Top 25 local employers

In Monday's Business Edge section, you'll find The Gazette's Top 25, a list of the region's largest private employers. For the past five years, our business staff has compiled the listing. The process is somewhat fraught with problems - we've wrestled with how to count part-timers, whether contract workers should be counted with their employer or with the company they're contracted with and even whether the employee counts we get from companies are reliable. We'd like to know whether you use our list - and how. And please let us know, too, if we've been given inaccurate numbers. Contact Joanna Bean, business editor, at joanna.bean@gazette.com or 636-0273, or leave a comment here by clicking the link below.

Celebrate Technology -- the envelope please

The nominations are in for this year's Celebrate Technology awards, which will be presented at 6 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave.

The nominees for Entrepreneur of the Year are

Carol Sturman of Sturman Industries

Scott Miller and Mark LeBlanc of Omitron Inc.

Jay Jesse of Intelligent Software Solutions

Art Nutter, of TAEUS International Corp.

Alan J. Black of Intelliden

Karl Friedman of NextAction Corp.

John Elms of Spectralink Corp.

Kelly Lynn Roth of Delta Solutions & Strategies

Alex Goldstein of Configuresoft Inc.

John Street of MX Logic Inc.

David K. Neumann of Directed Energy Solutions

To find out who the winners are, you'll have to attend the event or watch for coverage in The Gazette. It's not quite the Oscars, but the awards are considered a big honor by local technology entrepreneurs.

The rest of the nominees can be found at http://www.celebratetechnology.org/celebrate.asp?pageid=0%7C4&id=0%7Caward_nominations
To make a reservation for the event, go to celebratetechnology.org. Ticket cost is $50.

Want to fly direct from D.C. to Beijing?

Then fill out this petition for United Airlines.
United is petitioning the Department of Transportation to be allowed to be the first domestic carrier to have a direct route between Washington, D.C. Dulles (IAD) and Beijing, China (PEK).
Right now, 28 other world capitals have this route to Beijing.
The airline is asking people to add their name and support to the initative; click here to read the petition.

Wine consulting enters cyberspace

Former Primitivo restaurant operators Alan Manley and Laura Larsen have expanded their 2-year-old wine consulting business with an online store (www.ccconlinewine.com). The Colorado Cellar Consulting site is designed to sell and ship premier wines nationwide, with a personal touch. Each wine offered has been tested by Manley or Larsen - or recommended based on a personal relationship with the vintner or winemaker. All of the wines carry detailed tasting notes that include food pairings and can be cross-referenced using an internal search engine. Colorado Springs-based CCC (www.coloradocellarconsulting.com) will also continue its other functions, including event planning, custom wine cellar design and private tastings.

"What Happens Here, Stays Here"

The creative director of the well-known advertising tourism campaign for Las Vegas - What Happens Here, Stays Here - was the guest speaker at the Pikes Peak Advertising Federation's luncheon Tuesday.

Randy Snow of R&R Partners showed the group of advertisers the progression of the ad campaign from capitalizing on the traveler's need for freedom to capitalizing on the idea that Vegas is a playground for adults where they can misbehave. The reason for the campaign's success was the actors who improvised in many of the commercials, according to Snow. The commercials hit home with viewers because a lot of the commerical's message was left unsaid, leaving the viewer to become engaged in the story line, Snow said.

The Pikes Peak Advertising Federation is collecting nominations for the 2006 ADDY Awards. Submissions are due Oct. 10. For more information, visit www.ppaf.org

The next Pikes Peak Advertising Federation luncheon, Oct. 10, will feature Jake Jabs, owner of American Furniture Warehouse.

Regional Retail Rumblings

Pueblo restaurateurs Rolf Anderson and Kevin F. McCarthy are expanding their Andy McCarthy's Sports Grill business (www.andymccarthys.com) into Colorado Springs, opening a location at 5710 S. Carefree Circle on Sept. 20. The restaurant's Web site lists menu items, employment opportunities, a place to sign up for a newsletter and a contest offering a trip to Las Vegas as the grand prize. ...

Neno Nenoff, owner of American Furniture Galleries, 3212 E. Platte Ave., will mark the company's 85th anniversary on Sept. 23 by opening a new Ekornes Stressless Zone to showcase products by Norwegian company Ekornes. A speech from Denver-based Norwegian Consul General Rita I. Ehrmann at 1 p.m. will be part of the all-day public event, which will also include Norwegian delicacies catered by Kings Norsk, a Denver-based Norwegian caterer, whose staff will be dressed in Norwegian national costumes. ...

To show appreciation to military stationed here, all seven Colorado Springs Chipotle (www.chipotle.com) restaurants will give away a free burrito, bol (burrito without the tortilla), tacos or salad to anyone with a valid military ID on Sept. 25 between 5 and 9 p.m.

It might be, it could be, it's KB

KB Home, one of the nation's largest builders, is following through on its announcement earlier this year to enter the Colorado Springs market. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, the California-based builder will showcase three models, a sales center and an on-site home studio for an 86-unit townhome project (right) being built at the Bluffs at Spring Creek development on the city's south side. The project is northeast of South Circle Drive and the Hancock Expressway. The two-story homes range from 1,498 to 1,898 square feet, with three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and alley-loaded attached two-car garages. Prices start in the high $100,000s. More information: 635-7927 or kbhome.com.

Local aviation company wins national award

Colorado-Springs based Integrity Air Inc. will receive a five-year safety award by the National Business Aircraft Association at the organziation's national convention next month in Orlando.

Integrity Air is an aviation operator serving Pikes Peak area companies with aircraft management, leasing and charter services. It has offices in the Colorado Springs Jet Center. Integrity Air was founded in 2001 by chief executive officer Charles Myers and partners Tom Menza, Dave Bennett and Lee Taylor. The company employs five people.

The National Business Aircraft Association recognizes companies that operate business aircraft and employ "best practices" in safe flight operations with the association's safety award.

What do employees steal most?

Thirty-eight percent of hiring managers say they have fired someone for theft, according to a new survey by CareerBuilder.com, with 15 percent of the scofflaws being caught red-handed. Dissatisfaction and a strong sense of entitlement were cited as the primary motivations for the thefts. Among the most popular stolen items were co-workers' belongings, computer or phone equipment, office decor (including paintings and plants), coffee packets, tea bags, condiments and toilet paper.