Hispanic mag calls Qwest good firm for advancement
Denver-based Qwest said Thursday it was on Hispanic Magazine’s list of the top 25 companies for minorities to find opportunity for advancement.
“This is a tribute to Qwest and its commitment to diversity,” Teresa Taylor, Qwest executive vice president and chief human resources officer, said in a statement.
The announcement came one day after the telephone company said it would pay $400,000 to settle a national-origin discrimination lawsuit filed by a group of Hispanic employees against its predecessor US West, according to an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission statement.
Workers said they were denied promotions to management jobs at the company’s Portland, Ore., facilities from 1998 to 2001, according to the EEOC.
Qwest denied the allegations, the EEOC said.
On Thursday, Qwest said its workers can join Somos, an in-house group with “a unique cultural perspective on various business-related issues in the Hispanic community.”
In addition, Qwest said it recently received honors from the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
DENVER
Barrett Corp. to buy CH4 for $80 million
Bill Barrett Corp. of Denver announced Thursday it has agreed to purchase Fort Worth, Texas-based CH4 Corp. for $80 million.
CH4 has about 85,500 gross acres of undeveloped and producing coal-bed methane properties in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. Barrett said estimates for future development costs will be $44.5 million, of which $14.7 million will be spent this year.
DENVER
Late bills to Xcel could force rate hike
About one-fourth of Xcel Energy customers are late paying their March bills, and the problem could lead to higher rates for all customers.
Xcel reported $78 million in past-due bills last month with 292,391 customers behind on payments, which was blamed on the high cost of natural gas. The Minneapolis-based company could seek to recover the cost from other customers in its next base-rate case with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.
GREELEY
Swift & Co. to sell nonfed cattle assets
Swift & Co., the third-largest U.S. beef and pork producer, said it agreed to sell its nonfed cattle operations to XL Foods Inc. of Alberta, to concentrate on more profitable animals that have been raised in feedlots.
The sale includes Swift’s operating plant in Omaha and assets in Nampa, Idaho, the two companies said Thursday. Terms were not disclosed.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Century Casinos acquires Czech shares
Century Casinos Inc. announced Thursday that it acquired the remaining shares of Casino Millennium a.s. in Prague, Czech Republic, that were owned by Strabag AG, a nonaffiliated Austrian company.
Century paid $680,000 for the shares, including a security deposit for the casino license that belongs to CM.
GREENWOOD VILLAGE
Re/Max website lists all U.S. homes for sale
Re/Max International has launched its national listing service, giving consumers online access to all homes for sale in the United States.
The remax.com site features every home for sale no matter which company holds the listing agreement.
ROUND ROCK, Texas
Dell inks 5-year deal for printers at Boeing
Computer-maker Dell Inc. announced a five-year, multimillion-dollar deal Thursday to manage Boeing Co.’s printers in North America.
Dell spokesman Lionel Menchaca valued the contract in the tens of millions of dollars and said it would initially cover major Boeing sites in California, Washington state and St. Louis.
NEW YORK
Delta pilot talks stretch past 3rd day
Intense talks between negotiators for Delta Air Lines Inc. and its pilots union continued for a third straight day Thursday without word of an agreement on long-term pay and benefit cuts that could avert a crippling strike at the nation’s third-largest carrier.
The closed-door discussions at a New York hotel could go into the weekend. A Saturday deadline looms for an arbitration panel to decide whether to void the pilot contract to allow the Atlanta-based airline to impose up to $325 million in cuts.
DETROIT
Ford lists two plants, 4,300 jobs to be cut
Ford Motor Co., which is closing plants and cutting jobs in an effort to improve results from its North American auto business, said Thursday it will shutter assembly plants in Norfolk, Va., and St. Paul, Minn., in 2008.
The two plants employ about 4,300 hourly and salaried workers. The nation’s second-biggest automaker announced in January it would close 14 plants by 2012 but identified only five.
SEOUL, South Korea
Hyundai execs held in slush-fund probe
Prosecutors detained two top executives of Hyundai Motor Co. today in an escalating scandal over allegations that the company created a slush fund to try to win business favors from government officials.
Chief financial officer Lee Jung-dae and vice president Kim Seung-nyun were detained “as part of the slush-fund investigation,” a Supreme Prosecutors’ Office spokesman said.
Local media said prosecutors planned to seek arrest warrants later in the day.
WASHINGTON
U.S. delays takeoff of Virgin flights
The U.S. government requested more data about U.K. billionaire Richard Branson’s role in Virgin America Inc., delaying the U.S. carrier’s plans to start flights this year.
Virgin must submit more details about its ownership and financing before it will get permission to begin operations, the Transportation Department said in an order Thursday.
DETROIT
Google unleashes Web calendar system
Google Inc. released a calendar software system Thursday that can scan e-mails or Web pages for dates and times and, with one click, automatically log pending plans into an online calendar.
Google Calendar is the latest free tool introduced by the search and software giant to help organize the desktop.
