Grand Junction – The Army Sustainment Command exercised a $21.3 million option for Capco Inc. in Grand Junction to continue work on bomb-fin assemblies. The work is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2009. The option brings the total value of the contract to $48.6 million, according to Capco.
Additional business news briefs:
NIWOT
Crocs, Disney to sell footwear overseas
Crocs Inc. and Walt Disney Co. will expand a joint footwear line outside the U.S. and Canada.
The companies will sell the shoes in Latin America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Middle East and South Africa, Niwot-based Crocs said in a statement.
BROOMFIELD
Vail Resorts’ annual meeting to be Dec. 21
Vail Resorts Inc. plans to hold its annual meeting on Dec. 21 at 10 a.m. at the Renaissance Suites Hotel in Broomfield, according to the company’s proxy statement filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The document also listed chief executive Rob Katz’s salary as $405,320 for fiscal 2006, plus a $407,500 bonus. Katz, who took over as CEO is February, was also awarded 1.1 million restricted shares and 300,000 stock-appreciation rights.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Isenberg chosen Colo. Hotelier of the Year
The Colorado Hotel & Lodging Association announced Wednesday that it presented Walter Isenberg, president of Denver-based Sage Hospitality Resources, with its Hotelier of the Year award at its annual conference at The Broadmoor.
DENVER
Frontier pilots union, Teamsters form panel
The Frontier Airline Pilots Association and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 961 at Frontier Airlines formed a council to “advance their mutual interests” including benefits, insurance, scope protection and work rules. The Frontier Union Council, formed Wednesday, plans to meet regularly.
CHICAGO
Mini-cow sculpture busy riding on United
United Airlines, which was the title sponsor of the Cow Parade in Denver this year, is flying a miniature cow sculpture named Mua Mua to some of the cities the carrier serves to promote its international route network.
Mua Mua, which left Denver Nov. 17 and whose first stop is Beijing, will post photos and a journal entry weekly on a blog at www.micromuamua.com, according to United.
The idea is to show all the places people can fly on United that some of the airline’s competitors don’t fly from Denver, said United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy.
The cow sculpture is 12 inches tall and 18 inches long and fits in a pet carrier.
It’s not the first time Denver has seen an airline start a blog by an animal. Denver-based Frontier Airlines’ blog featuring Flip the Dolphin coincided with a series of commercials.
WASHINGTON
Jobless claims hint at weaker shopping
The Labor Department’s jobless claims data raised concerns that Americans’ shopping resolve might weaken going into the holidays if they’re worried about job security.
The department said new applications for unemployment benefits last week rose by a seasonally adjusted 12,000 to 321,000. The more stable four-week moving average of claims, while high, is about the same as a year ago.
PARIS
Airbus bullish in its long-term forecast
Airbus unveiled a bullish long-term forecast for global aircraft demand Wednesday, but said its share of orders had shrunk to about 36 percent by value, from 45 percent last year, as rival Boeing sold more mid-size and larger jets.
The European planemaker’s biennial market outlook predicted demand for 22,700 aircraft worth $2.6 trillion over the next two decades, a significant increase on its 2004 forecast of 17,300 planes worth $1.9 trillion for the 20 years to 2023.
Airbus chief operating officer John Leahy said much of the new demand was seen coming from the Middle East and emerging markets such as China and India.
NEW YORK
Monster terminates its general counsel
Monster Worldwide Inc., the parent of job search site Monster.com, said Wednesday it terminated Myron Olesnyckyj, the company’s lead lawyer, as part of its investigation into past stock-option grant practices.
Olesnyckyj, the company’s general counsel, is the second high-ranking executive to leave the company over backdated stock options. Andrew J. Mc Kelvey resigned his posts as chairman and chief executive Oct. 9 but at the time retained his seat on the board as chairman emeritus. He resigned fully on Oct. 30.
WASHINGTON
Rising supplies of crude drop oil prices
Oil prices fell Wednesday after U.S. government data showed rising supplies of crude. Natural-gas futures declined on the heels of a separate report that showed healthy domestic inventories of the home-heating fuel.
And on the day before Thanksgiving, a busy day for motorists, the average retail price of gasoline stood at $2.23 a gallon, three cents above last year.
Light sweet crude for January delivery fell 93 cents to settle at $59.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where natural-gas futures slid 27 cents to settle at $7.718 per 1,000 cubic feet.
