Friday, August 4, 2006

United executives dump company stock

Eight executives of UAL Corp., United Airlines parent company, dumped thousands of shares of stock on Thursday totaling about $2.9 million. UAL President and Chief Executive Officer Glen Tilton sold about 40,000 shares for about $980,000.

The sale comes after the company announced certain officers established pre-arranged personal stock trading plans with a brokerage firm under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Sales under this plan have the effect of spreading stock trades over an extended period of time to reduce the market impact.

Does a $2.9 million one day sale sound like a minimal impact to you?

The individuals participating in the stock trading plans will sell shares to pay taxes due on stock grants made to officers as part of the company's ongoing long-term incentive plans, as well as for other purposes.

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Doss Aviation involved in high-tech scam

According to Frank Hunter, president of the Springs-headquartered aviation company, someone took the company's fax cover sheet, an electronic image of his signature and sent a fax to the company's bank requesting an internationl wire transfer of $14,520 to Lithuania.

The bank returned the money to the company and is currently investigating the fraud.

Hunter said he wants to get the word out about the scam to prevent other companies from falling victim to the same scam.

Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Colorado Springs test a blockbuster

Blockbuster Video is using the Colorado Springs area to test out a new policy that management believes could give them a leg up on chief online competitor Netflix. The open-ended policy allows Blockbuster Online customers to return their movie to a Blockbuster store and get a free in-store movie rental. Subscribers can take their movie in a sealed return envelope to any one of 20 stores in Colorado Springs, Falcon, Fountain, Monument, Woodland Park, Pueblo or Canon City and the store will return it to the Online division.

The free in-store rental is subject to normal in-store rental rules, including no late fees, and it must be returned by the store’s normal due date. This rental offer is in addition to the free in-store rentals that are given with a Blockbuster Online subscription. The plan allows Blockbuster Online subscribers the option of getting a new movie the same day they return it instead of waiting for a new one to be mailed and is available as an addition to the number of DVDs allowed out at a time from Blockbuster Online.

Town Hall meeting about Stormwater at Chamber

Greater Colorado Springs members are invited to a town hall meeting from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Aug. 7 at the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, 2 N. Cascade suite 110.

The Chamber encourages businesses to be part of the discussion and decision on the fee structure for the City's proposed Stormwater Enterprise Fund coming to a vote on Aug. 22.

The Chamber will present the critical need for the enterprise and will review the city's options of a phase-in of the fee versus the implementation of the full fee by Jan. 1, 2007.

For more information, call 575-4313.

Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Health insurance rankings

In a new survey of the 100 largest U.S. cities, Colorado Springs ranked 64th in affordability for children's health insurance, at an average cost of $80.33 a month.

For families, the city ranked 42 in terms of affordability.

The top-rated cities for affordable children's plans were St. Louis, Grand Rapids, Mich., Columbus, Ohio, Long Beach, Calif. and Glendale, Calif., and Akron Ohio. Monthly premiums in these cities ranged from $29 to $47.69.

Grand Rapids also ranked No. 1 for affordable family plans.

The latest U.S. Census data reports that nearly 46 million Americans are without health insurance, 8.5 million of which are children.

To see the full report, go to www.ehealthinsurance.com.

Denver's tourism numbers rise because of Colorado Springs

Denver attracted a record 10.4 million visitors in 2005 due in large part to Colorado Springs and Pueblo. The Pikes Peak region sent the second highest number of visitors to Denver according to a tourism survey commissioned by the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. Los Angeles sent the largest amount of overnight visitors to Denver in 2005, according to the Longwoods International survey. The Colorado Springs visitors bureau, Experience Colorado Springs at Pikes Peak, does not commission for a similar study.

Monday, July 31, 2006

Springs businessman appointed to SBA national advisory council

Wendel Torres, managing partner at Colorado Springs-based TORIX General Contractors, Inc. is one of two Coloradans to recently be appointed as members of the Small Business Associations National Advisory Council.

The other Coloradan to be appointed is Denise St. Cyr, Director of Corporate Development at Denver-based CADDO Solutions.

The National Advisory Council serves as a key private sector advisory group to SBA, Congress, and the president on small business issues. The council includes small business owners and leaders who volunteer their time over the course of a two-year appointment to provide the SBA with diverse and expert advice, ideas, and opinions on small business issues and SBA programs nationwide.

Torres is one of the managing partners at TORIX General Contractors which has been in Colorado Springs since 1987. The firm has sales exceeding $60 million, and over 100 employees.