Springs-based LearningRx gets national attention

Colorado Springs-based brain training company, LearningRx, was featured in Fortune Small Business magazine in a cover story on customer satisfaction scoring.

LearningRx was one of four companies featured because of its "net promoter score" of 72, with the average being 15. The company uses the net promoter score not only to determine success among clients but also to track the performance of employees and links rewards to individual scores.

LearningRx was founded in Colorado Springs in 2001 and now has 66 centers in 24 states. The company specializes in identifying and correcting underlying cognitive skill deficiencies in people of all ages. Trainers use one-on-one sessions to enhance weak cognitive skills, including memory, attention and processing. More than 15,000 students have gone through the training with average gains of 4.12 years across nine learning areas.

Spectranetics makes Fortune list

Spectranetics Corp. has made Fortune magazine’s annual list for a third time - a list of the nation’s fastest-growing small companies published by its small business sibling rather than the better-known list of 500 largest U.S. corporations.
The Colorado Springs-based medical laser manufacturer ranked 33rd in the Fortune Small Business 100 list published in the magazine’s July-August issue. Spectranetics ranked 62nd last year and 56th in 2006 among public companies with revenues of less than $200 million and a stock price of more than a $1 compiled by Zacks Investment Research Inc.
Spectranetics reported growth of more than 30 percent annually for the past three years in revenue, profit and total return to shareholders. The rankings are based on a composite of where the company ranks in growth of all three measures. No other Colorado Springs companies made the list. Dynamic Materials Corp. of Boulder, Health Grades Inc. of Golden, Mesa Laboratories Inc. of Lakewood and Royal Gold Inc. of Denver were ranked sixth, 35th, 62nd and 89th, respectively.
East Aurora, N.Y.-based aviation-parts manufacturer Astronics Corp., one of 24 manufacturing firms on the list, was ranked first.

USAA ranks tops in customer service

San Antonio-based financial services giant USAA, which has nearly 1,100 employees in Colorado Springs, tops BusinessWeek’s ranking of “Customer Service Champs” for the second consecutive year.
BusinessWeek's special report, “Customer Service Champs,” is featured in the March 3 issue, which hit newsstands Feb. 25. Additional content is at www.businessweek.com/magazine.

Changes to Gazette's Essentials listings

Starting Sunday (Jan. 20, 2008), we're moving our Essentials listing in The Gazette Business section from Sundays to Mondays. The listing includes news about business people and firms, calendar items and new incorporations.
For information on having your news included in Essentials, e-mail businessnews@
gazette.com or call 476-4887

BBB eye shut

The Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado's "BBB Eye" monthly TV show on Comcast Channel 2 has been canceled. The show shared consumer tips and interviews with local business people. However, Comcast discontinued production of local shows effective Jan. 1, and so the BBB show was forced off the air.

Is that your final answer?

In today's Gazette story about the apartment industry, Colorado Springs real estate veteran Ken Greene, who works for Apartment Realty Advisors in Denver, was asked if a second-quarter dip in the Springs apartment vacancy rate signaled the start of an improvement in the market, or was just a one-time decline.

“That’s the $64 question," Greene said, "nobody really knows.” His response prompted this reply from some readers under the age of, oh, 40: What "$64 question" was he talking about?

OK, for those of you came out of the womb wearing an iPod, here's the answer. Greene's comment refers to the 1950s-era television game show called "The $64,000 Question," in which contestants answered a series of questions and saw their winnings increase for every correct answer. That program was based on a radio quiz show that started as 1940's "Take It or Leave It" and was renamed "The $64 Question" a decade later. Today's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" is based on those shows. More information: www.museum.tv, the Web site for the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

Local news organizations to discuss new technologies

Here's another chance to meet Colorado Springs-area media and learn how they're using the Internet and other new tools to gather and distribute news. Leadership Pikes Peak will host "Meet the Press: Internet and Interconnectivity," from 8 to 10 a.m. Thursday, July 19 at the Pikes Peak Library's Carnegie Room in downtown Colorado Springs. The discussion will touch on topics such as how media outlets are using new technology to meet the needs of readers and viewers; blogging; community-generated journalism; and audio-video streaming. Panelists will include Noel Black, publisher of Newspeak and Newspeakblog.com; Ginny Greene, The Gazette's Internet director; Bob Richards, market manager for Clear Channel Broadcasting; and Nick Matesi, KKTV-Channel 11 news director. The cost is $5 to attend; RSVPs are required and the deadline is July 13. Call 632-2618 or email wendy@leadershippikespeak.org to attend.

Ex-Gazette publisher in the spotlight

Former Gazette publisher N. Christian Anderson III, active in the Colorado Springs business community when he headed the newspaper from mid-1994 through 1998, is receiving the red-carpet treatment from journalism industry publication Editor & Publisher. Anderson, currently the publisher and chief executive officer of the Orange County Register, was named publisher of the year by E&P. But in its May print issue, E&P is positively gushy about Anderson, noting that he "is pointing a path for newspaper revitalization in an extraordinarily challenging time for the industry." E&P also recognizes Anderson’s role in shaping the "identity" of Orange County. “It's no exaggeration to say that an amorphous area known for Disneyland, orange groves, and pretty much nothing else, became 'The O.C.' in large part because of the work of Chris Anderson and the Register he began transforming as a 30-year-old editor just arrived from Walla Walla, Washington.”

The story goes on to note Anderson's influence on Walt Disney in the creation of Mickey Mouse. Yes, we made up that last part. But E&P does credit Anderson for overseeing creation of "an impressive portfolio of products, many of them -- like the young adult-oriented Squeeze OC and the luxury Coast regional magazine brand extensions -- betraying no hint they are siblings of the Register. Anderson has created and broken apart a series of corporate organizations to keep nimble in the newspaper economy's riptide."

Anderson, 56, heads the flagship newspaper of Freedom Communications Inc., the corporate parent of The Gazette. While at The Gazette, Anderson served as board chairman of the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp. He also helped lead a community effort to raise private funding to build the Colorado Springs World Arena.

Find a guide to home values in Sunday's Gazette

How much have home values appreciated in Colorado Springs and El Paso County during the past year and over the past decade? A special section in The Gazette on Sunday, April 22, will give homeowners the lowdown. For the second consecutive year, The Gazette analyzed El Paso County Assessor's Office records to determine how home values have changed in 78 county neighborhoods. The results were compiled into "Neighborhoods, The Gazette Guide to Real Estate." The information also will be available Sunday on http://www.gazette.com/.

Some highlights: Single-family home values countywide increased 6.3 percent in 2006 over the previous year, while values for an 11-year period from 1996 to 2006 are up 80.6 percent. But increased values weren't the whole story; 2006 was a tough year to sell a house in El Paso County as the Pikes Peak region got caught up in the nation's housing slowdown.

Kids and money

Want to know how to talk to your kids about money? Local author and certified financial planner Linda Leitz will give a free lecture Thursday April 19, at 7 p.m. at Covered Treasures Bookstore, 105 Second St. in Monument.

The author of “The Ultimate Parenting Guide to Money Smart Kids,” Leitz gives parents a philosophy and practical advice on how to help their kids become financially savvy and responsible.

Filled with practical advice on money management, the book won an iParenting Media Award. For more information on Leitz, see www.BrightLeitz.com.

Learn how news decisions are made

Ever wonder how news organizations decide which stories to cover? Want to complain about The Gazette's recent decision to discontinue daily stock listings? Here's your chance to get answers, get angry or both. Leadership Pikes Peak will host "Meet the Press: How decisions are made in your local newsrooms," from 8 to 10 a.m. April 12 at the studios of KKTV Channel 11, 3100 N. Nevada Ave. in Colorado Springs.

A breakfast will take place at 8 a.m., followed by an 8:30 a.m. panel discussion including Jeff Thomas, editor and vice president of The Gazette; Ralph Routon, executive editor of the Colorado Springs Independent; Nick Matesi, Channel 11 new director; and Jim Arthur, KVOR radio program director. A pair of interactive role-playing sessions will take place at 9:30 a.m.: "Selling your story," a practice session to learn how to pitch story ideas and generate press for your organization or issue; and "Telling your story," how to address issues in front of a camera that will include live simulations on the KKTV set.

The event is open to Leadership Pikes Peak alumni and the public; the cost is $5. To attend, RSVP by April 11 to 632-2618 or wendy@leadershippikespeak.org

Expanded business coverage in Gazette

Starting April 1, The Gazette unveiled expanded business coverage and new features in each day’s Business section.

On Tuesday, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, we'll no longer run hundreds of yesterday’s closing prices for stocks and mutual funds. The Gazette’s new Money & Markets page features news and analysis about how the markets are performing — and where they’re expected to go. We’ll continue to list closing prices for about 100 stocks of companies that are of interest in our region. And on Saturday's, we'll run more than 3 pages of week-ending stock and mutual fund closing prices, as we have in the past.

Here are some highlights of the changes in the Business section.
Mondays: Stories about careers, the workplace and small business issues and a new feature by local image consultant Tia Warren.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays: A focus on different topic each day on page 2: technology, money management, spending, real estate and investing.
Saturdays: Regular stock listings will remain in print, along with stories related to investing.
Sundays: Stories about local newsmakers, trends and issues.

Send your feedback to joanna.bean@gazette.com.

Biz staff changes

Last week's layoffs at The Gazette resulted in two business writers leaving the staff: Jim Bainbridge and Sarah Colwell. Next week, a new face will join the staff - though he's no stranger to Colorado Springs. Bill Radford has been an award-winning journalist for nearly 30 years, working at newspapers including the Las Vegas Review-Journal, El Paso Herald-Post and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has been at The Gazette for 18 years, starting on the copy desk. Before joining the business staff, he wrote for several years for the Life section. You may not recognize him without his Spider-Man mask; he's also the Comics Fan columnist. You can contact him at bill.radford@gazette.com.