Airport update in Springs will speed up deployments
Colorado Springs – Construction crews have begun work on a $50 million complex that will make it much easier for arriving and departing troops from Fort Carson and other military personnel from the Colorado Springs area.
The 81-acre complex will include a tarmac and taxiways, cargo loading areas, and a maintenance and storage building. It is part of the Colorado Springs Airport Business Park next to the airport, expected to be completed in 2008.
When the complex is done, it will have the capability to send more than 1,200 troops a day overseas, said Stefan Bocchino, 21st Space Wing spokesman. That’s about double what existing facilities can handle.
“The reason we chose this location (the business park) is there are no active runways on Fort Carson or available land to accommodate a deployment runway,” Bocchino said.
The complex will be built by the Army and operated by the Air Force.
DENVER
Spring weather saps DIA’s on-time rank
Denver International Airport’s on-time performance fell in March from the same month a year ago, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Bad weather caused many delays, airlines said. Denver was No. 23 in a ranking of on-time arrival performance among major airports in March, down from No. 2 a year earlier. For on-time departures, Denver came in No. 29, down from No. 5 in March 2005.
CARY, N.C.
Ex-Dex CEO resigns post at Donnelley
George Burnett said he resigned Thursday as chairman of R.H. Donnelley because formerly Denver-based Dex Media, which was bought by Donnelley, is in good hands.
Burnett sold nearly all of his Donnelley stock for a $21.6 million profit in March. North Carolina-based Donnelley closed its $9.4 billion Dex buy in January.
DENVER
Top exporting firms win Owens’ applause
Gov. Bill Owens announced Thursday the 2006 winners of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Exporting, recognizing Colorado companies that have made outstanding contributions to exporting.
Eaton-based Harsh International Inc. was honored in the small-manufacturer category. Sirenza Microdevices Inc. of Broomfield won in the large- manufacturing-company category.
Two Denver companies, CQG Inc. and Western Export Service, were recognized in the services and agricultural categories, respectively.
The companies will receive their awards at the World Trade Day luncheon May 17 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in downtown Denver.
BROOMFIELD
Level 3 Chicago office spawns a spinoff
Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications opened a second telephone and data-service office in Chicago that offers customers high-speed Internet, VoIP and other networking services, the company said Thursday.
Level 3 said its first Chicago office had reached full capacity. The fiber-optic network company operates 80 such “data centers” already – 70 in the United States and 10 in Europe.
GREELEY
Publishing exec leaves door open to return
Jim Elsberry, general manager of Greeley Publishing Co., will leave the company by the end of the month, though it’s possible he could return.
Elsberry spent 8 1/2 years as publisher of the Greeley Tribune and general manager of the publishing company. His job was split last month when Steve Weaver became the newspaper’s publisher.
Weaver will become general manager of Greeley Publishing, which produces the Windsor Tribune, the Spanish-language weekly La Tribuna, the weekly NEXTnc and Northern Colorado Homes, a real-estate monthly.
DENVER
Janus exec packages OK’d in event of deal
Janus Capital Group Inc., a U.S. manager of $158 billion, approved compensation packages for four top executives in the event of a takeover.
The so-called change-in-control agreements are for chief executive Gary Black; general counsel John Bluher; Dominic Martellaro, managing director of Janus Global Advisors; and John Zimmerman, managing director of Janus Institutional Asset Management.
The agreements took effect Monday, Denver-based Janus said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
NEW YORK
AOL to offer calling plans for those online
America Online is preparing to offer the 41 million users of its instant-messaging system a free phone number that will allow people to call them from regular phones while they are online.
In addition to expanded Internet calling features, AOL also plans to introduce AIM Pages, an effort to compete with My- Space.com, the rapidly growing social-networking service.
The free phone number is a new twist on services that allow calls between regular phones and PCs, an idea made popular by Skype – owned by eBay – and copied by others such as Yahoo through its instant-message software. As with those services, the new AOL Phoneline service, to be introduced May 16, allows users to call each other free if both are online, typically using headsets attached to their computers.
Other services charge about $30 to $40 a year for a telephone number to receive incoming calls and about 2 cents a minute to place phone calls from a computer to an ordinary telephone line. AOL will sell outgoing calls only as part of a flat-rate package that costs $14.90 a month for unlimited calling, or at an introductory price of $9.95.
DURANGO
BP America makes 2nd bid to add wells
Officials with BP America say they would like to increase the number of natural-gas wells allowed on 90 square miles of southwestern Colorado, including the town of Ignacio.
The company last year got permission from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to cut the minimum acreage between wells from 160 acres to 80 acres. The new request will add another 360 spaces.
REDMOND, Wash.
Microsoft acquires Boulder’s Vexcel
Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it had acquired Vexcel Corp., a Boulder-based company that will provide technology for Microsoft’s local, visual search efforts. Microsoft also acquired New York-based Massive Inc., a company that inserts ads into video games.
Terms weren’t disclosed for either deal.
