Cleveland – LeBron James couldn’t leave Las Vegas without making one last creative move – off the court.
Cleveland’s All-Star forward capped a glitzy few days of party-hopping and hoops by teaming with Microsoft Corp.’s MSN to launch lebron.msn.com, a storybook-style website about his life designed for kids and teens.
In addition to broadening his iconic image through his latest business venture, James is hoping the innovative website will motivate youngsters worldwide with positive messages of encouragement and his own story of perseverance.
“I’ve always wanted to have a place where kids can see all aspects of my personality – where I can really talk with them about where I came from, what I do, what I have achieved in my life and what my goals are,” James said in a phone interview from Las Vegas with The Associated Press. “Kids can follow me on a day-to-day basis, and I want to inspire them.”
James’ interest in working with kids appealed to Microsoft, which first partnered with the 22-year-old last summer as one of the sponsors of his annual King for Kids Bike-a-thon in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
More business briefs
DENVER
Frontier to announce ad-campaign victor
Frontier Airlines said Monday that more than 1 million online votes have been cast in its latest marketing campaign, “Denver’s Favorite Animal.”
Since the campaign launched Jan. 21, traffic to Frontier’s website has increased 13.7 percent, the Denver-based airline said.
The campaign, created by New York ad agency Grey Worldwide, will continue through Sunday.
The winning animal will be announced in a commercial that will air that night during the 2007 Academy Awards. It will be broadcast locally on KMGH- Channel 7.
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
Resort will host black-skier summit
Steamboat Ski Resort is preparing to host the National Brotherhood of Skiers, one of the nation’s largest and most influential ski groups.
The 2007 NBS Summit will begin Saturday and run through March 3. It is expected to draw 2,500 people from 77 African- American ski clubs across the country.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Lockheed venture leases office space
The United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing that began operations in December, has leased a 160,000-square-foot building at 9100 E. Mineral Circle in Centennial.
It will not occupy the building for several months, but United Launch Alliance employees will work there as well as at Lockheed Martin’s Waterton Canyon campus.
DENVER
Northwest beefs up Denver routes
Northwest Airlines announced Monday it will begin flying daily between Indianapolis and Denver starting June 7. It will use Airbus A319 aircraft.
Northwest also is upgrading its three daily Memphis, Tenn.- to-Denver flights from Canadair regional jets to larger Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, adding “hundreds of seats” to that route.
The move comes after Frontier Airlines announced last week it will begin flying between Denver and Memphis twice daily starting May 12, along with new daily flights from Memphis to Las Vegas and from Memphis to Orlando, Fla.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden
Volvo AB buying Nissan Diesel Motor
Volvo AB, Europe’s second- largest truckmaker, has agreed to buy Japanese truck manufacturer Nissan Diesel Motor Co. for $1.1 billion.
Volvo and other truckmakers are spending billions of dollars to develop vehicles with lower emissions.
Volvo hopes to gain from Nissan Diesel’s hybrid technology and experience in making medium-heavy trucks, the company said in a release.
Nissan Diesel is facing declining demand for trucks in Japan.
WASHINGTON
Fliers’ bill of rights on lawmakers’ agenda
Capitol Hill lawmakers say they will introduce bills establishing rights for airline travelers after passengers of JetBlue Airways were forced to sit on planes for as long as 10 hours during an ice storm last week.
Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Michael Thompson, both Democrats from California, say their legislation would require airlines to provide passengers with adequate food, water and rest room facilities during delays.
NEW YORK
E*Trade to let clients trade foreign stocks
E*Trade Financial Corp. today was to unveil a global trading platform that would make it the first U.S. discount brokerage to give customers the ability to trade foreign-listed stocks online.
The pilot project, which begins with 1,000 E*Trade customers this week, allows them to buy, hold and sell stocks in Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and Britain.
The rollout is expected to take two months before all customers have access.
LONDON
Oil prices drop amid Nigeria unrest
Oil prices fell Monday, despite news that three foreign oil workers had been kidnapped in Nigeria amid signs of escalating unrest in Africa’s largest crude producer.
Light, sweet crude oil for March delivery lost 44 cents to $58.98 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Europe.
NEW DELHI
Indian company allies with Wal-Mart
India’s Bharti Enterprises plans to invest up to $2.5 billion setting up a nationwide chain of supermarkets and retail shops in partnership with U.S. chain Wal-Mart, a top executive at the Indian company said Monday.
The investment will be spread over the next eight years and create jobs for about 60,000 people, Bharti joint managing director Rajan Mittal told reporters.
MONTREAL
Bombardier to build 100-seat aircraft
Bombardier Inc. will go ahead with plans to build a 100-seat airplane, the commercial aircraft maker’s largest yet, after winning orders worth more than $1.5 billion for the new plane.
Bombardier said carriers have placed 38 firm orders for the plane and 23 conditional ones.
Bombardier’s move follows two years of study on whether to build a plane that seats more than 90 people to compete with Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA, which already has a larger jet.
