Alexandria, Va. – The beer industry pours $12.4 billion into Colorado’s economy annually, according to a study of 2006 data commissioned by the National Beer Wholesalers Association and the Beer Institute.
The beer industry directly employs 23,992 people in Colorado, paying them $1.1 billion in wages. Large and small brewers and beer importers employ 6,087 people in Colorado, and Colorado’s 38 beer distributors employ approximately 799 people.
Beer is a key driver of profitability for 9,808 licensed retailers in Colorado. Beer sales help support roughly 17,106 jobs at the retailers.
Additional business news briefs:
PHOENIX
DriveTime used cars steering to Aurora
DriveTime, the largest used-car sales and finance company in the country serving people with credit problems, will open its first Denver area store May 17 at 625 S. Havana St. in Aurora.
DriveTime said the dealership is the first of six dealerships and an inspection center planned for the area. DriveTime expects to hire 130 people with an anticipated payroll of $6.3 million.
DENVER
Evergreen Energy gets new leadership
Evergreen Energy Inc., a coal refiner whose stock has dropped 63 percent in the past year, said Mark Sexton resigned as chairman, chief executive and president.
Kevin R. Collins has been appointed interim CEO and president and Robert J. Clark as chairman, the Denver-based company said Wednesday in a statement. The resignation was effective on April 19, the company said Wednesday in a securities filing.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
Profit decline zaps Western Union stock
Shares of Western Union Co., the biggest U.S. money-transfer business, fell the most since their debut six months ago after first-quarter profit declined 12 percent and the company lowered its 2007 revenue forecast.
Western Union’s stock dropped $1.34, or 5.8 percent, to $21.59 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading Wednesday.
WASHINGTON
In quarter, fares down in Denver, Springs
While average airfares across the country in the fourth quarter of 2006 reached their highest fourth-quarter level since 2000, fares declined 5.82 percent in Denver and 6.04 percent in Colorado Springs compared with a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
HOUSTON
Plains Exploration may form MLP
Plains Exploration & Production Co. may form a master limited partnership, the second U.S. oil and natural-gas company to announce such a plan this week.
Houston-based Plains could transfer about 900 million barrels of oil equivalent of proved, probable and possible reserves into the MLP over time from assets in California and Colorado, chief executive James Flores said. MLPs allow companies to pay out distributions and trade like stocks.
CHICAGO
Appeals court backs United, not pilots
The United Retired Pilots Benefit Protection Association told its members the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a judge’s decision that retired United pilots should receive non-qualified pension benefits for November and December 2005 and January 2006.
United Airlines had appealed the judge’s decision to the Seventh Circuit. The payments will not be made.
DUBLIN, Ohio
Wendy’s may order up a sale or merger
Wendy’s International Inc., the third-largest U.S. hamburger chain, said it may sell itself after coming under pressure from investors including Nelson Peltz.
Wendy’s, valued at $2.8 billion, said Wednesday it formed a board committee to consider options including a sale, merger or change in strategy.
RESTON, Va.
Google’s websites win most-visited title
Google Inc. passed Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. to become the owner of the world’s most-visited group of websites for the first time, a research firm said.
Google’s sites had 528 million visitors worldwide in March, a 13 percent gain from the same month a year ago, ComScore Inc. said Wednesday. Microsoft had 527 million, while Yahoo had 476.3 million, the researcher said.
HOUSTON
Regulators scold Exxon on assessments
Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest oil company, was told by securities regulators to stop including “inappropriate” assessments of its oil and gas reserves in financial filings.
The company agreed to list only estimates that are based on year-end commodity prices, in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines, company spokesman said. Exxon Mobil previously included the figures and estimates based on management’s price assumptions.
McLEAN, Va.
Freddie Mac passes Fannie Mae in assets
Freddie Mac, the second-largest source of money for U.S. home loans, said its $714.5 billion portfolio of mortgage assets last month surpassed the size of rival Fannie Mae’s holdings for the first time.
Freddie Mac’s portfolio grew at an 8.4 percent annual rate, rising by $4.9 billion in March, faster than the 5.1 percent rate in February, the McLean, Va.-based company said Wednesday.
