Few CEOs in Colo. flagged by magazine for golf scores
Colorado may be a great place to live and work, but its corporate chieftains apparently need more time chasing a little white ball. Among Golf Digest’s “exclusive” top-200 ranking of CEOs by golf handicap, Colorado was hard-pressed to field a foursome (though you might expect those elsewhere to have second homes or vacation here).
From the bottom, Leo Kiely of Molson Coors and Michael Fries of Liberty Global were tied for 195th; Qwest’s Richard Notebaert was tied for 184th; R. David Hoover of Ball Corp. was tied for 135th; and Donald Anderson of TransMontaigne was tied for 65th. (Alas, New York-based Morgan Stanley recently bought TransMontaigne.) A quick scan of the list indicates one woman: Patricia Russo of New Jersey-based Lucent Technologies, tied for 144th. The best boardroom golfer is James Crane of Houston-based Eagle Global Logistics.
For more information, go to golfdigest.com/ceo.
DENVER
CU Foundation to get gift of $1 million
The MDC/Richmond American Homes Foundation announced Thursday that it will donate $1 million to the University of Colorado Foundation. The money will be used to establish the Gilbert Goldstein Fund, dedicated to funding scholarships and fellowships for law students and faculty of the CU law school.
The MDC/Richmond American Homes Foundation was established in 1999 and is dedicated to charitable, educational and other philanthropic endeavors in the state of Colorado and throughout the nation.
DENVER
Qwest’s cellphone quality ranks No. 2
Qwest ranks No. 2 in cellphone call quality in the West region, according to a new study by J.D. Power and Associates. The study, released Thursday, measures the quality of wireless calls based on the amount of static interference, dropped or disconnected calls, voice distortion and other performance issues. Qwest provides wireless service through a partnership with Sprint. T-Mobile ranks No. 1 in the West region.
SUITLAND, Md.
Raytheon completes satellite tests early
Raytheon Co. said it has completed command, control and communications segment testing two months early for its National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System preparatory project. Raytheon in Aurora works on the NPOESS contract, to provide space-based environmental data expected to improve weather forecasting and climate prediction. The company is part of a Northrop Grumman Space Technology-led NPOESS team.
DENVER
DIA places sixth in July on-time arrivals
Denver International Airport ranked sixth in on-time arrival performance among major airports in July, down from a No. 2 ranking a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. At DIA, 79 percent of flights arrived on time in the month. Among airlines, Frontier had the third-highest rate of on-time arrivals in July, behind Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines. Frontier also had the lowest rate of canceled flights.
ORLANDO, Fla.
AirTran to cut back because of slow sales
AirTran Holdings Inc., which planned to increase flying by 25 percent this year, said it would cut its growth in 2007 and 2008 after slower ticket sales in August and September.
Details will be announced “at a later date,” the Orlando-based discount carrier said Thursday in a regulatory filing.
Travel demand fell because of new security measures instituted in August, Tropical Storm Ernesto and more competition along the U.S. East Coast, AirTran said.
“While the quarter started out with strong unit revenue performance, by the end of August we began seeing softening in demand,” chief financial officer Stan Gadek said in the filing.
AirTran joined carriers including Southwest Airlines Co., US Airways Group Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. in reporting August revenue that missed projections. Demand wasn’t as strong as expected for the highest-priced tickets.
LITTLETON
Globus to offer nine new vacation deals
Globus, the Littleton-based travel company, announced Thursday it is offering nine new vacation packages for 2007 to places like China, New Zealand, Hawaii and Peru in response to increased customer demand for exotic locations.
Privately held Globus said its bookings to Asia grew by 68 percent over the past decade.
WASHINGTON
18 million affected by spyware, feds say
Federal regulators said Thursday that 18 million computer users worldwide – half of them in the United States – were affected by malicious spyware allegedly distributed by parties that agreed the day before to a $2 million settlement.
Analysts and government officials said huge hurdles remain in containing the problem.
The Federal Trade Commission’s settlement against two California companies and three individuals was the second-biggest ever made by the agency, bringing the running total to about $8 million in settlements with more than a dozen companies over the past two years.
WASHINGTON
Lay’s estate agrees to pay pension plans
The estate of Ken Lay, who died after being convicted of heading a fraud that destroyed Enron Corp., agreed to pay $12 million to settle claims on behalf of participants in company pension plans, the Labor Department said.
The proposed agreement must go to a Houston court for approval. The recovery will depend on the assets available for distribution from Lay’s estate, the government said Thursday.
Federal law gave the U.S. the authority to sue on behalf of pension beneficiaries, who will receive the money.
NEW YORK
News Corp. urges poison-pill extension
News Corp. urged shareholders to extend the company’s shareholder rights plan – an anti-takeover provision commonly known as a “poison pill” – to October 2008 instead of November 2007, according to a regulatory filing. The proposal and other issues will be weighed at an Oct. 20 annual meeting of the New York-based media company.
The rights-plan extension would give directors time to defend against tactics that might not offer fair value to all shareholders, including acquisitions of large chunks of News Corp. shares, the company said.
News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch has expressed wariness of Liberty Media Corp. which has accumulated a 17 percent voting stake in News Corp. Liberty, based in Douglas County, is controlled by chairman John Malone.
