelly)
November 22, 1996... Every business owner knows one of the secrets to success is location, location, location. But what if the business is in the right spot, but the owner isn't? That's the dilemma Jim Kelly faced not long after he and his wife, Betsy Markey,...

Blues poised to launch IPO plan. (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Colorado/Rocky Mountain Hospital and Medical Service Inc.)
November 22, 1996... Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Colorado is putting the final touches on its plan to convert to a for-profit corporation, a potentially controversial action that will create a foundation with $300 million or more to spend on public health issues....

Boston Market's holiday: will hams ring up profits for franchises? (includes related article on company earnings)
November 22, 1996... Thanksgiving dinner typically hasn't been associated with take-out, but the owners of metro Denver holiday offerings will open people's minds and their pocketbooks. Watching closely over the rollout of Boston Market's holiday menu is BCE West,...

Minority architectural firm builds its base. (Roybal Corp.)
November 22, 1996... When Ronald and Michael Roybal started The Roybal Corp. in 1984, the brothers were its only two employees. Today, the architectural firm is the fifth largest in Denver, according to The Denver Business Journal's Top 25 list of architectural...

Stapleton tools up for reconstruction: $1M spent on prep work, new image. (Stapleton International Airport; Stapleton Development Corp.)
November 22, 1996... Development at the old Stapleton International Airport hasn't officially started yet, but $1 million in work that will pave the way for the bulldozers and cranes is flying high. In early August, the fledgling Stapleton Development Corp. began...

Baby boomers take helm at Hanifen. (Hanifen, Imhoff Holdings Inc. officials and employees)
November 22, 1996... Walt Imhoff doesn't want Hanifen, Imhoff Holdings Inc. to be buried with the same epitaph Boettcher & Co. and Bosworth Sullivan rest under - "Well respected but dead." Imhoff, 64, has paved the way for two baby boomers to lead Denver's largest...

HMO consolidation forecasted for 1997: industry experts see shakeout in Colorado market. (health maintenance organizations)
November 22, 1996... Nearly everyone in Colorado's healthcare industry believes there is a surplus of health-maintenance organizations in the state and that a shakeout is just around the corner. There are 20 HMOs licensed to do business in Colorado - soon there...

Analyst torpedoes NeXstar stock: despite positive news, biotech firm loses some luster.
November 22, 1996... NeXstar Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently had one of the seemingly most positive events in its five-year life - an announcement that the Food and Drug Administration was being asked to approve the company's No. 1 drug. It was the kind of...

Lodgepole leaves a lot to be desired: drilling slumps n N. Dakota field.
November 22, 1996... Like last year's faded chic fashion, the Lodgepole oil and gas play of North Dakota is no longer as trendy as it was a year ago. Dozens of wells drilled in the area around Dickinson, N.D., have come up dry, slowing the frenzied migration into...

Customers ignoring Scott's product lines. (Scott's Liquid Gold Inc.)
November 22, 1996... Slumping sales for Scott's Liquid Gold Inc. and its line of cosmetics is enough to give company executives wrinkles. The home-grown success story that annually lands on local lists of the state's best public companies has hit hard times in...

Banking giant grows in Englewood. (CoBank)
November 29, 1996... Looking businesslike in a starched, white button-down shirt and sporting red suspenders, it is hard to believe that the leader of the nation's largest agricultural bank has rural roots. But Douglas Sims, 50, chief executive officer of...

ComTec International has work to do.
November 29, 1996... Sometime in the near future a broker may invite you to invest in an up-and-coming telecommunications company named ComTec International Inc. The broker may tell you the Aurora-based company has a promising future in exploiting a technology...

Denver's own hit parade: local music scene getting national focus.
November 29, 1996... Not Lame Recordings, The Elephant 6 Recording Co., and 360 Twist Records may be obscure brand names to most, but nationally and internationally, the young Denver-based music labels have found niche markets by catering to specialized tastes....

Colorado factory outlets expand horizons.(Retail Report)
November 29, 1996... Booming discount centers build on successes, prepare for holiday season Colorado's factory outlets count millions of visitors each year, and to keep up with increased traffic and lure precious shopping dollars, they continue to expand, adding...