New York City – Colorado ranks eighth in Forbes Magazine’s list of “The Best States for Business,” down from the fifth spot held last year.
Colorado is ranked first among states for its growth climate and second for the quality of its labor force.
It ranks 35th among states for business costs and 33rd for its economic costs.
The top three states for doing business, according to Forbes, are Virginia, Utah and North Carolina.
Additional business news briefs:
MONARCH
Pass holders get perks at nine other ski areas
Monarch Mountain has teamed with nine other ski areas to give perks for season-pass holders. Monarch season-pass holders will be able to ski free or at a discounted rate at other Western ski areas during the 2007-08 winter season.
In Colorado, Crested Butte, Loveland, Purgatory, Sunlight and Powderhorn are offering Monarch season-pass holders three free days of skiing this year.
Silverton Mountain is providing one day of complementary skiing during their “Unguided Season.”
New Mexico ski areas Angel Fire Resort and Pajarito Mountain are each offering three free days of skiing for Monarch pass holders.
Monarch skiers looking to travel a little farther will be able to ski at Alta, Utah, for half price throughout the ski season.
DENVER
Newmont: $80 million coming in arbitration
Newmont Mining Corp., the world’s second-biggest gold producer, is getting $80 million under an arbitration ruling from Uzbekistan to settle a dispute related to a joint venture, Newmont said in a regulatory filing.
In August, Newmont said Uzbekistan had seized the Zarafsah-Newmont venture’s gold and other assets after a tax ruling against the company.
Under the settlement, Newmont’s stake in the venture will be transferred to Uzbek parties. Newmont also said second-quarter profit will be similar to first-quarter earnings as it faces production problems in the U.S. and Africa.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
Nissan recalls 140,000 Altimas over air filters
Nissan is recalling more than 140,000 of its popular Altima sedans to replace air filters that could catch fire, company officials said.
The voluntary recall affects 2007 Altimas with four-cylinder, 2.5-liter engines produced between September and May at Nissan’s plant in Smyrna, Tenn., and between October and May at its plant in Canton, Miss.
The Altima is Nissan’s best-selling car, with more than 114,000 sold from January through May, and the fourth best-selling mid-sized car in the United States.
DENVER
Decline in foreclosure rate drops state a spot
A 10 percent decline in foreclosure activity last month caused Colorado’s foreclosure rate to drop a spot to third-highest in the nation.
The state reported 5,705 foreclosure filings last month, a rate of one filing for every 317 households, still more than twice the national average.
Nevada, which has a foreclosure rate of more than four times the national average with one for every 175 households, posted the top foreclosure rate. California was No. 2, with one filing for every 315 households.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
Liberty Global hires tech chief from AOL
Liberty Global Inc. named Balan Nair chief technology officer, hiring him away from Time Warner Inc.’s AOL Internet business, where he has a similar title.
Nair will oversee Liberty’s network, which spans four continents and connects with more than 30 million homes, Douglas County-based Liberty said in a statement.
CALIFORNIA
Phone providers feel heat from cable firms
Cable companies are proving to be tough competition for traditional telephone providers as the impact of bundled service packages steadily reshapes the telecommunications market, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Residential Regional Telephone Customer Satisfaction Study.
The study, released Wednesday, finds that 86 percent of cable-based voice subscribers also subscribe to data services from the same provider – up from 71 percent in 2006.
Conversely, 36 percent of telecommunications-based voice subscribers also use their provider to fulfill their data needs, which is an increase of 7 percentage points over 2006.
The study also said that Cox Communications and Comcast received higher customer satisfaction scores than Qwest in the West region.
DENVER
2 Swift supervisors arrested in raids’ wake
Two supervisors at a Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Greeley are among those swept up in the wake of last year’s federal raids.
One of the supervisors was charged on an outstanding warrant involving traffic offenses, and the other was arrested for immigration violations, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Wednesday.
Another 19 employees were charged with identity theft and immigration violations.
Besides Greeley, arrests were made in Marshalltown, Iowa; Grand Island, Neb.; Worthington, Minn.; Hyrum, Utah; and Cactus, Texas.
In Marshalltown, a human resources employee and a union official who represents Swift employees were charged with harboring illegal aliens.
