Colorado Springs Business Journal Year in Review 2003

Colorado Springs Business Journal, Dec 26, 2003 by Stacie Ledden

January

January 3 the CSBJ published a business community wish list. Several individuals were asked what their wish was for 2003. Let's see if any of their 2003 wishes came true.

I'd wish for continued lower interest rates and for an increase in our community's primary employers - to make up for all the jobs lost in 2002.

- Charlie Brown, president, McGinnis GMAC Realtors

I wish for our community to see a return to economic prosperity and new jobs - and to see the Pikes Peak region dig its way out of the current recession. For our business, I'd like to see more jobs to bid on as well as more work close to home. As far as other wishes, it would be nice to see completion of the T-REX construction in Denver and the widening of the interstate between Colorado Springs and Castle Rock.

- Dan Watkins, R.E. Monks Construction

We'd like to see more corporate headquarters here instead of in Denver. I'd [Miller] also like to see more open-mindedness in our community to construction of a convention center. It would help our community grow - and help us get more airline flights into the Colorado Springs airport.

- Casey Miller and Darrel Vessey, account manager and owner, Facilitek

I'd wish for a reason to have breakfast every day at The Broadmoor.

- Mary Jane Gilson, sales manager, Better Business Bureau

I wish that 3,000 people are hired in first quarter 2003 and interest rates stay the same.

- Jay Carlson, managing broker, Coldwell Banker Commercial-Front Range

It would be nice if we could attract a high-profile employer in a stable market, where employees would earn fair wages.

- David Seamon, vice president, EDC

February

In the February 21 article Who is taking our economy wherever it may be going? Rocky Scott gave his input on which industries offered the most opportunity for Colorado Springs in the coming year.

The new beef will come from new technologies, said Scott, and Colorado Springs is going to have to stretch to accommodate those technologies. Some of these new technologies include wireless sensor networks, injectable tissue engineering and mechatronics, to name a few.

Biotech, continued Scott, is likely going to be the next big thing, adding it is a difficult sector to capitalize on.

Scott said high-tech is growing four times faster than the general economy and produces one third of the nation's economic growth.

We don't know the exact answer, said Scott of just where Colorado Springs' future lies. But the answer is being sought, and part of it probably lies in the area of biotechnology, microelectronics, and perhaps software development.

March

In March of last year, many people were preoccupied deciding which candidate to vote for during the mayoral election. We now know the results, but here are some of the comments mayoral candidates provided the CSBJ during their campaigns.

On the water issues, Ted Eastburn said, Water is a resource, not a commodity. We have rights to plenty of water for the foreseeable future; we just need to move forward to build the infrastructure to transport, store, treat, conserve and when appropriate, reuse our water. Stalled efforts at regional cooperation should not divert our attention from securing access to what is ours. We need new and expanded pipeline and local storage options along with expanded wastewater treatment facilities, conservation efforts, more appropriate landscaping practices and expansion of the non-potable water system.

Regarding same-sex benefits, Jim Null explained, Every employee should have the same benefits, and we will get better employees by offering everyone health care protection. But the bigger issue is a philosophical issue and is also one of privacy; we don't want a camera in our living room, in our kitchens, and we sure don't want it in our bedrooms.

And who could forget Kendall Kretzschmar? On transportation, the Peterson AFB employee said, You only have an hour in the morning when people go to work and an hour in the evening when they go back home; if we didn't have so many cops B.S.'ing, we could stop some of these red light runners. That would stop accidents that tie up traffic.

April

In April, the votes have all been tallied. Lionel Rivera won the mayoral race. During his first few weeks in office, Mayor Rivera took some time to sit down with the CSBJ. In the April 25 article Mayor has new hope for city, airport. Rivera described some of his plans for the Colorado Springs Airport and its developing business park: The whole idea is to build a good road network to the airport to make it easier for customers to get there, especially from northern El Paso County and southern Douglas County and the southern Denver metro area, he said. We need to make it easy for them to come down to the Colorado Springs Airport and use our facility, and our job is to help by providing infrastructure.

May

The first-ever Colorado Springs Business Journal Men of the Millennium publication premiered May 30. The following are some quotes from several award-winners.

Regarding the Springs community and its many giving members, Jerry Biggs, CEO of BiggsKofford, said, Together, we can maintain all that we want and have a viable economic community.