Safeway fleet converts to biodiesel

Safeway Inc. has converted its entire U.S. fleet of more than 1,000 trucks to cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel. The company says the decision will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 75 million pounds annually, the equivalent of taking nearly 7,500 passenger vehicles off the road each year. In Colorado, the program will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 3.6 million pounds, said Scott Grimmett, president of Safeway’s Denver division.

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

Crowley: Hotel industry troubled

Colorado Springs needs a way to attract more visitors if the hotel industry’s flagging fortunes are to be reversed, local economist Fred Crowley said today.


What that something is — new attractions, a convention center, winter festivals — Crowley didn’t say.


“I don’t know what the answer is,” said Crowley, senior economist for the Southern Colorado Economic Forum. But he suggested a market study be done in search of that answer. “What is being done elsewhere?” he said. "What can we do here to take advantage of the success of others?”


Crowley, at a meeting of the southern Colorado chapter of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International, pointed to some troubling trends in the local hotel industry. Colorado Springs’ share of the state’s hotel revenue has fallen. Occupancy rates are down. With demand soft, increases in room rates aren’t keeping up with inflation.


Crowley also discussed the national economic picture. And as he did at a recent meeting of the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors, he brought up the “R” word. “I think we are a whisker away from a recession,” he warned.

Moving up the list

Colorado Springs-based Miracle Method Surface Restoration is No. 188 in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 list, published in its January issue. Miracle Method, the nation’s leading bathtub, tile and countertop restoration franchisor, jumped from the 297th spot in last year’s Franchise 500 rankings.

The Children's Playroom opens

The Children’s Playroom, a drop-in child-care facility, has opened at 8776 N. Union Blvd., in the Union Town Center. Parents can pay by the hour or buy hours in bulk at a discounted rate. The Children’s Playroom is owned and operated by two former teachers from The Classical Academy.

City's newest hotel opens soon

A Hampton Inn & Suites is set to open on the city's south side, near the World Arena, on Feb. 1. The 101-room hotel is at 2910 Geyser Drive.

Eastern Plains Chamber launches Web site

The new Eastern Plains Chamber of Commerce, formerly the Falcon Business League, has launched what it calls a preliminary Web site at www.easternchamber.org. Some information, such as a business directory, is still to come, but there is contact information, details on meetings and leadership, and links to other chambers.

Top 10 fastest growing occupations in the U.S.

Thinking of changing careers? You might want to think health care. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the top 10 fastest growing occupations in the nation through 2014, ranked by percentage of growth, are:

1) Home health aides, 59 percent growth

2) Network systems and data communications analysts, 54.6 percent growth

3) Medical assistants, 52.1 percent growth

4) Physicians, 49.6 percent growth

5) Computer software engineers -- applications, 48.4 percent growth

6) Physical therapist assistants, 44.2 percent growth

7) Dentists, 43.3 percent growth

8) Computer software engineers -- systems software, 43 percent growth

9) Dental assistants, 42.7 percent growth

10) Personal and home health care workers, 41 percent growth

Two Colorado foodie companies link products

Two Colorado-based companies have created a tasty partnership.

Beginning this month, Village Inn restaurants are offering a bite of Boulder Sausage.

As part of Village Inn's Legendary Restaurants and Recipes promotion, the restaurant chain owned by VICORP Restaurants of Denver is offering Boulder Sausage skillet dishes, a Boulder Sausage platter and a Boulder Italian Sausage sandwich. Also new at Village Inn this month are two pot roast recipes from the Dorset Inn in Vermont.

The Legendary Restaurants and Recipes promotion started in the fall of 2007 with blueberry stuffed French toast from the Maples Inn in Maine and a handful of recipes made with seasonings from the Perini Ranch Steakhouse in Texas. More new dishes following the theme will be added throughout this year.

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.

Two local residents win volunteer grants

Two El Paso County residents received grants from the Prudential Foundation and Prudential Financial, in honor of their volunteer service, to pass on to their chosen charities.

Randy L. Reynolds, a broker associate with Prudential Professional Realtors, received a $1,000 grant, which he donated to Junior Achievement. Reynolds donated 200 volunteer hours to Junior Achievement in 2006, teaching students about finance and entrepreneurship.

Jacqueline Youmans, a Prudential Financial retiree from Colorado Springs, received a $1,000 grant, which she donated to Easter Seals of Southern Colorado. She volunteered 200 hours to Easter Seals, which included coordinating a minor league baseball game, wrapping gifts during the holidays and working at bi-weekly bingo games.

The program provided $461,000 volunteer grants to 444 nonprofits worldwide. Grants range from $250 to $5,000 and recognize team and individual efforts of at least 40 hours of volunteer service per person.

Hunters, anglers boost the economy

Colorado’s 593,000 hunters and anglers have a significant impact on the state’s economy, spending more than $1.2 billion a year on hunting and fishing, acording to a report released by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. The foundation also released a state-by-state ranking for various categories related to hunting and fishing. Colorado is the No. 2 destination state for hunting, topped only by Georgia. The report, “Hunting and Fishing: Bright Stars of the American Economy,” is available at www.sportsmenslink.org.

Revisiting the chamber-EDC split

For those with long roots in the Springs business community, talk of a possible merger between the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Corp. stirs memories of the split between the two 16 years ago.

Ronald Lehmann helped spearhead the split of the EDC — then the Economic Development Council — from the chamber. The chamber’s board of directors ousted him as chairman of the chamber’s EDC division in August 1991 after he proposed the group become a separate organization. At the time, the split was portrayed as coming after years of often-bitter infighting over how much control the chamber should have over the EDC. But Lehmann says that wasn’t really the issue.

The issue, he said, was whether being part of the chamber made sense for the EDC. Did it enhance or detract from its mission? For Lehmann, the answer was clear.

“The chamber at that time was and I think still is a very process-oriented organization,” he said. The EDC, he said, is more goal-oriented, with a need to be nimble and responsive to a changing business environment.

“It isn’t really correct to think we had a real schism. We had a different mission and purpose and business plan than the chamber, and I think frankly the EDC still does.”

New city manager to address business leaders

Penelope Culbreth-Graft (right), Colorado Springs' new city manager, will discuss her impressions of the city when she speaks before a business breakfast at 7 a.m. Jan. 15 at the Doubletree Hotel Colorado Springs-World Arena, 1775 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd., on Colorado Springs' south side and near the Colorado Springs World Arena. Culbreth-Graft, the former city administrator in Huntington Beach, Calif., was hired by the City Council in November to succeed retiring City Manger Lorne Kramer. Culbreth-Graft's talk is being sponsored by the Quality Community Group, which is composed of the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp., the Housing and Building Association of Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors. Registration for the breakfast begins at 7 a.m., and the breakfast and program start at 7:30 a.m. Cost is $25 for members and $35 for non-members. To register, go to www.coloradospringschamber.org/ or call 575-4313.

Tech support outsourcing less

Technical support centers are outsourcing less this year than they did a year ago, according to an annual study by HDI, a Colorado Springs-based trade group for information technology service and support professionals.

Just 42 percent of the 1,005 information technology professionals surveyed between June and August outsource or plan to outsource part of their support operation, compared with 57 percent a year earlier.

A majority of those surveyed said they don’t outsource because they want to maintain control and have concerns about service quality and lack of customer acceptance. Hardware support and repair was the most common outsourced area of support, the survey found.

The survey also found that technical support hiring remains strong, with 45 percent planning increased hiring, 13 percent expecting to freeze hiring and 5 percent anticipating layoffs.

Simtek CEO writes open letter

Days after Simtek Corp.’s stock fell to a nearly five-year low, chief executive Harold Blomquist said the company’s performance “is the strongest it has been since (it) went public nearly 17 years ago” in a seven-page open letter to shareholders.

Simtek shares fell to $2 on Dec. 7, the lowest since early 2003 and down 50 percent since the company cut its revenue and profit forecasts Oct. 30 after missing its own and analyst forecasts for the third quarter with a small loss and lower-than-expected revenue.

Blomquist reaffirmed the company’s revised 2007 revenue forecast of $32 million to $33 million, which would be a second consecutive annual record, and said projected revenue from design wins through Sept. 30 exceeds a similar projection for all of 2006.

“Based on new products, design wins from customers, and a strong relationship with a credible partner, Cypress Semiconductor, the outlook for Simtek is very good,” Blomquist concluded in the Dec. 19 letter. Simtek stock has since recovered to $2.41 by midday Thursday.

The safety check before joining a nonprofit board

Many business people are asked to join a nonprofit organization's board of directors. Here are some key issues to consider beforehand, from Marks Paneth & Shron, a New York accounting firm with extensive nonprofit experience.

1) Do you know the nonprofit board's real mission? And are you fully aware of the duty of care, obedience and loyalty you will be subject to?

2) Did you receive and review the nonprofit board's packet that contains bylaws, descriptions of committees and functions and charter information. Review the materials before you make your decision about joining.

3) Does the organization have a whistleblower's policy? There should be a confidential way for organization employees to bring up and discuss matters regarding management indiscretion and other problems.

4) Does the organization carry a directors and officers insurance policy? This is important to protect you and other board members from unforeseen lawsuits and judgments.

5) Are there conflict of interest guidelines? You should know what constitutes a conflict of interest so you can both monitor and have input over other board members' activities and make judgments about your own.

6) What's the tone at the top of the board? Is there too much focus on connections and personal networking to fulfill the mission and make sound decisions?

7) How does paid management carry out its fiduciary responsibilities? If the executive director or other staff members have override over the board, proceed with extreme caution. Beware if management doesn't provide periodic internal audit statements.

8) By expanding the board, is the nonprofit going for quantity over quality? Since board members usually give, there's real incentive to expand a board. Is the quality of members and their insights high?

9) Is the board just a powerless group of donors, rather than a body with serious impact? It's important to decide if one wants to be part of a board if the real power and traditional board responsibility rests solely with the executive committee.

Self-Service Shredder wins UL mark

Colorado Springs-based RealTime Shredding, Inc. has received approval from Underwriters Laboratories Inc. for The Self-Service Shredder. The UL mark indicates compliance with rigorous industry safety standards throughout North America. Underwriters Laboratories granted the mark to RealTime’s self-service shredding kiosk after a 15-month process of testing and evaluation, the company said.

American Numismatic Association begins search for new director

The American Numismatic Association, headquartered in Colorado Springs, is accepting applications for a new executive director to replace its former executive director who was fired in October.
Resumes are due by Jan. 11 to the board president, Barry Stuppler, barry@stuppler.com.

The coin collecting association with 32,000 members is looking for candidates who have knowledge of and interest in coin collecting and at least five years of management experience.
The new executive director will head an organization facing several lawsuits, an operating budget deficit and a membership that in July voted out all incumbent members of its board.

Intel closing will hurt industrial real estate market

A 2008 real estate forecast by Sierra Commercial Real Estate of Colorado Springs suggests the city's industrial market will have a tough go next year. A housing slowdown means building supply companies and heating and cooling businesses, for example, won't need as much space. A loss of manufacturing jobs also will result in less demand for industrial buildings. Intel Corp.'s closing of its 1.4 million-square-foot chipmaking plant on the Springs’ northwest side won't help, either. Finding a buyer will be difficult because it will be costly to remodel the sophisticated plant, said Dave Bacon, a Sierra managing director and industrial specialist. Yet, having the plant available if a major employer comes to town is a positive for the Springs, said Sierra President Dave Delich.