UCCS students in investment competition

The stakes are a little higher this year for D.A. Davidson & Co.’s annual Student Investment Program — the competition includes a shot at a paid internship.
Two University of Colorado at Colorado Springs College of Business students already have been nominated and will compete with 40 other nominees from 20 colleges for the internships, said Mark Sikorski, vice president and manager of the local Davidson office.
Rachel Ellis, a senior majoring in finance at UCCS, is hoping the internship could give a kick start to plans for a career in investments or banking. The other nominee declined to be identified.
The pair are among 40 UCCS students who manage a $50,000 portfolio loaned by the company for the competition, won last year by a team from University of Oregon with a 29.4 percent return. The UCCS team finished sixth last year with a 19 percent return on its portfolio.
A panel of Davidson executives will interview three to five finalists for the internship in mid-January, and the two winners will be revealed Feb. 11. The company will pay both interns a $1,290 weekly salary for the 12-week program plus $2,500 in a Davidson investment account.
The Montana-based investment brokerage firm has sponsored the contest for 22 years, and UCCS is participating for the fourth consecutive year. Profits earned on the portfolio in excess of 5 percent are donated to the school, which netted UCCS about $4,000 for student programs.

Twiggy the squirrel

If you missed Twiggy, the water-skiing squirrel, when he last visited Colorado Springs, you will have another chance to see him on Saturday Oct. 20.
Twiggy and the BMX Pro Stunt team, featuring three-time ESPN X-Games gold medal winner Trevor Meyer, will be featured at the grand opening celebration for Integrity Bank’s third branch at 13475 Voyager Parkway, southeast of Voyager Parkway and North Gate Boulevard.
The squirrel, which drew a crowd of more than 1,000 at another Integrity branch opening in 2005, is scheduled to perform at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and noon, while the BMX team performs at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The branch opened on Monday.

7-Eleven giving away caffeine

Colorado Springs 7-Eleven stores will give away free 12 oz. cups of its new Exclusive Bold coffee on Wednesday, Oct. 17, from 10 a.m. to midnight. 7-Eleven call it the strongest coffee ever sold in its stores. The chain has about 50 stores in the Colorado Springs area and says it sells 1 million cups of coffee each day in its North American stores.

Progressive to plant trees at Memorial Park

Progressive call center employees in Colorado Springs will team up with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant 70 native trees in Memorial Park, 1605 E. Pikes Peak Ave. , on Wednesday, Oct. 17. The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies is the third largest car insurance group in the country and fifth largest in Colorado.

About 30 Progressive call center employees were selected to help plant the trees as a reward for their work. The Colorado Springs tree planting is part of Progressive’s “70 Years, 70 Trees” events in which the company is celebrating its 70th anniversary in its six call center communities. In the next three months, Progressive volunteers will plant 420 large trees in Cleveland, Tampa, Austin, Colorado Springs, Phoenix and Sacramento.

Springs a hotbed for security-cleared jobs

Colorado Springs ranks as the nation’s 14th best location for those with security clearance to find a job, according to a recent study by ClearanceJobs.com.
The Des Moines, Iowa-based company cited the large collection of military bases as well as defense and aerospace contractors operating in the Springs area and creating a “positive employment picture, particularly for security-cleared personnel.”
Springs-area defense workers regularly report wages well above the national average for security-cleared candidates, the site said. Those salaries averaged $69,834 in the site’s March survey.
McLean-Arlington, Va., captured the top ranking in the site’s study, joining nine other Virginia cities among the top 20 locations. Aurora> was the only other Colorado city listed, ranking 12th.
ClearanceJobs.com is owned by New York-based Dice Holdings Inc., which provides online recruiting, job fairs and career development services to professionals in technology, engineering, investment banking, accounting and finance.
For more information, go to http://www.clearancejobs.com/news.php?articleID=34