Business briefs, June 21

Thursday, June 21, 2007

NATIONAL

Starbucks, Ethiopia reach coffee deal

Starbucks Corp. and the Ethiopian government said Wednesday they will work together to promote three of the African nation's prized specialty coffees under a deal that supports the country's bid to win trademarks it thinks will benefit farmers.

The world's largest coffeehouse chain and Ethiopia's intellectual property office said their licensing, distribution and marketing agreement acknowledges the country's ownership of three coffee names - Yirgacheffe, Harar and Sidamo - regardless of whether they are trademarked.

The deal will not reap Ethiopia any royalty payments, officials said.

NEWSPAPER PRICE HIKE The New York Times Co. plans to raise newsstand and home-delivery prices of its flagship newspaper next month.

The daily newsstand price will increase to $1.25 from $1 on July 16, while the Sunday edition in the New York City area will climb to $4 from $3.50 on July 15.

Home-delivery prices will increase 3 percent to 4 percent nationwide, the company said.

GE, UNIONS AGREE ON CONTRACT Workers at General Electric Co. will receive a 16 percent pay increase over four years if unions ratify a contract agreed to Sunday, GE and the unions announced Wednesday.

The proposed contract between the industrial conglomerate and the International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America and the United Electrical Workers of America also would improve health care benefits while limiting the increase of health care costs borne by employees.

MYSPACE SWAP IN TALKS Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is discussing swapping social-networking Web site MySpace for a 25 percent stake in Yahoo Inc., The Times newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Times, which is owned by News Corp., said its parent was looking for exposure in a larger Internet-based business such as Yahoo.

News Corp. spent $580 million to buy MySpace in 2005.

WORLD

France fearful of BlackBerry spying

BlackBerry handhelds have been called addictive, invasive, wonderful - and now, a threat to French state secrets.

That, at least, is the fear of French government defense experts, who have advised against their use by officials in France's corridors of power, reportedly to avoid snooping by U.S. intelligence agencies.

LOCAL

Apollo may buy some Wild Oats stores

Apollo Management Holding LP, a large New York private-equity firm, plans to buy some stores owned by Wild Oats Markets Inc. if the planned sale to its larger rival, Whole Foods Market Inc., is approved, according to a court filing.

John Mackey, Whole Foods' chairman and chief executive, said in an entry on his blog Tuesday that Whole Foods has negotiated a deal with "a large private-equity firm" to sell the Henry's and Sun Harvest farmers-market brands owned by Wild Oats.

A spokesman for Apollo declined to comment.

Spokespeople at Whole Foods and Wild Oats weren't immediately available to comment.

Apollo also said in the filing that it previously explored a potential purchase of all of Wild Oats.

PANCAKE PROMOTION Denver- based VICORP Restaurants Inc., the owner of Village Inn and Bakers Square restaurants, is offering "All You Can Eat" pancakes for the price of one gallon of gas.

Customers must present a receipt for a gasoline purchase. The offer runs through the end of July.

Rocky staff and wire reports

ECONOMY

Mortgage application index declines 3.4%

Mortgage applications in the U.S. fell last week, signaling that mortgage rates near an 11-month high may be starting to discourage home purchases and refinancing.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's index of applications fell 3.4 percent, to 643.7 from 666.5 the previous week. The group's gauge of purchase applications fell 3 percent, and a measure of refinancing dropped 4.2 percent.

Higher mortgage rates and a glut of unsold homes are prompting many would-be buyers to hold off on purchasing as they await further price declines. The report, along with figures Tuesday showing a decline in home starts, adds to evidence the housing slump will linger, economists said.

"The housing market is facing bloated inventories and a lack of demand, so it's still in an ugly spot," Tim Rogers, chief economist at Briefing.com in Boston, said before the report. "We may still have a ways to go here before things get better for home sales."

The mortgage bankers' purchase index fell to 450.9 last week from 464.7.

THIS JUST IN . . .

• Karen Newman, dean of the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, has resigned, effective June 30. She will be taking a one-year leave of absence before joining the faculty as a full professor in the college's department of management. Professor of marketing and former Dean Bruce Hutton will serve as interim dean until a replacement is named.

• The Community College of Aurora Foundation board elected Debra Parcheta, president of Blue Marble Enterprises Inc., to its board of directors.

• Boulder-based National Healthcare Properties Inc. has acquired Cypress Station Medical Center in Houston for $9,375,000. The medical plaza is a 54,137-square-foot building that serves more than 5 million patients annually.

• The Bell Policy Center, a public policy research and advocacy organization that works on social and fiscal policy issues affecting Colorado, named Ernest Gurulé as director of communications.

• Food Bank of the Rockies is teaming with Kroger, along with the Acosta Sales and Marketing Agency and several consumer-packaged food brands, for a second year to raise $4 million of food for hunger relief in northern Colorado through the "Bringing Hope to the Table" program, which runs from July 15 to 28.

• The Anti-Defamation League's Mountain States regional office, headquartered in Denver, named Karen Steinhauser as its board chairwoman- elect. It also installed four individuals to the board of directors: Diana Zeff Anderson, of Greenwood Village; David Gorodetzky, a geophysicist for ITT Visual Information Solutions in Boulder; Steve Gutterman, managing director of MBH Enterprises Inc. in Denver; and Michelle Striker, of Denver.

• White Construction Group, a Colorado-based commercial general contractor, added Gary Dominguez as senior project manager.

• Douglas County-based Evolving Systems Inc., a provider of software solutions and services to wireless, wireline and IP carrier markets, appointed Bruce W. Armstrong and Thad Dupper to its board of directors.

• Key Equipment Finance, a bank-affiliated equipment financing company headquartered in Superior, added Chris Nugent as vice president of asset management for its global vendor services group.

• Stonebridge Cos. acquired the Four Points by Sheraton, Denver Cherry Creek on Tuesday. The property will be renamed the Cherry Creek Hotel and will leave the Starwood family.

• First National Bank of Colorado has hired Ray Quintana as a corporate banking lender.