‘International bug’ gave Gonzalez-Padron an eye for ethics

Tracy Gonzalez-Padron’s first exposure to the international business scene was during a high school Girl Scouts trip to India. Gonzalez-Padron met Mother Theresa at the orphanage in Calcutta, during 1979, the year she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The experience gave her “the international bug.” Gonzalez-Padron is assistant professor of marketing and international business at the [...]

• Clamping down on small business
• People on the Move - February 5, 2010
• More insurance bang for their buck
• Web site revamp pushed company past competitor
• Lockwood ready to take Tech for Less to next level

Voters got the city into this budget mess - 19 years ago

Is Colorado Springs drowning in red ink because of overcompensated city employees and the city’s failure to privatize governmental functions when appropriate? Can Rock Ledge Ranch, the Pioneers Museum, the city community centers and even city parks be sustained by some combination of volunteer labor and private funding? Colorado Springs is not the only city in America [...]

• The end of a dream city: Colorado Springs 2020
• Aging lions might be best City Council candidates we have
• Ease and comfort won’t replace the fear of traveling
• Making sense of our fragmented community
• Hazlehurst makes predictions for the new year

Energy management equals balance and better bottom line

 So you want to manage your company better this year. To improve the bottom line in your business, you have to have a balanced foundation. Energy management — not to be confused with time management — is key to productivity, equilibrium and fulfillment, personally as well as professionally, said Sue Kiernan, president and founder of Centered on [...]

• M-and-A and VC: Down, not out
• Forum: County trends, walk-aways and the credit bubble
• ‘From basement to boardroom’
• Bankers will be faced with resolving problem loans in 2010
• Local bankers take a look at the year ahead

‘Food deserts’ starving children of nutrition

 In many areas of Colorado, it is very easy to find sweet and salty snacks and sodas — but difficult to find fresh fruits and vegetables. These “food deserts” are the leading cause of obesity in the state’s poor and rural neighborhoods. The Colorado Health Foundation points out the disparity of finding healthy food across the state [...]

• Time to eat right, exercise
• This year, I’m getting healthier
• Drug war
• EHR regulations prompt loan programs, pilot projects
• Health Care 2010

Dueling for public dollars

Competition heats up for coveted public projects Rosy construction industry forecasts for 2010 are harder to come by than a sledge hammer at a glass factory. It’s tough out there. But, even as the industry’s national unemployment rate approached 30 percent last year, general contractors in the Pikes Peak region seemed to hold their own, ending the [...]

• Bellaire Ranch sells for $19M
• California Casualty has room at the top for lease
• Custom home builder nails first NAHB gold rating
• Big move planned by Colorado Springs Health Partners
• Commercial real estate

Lulu: Changing prices, changing hands, changing name

 Shoppers can pick up a pair of jeans for $55 at Lulu these days. That’s a far cry from what people were willing to shell out for designer denim just 27 months ago. When Tess Loo and Kelly Martinez first opened Lulu during October of 2007, customers paid upward of $225 for high-end jeans. Back then, [...]

• A small shopping-window of opportunity at Lillians
• Chef’s Catalog strengthening its online presence
• Local restaurateur fuses two familiar eateries
• Local retailers anticipate a lukewarm 2010
• Arizona restaurant magnate brings Big Burrito to Colorado Springs

Voters got the city into this budget mess - 19 years ago

Is Colorado Springs drowning in red ink because of overcompensated city employees and the city’s failure to privatize governmental functions when appropriate? Can Rock Ledge Ranch, the Pioneers Museum, the city community centers and even city parks be sustained by some combination of volunteer labor and private funding? Colorado Springs is not the only city in America [...]

• Haiti news coverage holds lessons for crisis planners
• Letter to the Editor - February 5, 2010
• Cutting budget a delicate job
• My buy-logical clock is ticking
• The end of a dream city: Colorado Springs 2020

Entrepreneurial success factors

The Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City is one of the leading organizations promoting entrepreneurship worldwide. The Foundation supports a wide range of activities, including sponsoring university based initiatives, grass roots entrepreneur development efforts, and important research. Most entrepreneurs are not, by nature, interested in the results of academic research. They are too busy taking action to stop [...]

• PTAC in our own back yard
• A tokin’ tenant issue
• Strategic partnerships can help leverage business growth opportunities
• A look back on five years and some final advice
• Remember your first sale as if it happened yesterday