Business briefing, Aug. 20

Rocky staff and wire reports

Published August 19, 2008 at 9:49 p.m.
Updated August 19, 2008 at 11:03 p.m.

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Harley recalling '08 Touring models; 47,579 cycles involved

Harley-Davidson Inc., the biggest U.S. motorcycle maker, is recalling all of its 2008 Touring models because the fuel-filter shell may crack, causing the bikes to slow or stall.

The voluntary recall covers 47,579 of the Touring motorcycles, according to a filing on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Web site. Twelve models, each beginning with an FL designation, are included, the agency and the Milwaukee-based company said on the Web site.

PILOT LAYOFFS Continental Airlines Inc. will lay off 140 to 180 pilots after Labor Day, when the company begins reducing flights to cope with high fuel costs and a sluggish economy. The furloughs are part of 3,000 job cuts that Continental expects.

GM DISCOUNTS General Motors Corp. says it is offering employee pricing to everyone on nearly all 2008 and some 2009 vehicles. The Detroit automaker says the deal includes all 2008 vehicles except medium-duty trucks. GM says the promotion will run from today through Sept. 2. Employee discounts generally are 10 percent below the invoice price but vary by model.

HOME DEPOT DROPS The Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement retailer, reported a 24 percent drop in second-quarter profit Tuesday and reiterated its downbeat outlook for the year amid a weak housing market that shows no signs of recovery.

The Atlanta-based company said net income fell to $1.2 billion, or 71 cents per share, in the three months ended Aug. 3, from $1.59 billion, or 81 cents per share, a year earlier.

TARGET PROFITS OFF Target Corp. reported a 7.6 percent drop in second-quarter profit Tuesday as its consumers focused on necessities like milk and paper towels and had trouble making their monthly credit card payments. The Minneapolis-based discounter said its earnings slipped to $634 million, or 82 cents per share, for the three-month period ended Aug. 2. That compares with a profit of $686 million, or 81 cents per share, a year earlier.

LOCAL

Thompson Creek in molybdenum deal

Thompson Creek Metals Co., the world's fifth-largest molybdenum producer, said it may spend as much as $400 million for control of a deposit of the steel-hardening metal in Colorado.

Toronto-based Thompson Creek paid the deposit's owner, U.S. Energy Corp., $500,000 for an option to form a 50-50 development partnership for $50 million or to own 75 percent for $400 million, the company said in a statement. Thompson Creek will have to spend at least $50 million in 10 years to retain rights to increase its stake, the company said.

LAYOFFS IN SPRINGS Colorado Springs-based Western Forge laid off 40 of its 580 Colorado Springs employees last week in a bid to become more efficient amid slowing sales and to better compete with overseas hand-tool manufacturers, company officials said Monday.

The cut was 7 percent of the company's local work force and included management and production employees, said Glenn King, Western Forge's general manager. The move comes despite winning a $3.5 million contract to produce screwdrivers, handles and adjustable wrenches for the professional tool division of Danaher Corp.

Home building indicator plunges

Construction of homes and apartments fell in July to the lowest level in more than 17 years, the government reported Tuesday.

The Commerce Department said that builders broke ground on 965,000 housing units on an annualized basis. That was down from a pace of 1.08 million in June and the weakest showing since March 1991.

However, July's performance was better than analysts expected. Wall Street economists forecast housing starts would drop to a pace of 950,000.

* Wholesale inflation surged in July, leaving prices for the past year rising at the fastest pace in 27 years, according to government data released Tuesday.

The Labor Department reported that wholesale prices shot up 1.2 percent in July, pushed higher by rising costs for energy, motor vehicles and other products. The increase was more than twice the 0.5 percent gain economists expected.

Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.7 percent.

THIS JUST IN ...

* The National Association of Industrial and Office Properties gave The Signature Centre, developed by Aardex LLC of Golden, its Green Development Award.

* The Parker Chamber of Commerce presents The Business Mastery Series on Sept. 24 at the Wildlife Experience Museum in Parker. Information: 303-928-7144.

* The Metropolitan State College of Denver Center for Innovation named Russell Bryant III, David Cohen, Heidi Flammang, Danial Griggs, Dan Hugo, Elizabeth Israel, Christina James, Kimberly Lucas, Theron McCollough, Steve Murchie, David O'Brien, Rex O'Neal, David Rein, LeRoy Romero, David Sandusky, Marc Silverman, Lynn Smith, Bret Turner and Mike Van Cleave to its board of advisers.

* CoBiz Financial raised $220,000 for Urban Peak and Denver Children's Advocacy Center.

* The Credit Union of Colorado opened a branch in Fort Collins at the intersection of Harmony Road and Snow Mesa Drive.

* Alliance Construction Solutions hired Lindsey Crisante as a project engineer and added Chris Coble to its real estate and development department.

* Chris Osgood and Ami France of Palace Construction received LEED accreditation.

* University of Colorado Denver College of Architecture and Planning students won four of the top five awards in the U.S. Green Building Council's Natural Talent Design Competition for the Western Region.

* Melissa Corrado-Harrison, of Denver, was listed in Barron's Top 100 Women Financial Advisers.

* University of Phoenix promoted Brian DeBoskey to associate director of enrollment for the Denver campus.

* Ronggui Yang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado, was named one of the world's top 35 young innovators by Technology Review, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

* Holland & Hart was named among the top 20 firms to work for by the 2009 Vault survey.

* Colorado-based Bank of Choice opened a branch at Boardwalk Drive and Harmony Road in Fort Collins.

* Brekhus Tile & Stone added Steve DeThomas as president.

* Valen Technologies was named an Up & Coming Insurance Technology Firm by Financial Insights.

* Rose Community Foundation appointed Whitney G. Connor as program officer for its health program area and Anita Wesley as philanthropy adviser.

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