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Business Briefing, July 16

Rocky staff and wire reports

Published July 15, 2008 at 9:05 p.m.

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Todd Goulding

Todd Goulding

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NATIONAL

Volkswagen chooses Chattanooga for its new U.S. auto plant

Volkswagen has picked Chattanooga, Tenn., over sites in two other states for its new U.S. auto plant, a board member of Europe's biggest automaker said Tuesday.

Sites in Alabama and Michigan were considered for the plant, which is part of Volkswagen's strategy to increase its presence in America. Volkswagen closed its last U.S. production facility in 1988.

LOCAL

Former Coors exec named senior VP at Green Bay Packers

Laura Sankey, a former marketing executive at Coors Brewing Co. and Qwest Communications, has been named senior vice president of marketing and sales for the Green Bay Packers.

Sankey, 43, an Ohio native who grew up a Cincinnati Bengals fan, has years of experience overseeing various sports marketing programs, including sponsorships with the NFL and Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. She also had season tickets to the Denver Broncos for at least part of her stay in Colorado, according to the Packers news release.

RESEARCH GRANT Dr. Glenn Furuta, associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, has received a $440,000 research grant from Exploratory Investigations in Food Allergy, a program funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. Furuta is researching the development of diagnoses and treatment options for eosinophilic esophagitis, a disease related to food allergic reactions.

RADIO MARKET Liquid Compass, a Denver-based provider of streaming and Web services to the radio industry, has signed up Greater Media Inc., the parent company of 23 radio stations in major markets, including Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia. Liquid Compass provides streaming services to more than 700 stations.

LAWSUITS DISMISSED A Kansas district judge dismissed two lawsuits Tuesday filed by two companies, Sunflower Electric Power Corp., based in Hays, and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc., based in Westminster, seeking to build two coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Secretary Rod Bremby blocked the plants over concerns about global-warming pollution. The companies' attorneys said the dismissal would result more quickly in a ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court.

ECONOMY

Inflation in past year at fastest pace since 1981

The economy showed the depth of its twin problems on Tuesday, slow growth and rising inflation, as the nation wrestled with a teetering financial system, a slumping dollar and rising prices for food and fuel.

The Labor Department reported that soaring costs for gasoline and food pushed inflation at the wholesale level up by a bigger-than-expected 1.8 percent in June, leaving inflation rising over the past year at the fastest pace in more than a quarter-century.

Over the past 12 months, wholesale prices are up 9.2 percent, the largest year-over-year surge since June 1981, another period when soaring energy costs were giving the country inflation pains.

Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, was better behaved in June, rising by just 0.2 percent, slightly lower than expectations.

* Retail sales edged up by a weaker amount than expected in June as sales at auto dealerships plunged 3.3 percent.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that retail sales increased by just 0.1 percent last month, even weaker than the 0.4 percent gain that analysts had been expecting.

* Business inventories rose at a slower-than-expected pace in May, a possible indication that the weakening economy is making companies cautious on their restocking plans.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that inventories held on shelves and backlots edged up 0.3 percent in May.

THIS JUST IN...

* Vail Capital Partners Inc. named Todd Goulding as senior project manager.

* Michael Ledwitz, founder and publisher of Denver Magazine, said Dahlia Weinstein, former Rocky Mountain News society writer, is no longer the magazine's editor-in-chief. Ledwitz takes over the magazine's top editorial job.

* The Society for Human Resource Management-Colorado State Council, the Best Companies Group and ColoradoBiz magazine selected SOS Staffing as one of the 2008 "Best Companies to Work for in Colorado."

* Camp Bow Wow appointed Brian Belmont as chief operating officer.

* ARCA biopharma Inc. relocated its corporate headquarters to Broomfield.

* The Credit Union Association of Colorado won a first-place Blockbuster Award at the American Association of Credit Union League's 2008 PR/Communications Conference.

* Longterm Care Options named Christy Blakely, Tricia Muller, Dann Milne, Bill West, Kate McRae, Michael Cain and David Sutton to its board of directors.

* American Dream Development appointed William Wood as vice president of operations.

* Purple Crayons Interactive opened its new headquarters office at 1514 Blake St. in Denver.

* University of Colorado Hospital was ranked in the top 25 in the nation by "America's Best Hospitals" survey from U.S. News & World Report.

* The MDRT Foundation will present a $2,500 grant to Hands of The Carpenter, a Colorado-based nonprofit that provides automobile repair and maintenance for low-income single parents.

* Colorado-based Bank of Choice promoted Scott Horton to assistant chief financial officer, Joe Phillips to vice president/loan officer, Brandon Tompkins to vice president of lending, Eric Tuers to senior vice president/regional market manager, Ryan Johnson to senior vice president/regional market manager, Jamie Gibson to assistant vice president/branch operations officer, Michelle Henry to assistant vice president/branch support and operations, and Lori Eckinger to retirement investment officer.

* Colorado Capital Bank's Private Wealth Management Group appointed Beverly Karns to senior vice president of business development.

* Denver public relations agency Schenkein promoted Barb Jones to senior vice president, Brandy Radey to vice president, Meredith Stevens to senior account executive and Zack Littlefield as account executive.

* Jewish Family Service of Colorado was awarded $286,899 in federal funding to expand its Colorado Senior Connections program.