14 people to watch in 2009

Rocky Mountain News

Published January 3, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.
Updated January 5, 2009 at 12:47 p.m.

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David C. Aldous: CEO, Range Fuels Inc.

This former Royal Dutch Shell executive was lured from London to manage the Broomfield company.

A lot is riding on Aldous as Range Fuels prepares to open the nation's first cellulosic ethanol plant near Soperton, Ga., in late 2009. The plant will use proprietary technology it has been testing at its Denver pilot plant to turn wood waste into motor fuel. The campaign of President-elect Barack Obama visited the pilot plant during the summer.

"The short-term objective is to complete our Soperton plant, which is in the early throes of getting built, prove the technology on a large scale, build on that foundation other plants across the United States," Aldous said. "We will continue to make Colorado our corporate headquarters as we grow opportunities for jobs."

Range Fuels was ranked No. 5 among the top 50 hot biofuel companies by Biofuels Digest, an industry magazine, and is backed by well-known investors such as Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems.

Christine Benero: president, Mile High United Way

The self-effacing nonprofit executive is known as a consensus builder who quietly leads without taking credit for her successes. In an era when so many Colorado nonprofits will be clamoring for funds, the former Red Cross chief will help set the agenda this year on how charities need to change with the times.

Eliminating some of the duplicate efforts of competing organizations will be a priority as the sector tries to provide services to a growing number of residents.

"This is not a time to throw our hands in the air but to really look at this as a tremendous opportunity to step back and ask, 'How do we all work together?' " Benero said.

Greenberg Traurig attorney David Goldberg, who sits on several nonprofit boards, described Benero as a "nonprofit rock star" and a "motivator" to others in the community.

"She leads by example and others will look to her," he said. "She's keenly aware of what needs to happen."

Don Elliman: director, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade

Elliman is Gov. Bill Ritter's point man for everything from promoting tourism and international flights to attracting companies creating high-paying jobs. Continuing to push Colorado as a major travel destination will be key to helping the state's second-largest industry weather the recession.

Elliman was recently part of a trade mission to Asia to help shore up business ties and continue the multiyear lobbying effort for a direct flight between Tokyo and the Mile High City.

Kim Day: manager of aviation, Denver International Airport

When Day took the reins of DIA last year, the airport was basking in a perfect mix of heavy competition among its airline, low fares, plenty of service and surging passenger numbers.

Now, however, Day is managing an airport experiencing slowing growth and a huge helping of uncertainty. Its two largest carriers - United Airlines and Frontier Airlines, which is in Chapter 11 - have cut flights and face significant financial hurdles. Even fast-growing Southwest Airlines is beginning to scale back nationwide, including a few flights in Denver.

Travel demand in general is diminishing as the economic picture dims.

Yet the airport is still nearly at capacity and must plan for future expansion because it might find itself overrun should traffic rebound in the near term.

Day's guidance will be vital in what should shape up to be a critical year for the airport's future.

Charles "Chuck" Enoch: vice president of space systems for Raytheon Co.'s intelligence and information systems business in Aurora

Raytheon's Aurora campus is competing to win two big contracts Uncle Sam is expected to award in 2009. Each is valued at about $1 billion.

Victory would lead to additional jobs in Aurora - and the possibility of a new building at the Aurora campus to house the growing number of employees. The company employs about 2,100 there.

As the executive in charge of Raytheon's Aurora operations, Enoch will play a key role in the aerospace contractor's efforts to win the deals.

One contract is to build the ground system for a fleet of next-generation military and navigational satellites.

In May, Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Jefferson County won the contract to build up to a dozen of the GPS satellites for the Air Force.

Enoch and Raytheon also are hoping to land the contract to build the ground system for a fleet of next-generation weather satellites, dubbed GOES-R.

In December, Lockheed Martin's Jefferson County operations won the contract to develop and build the constellation of GOES-R weather-observation satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Dr. Patty Gabow: CEO and medical director, Denver Health Medical Center

President-elect Barack Obama has made it clear that health care reform will be one of his administration's top priorities.

Denver Health, the state's biggest safety-net hospital, which has provided billions of dollars in care to uninsured patients, has been praised by leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a model for the country's future health care system. Gabow's expertise in overseeing the hospital has earned her spots on health care panels led by Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Tom Daschle, who is expected to spearhead the Obama administration's health care reform efforts.

Denver Health, which provides care for nearly 25 percent of the city's population, is facing challenges of its own as the rising numbers of unemployed and uninsured turn to the hospital's emergency room. The hospital has seen a rise in unsponsored care since August, particularly among first-time visitors to the emergency room, and expects to provide a record $310 million in care for which it never expects to be paid.

Kim Jordan: CEO, New Belgium Brewing Co.

Jordan heads a company that's winning rave reviews for its corporate culture, its "green" practices - and its beers. As a result, New Belgium is considered a role model for how to run a successful business.

Jordan founded New Belgium with her husband, Jeff Lebesch, in 1991.

The Fort Collins beer maker, which posted $96 million in revenue last year, is the nation's eighth-largest brewer.

In October, The Wall Street Journal cited New Belgium as one of 15 small employers "that have built exemplary workplaces." The company employs 320.

The Journal noted that New Belgium's workplace is one "where employees are engaged and enthusiastic about supporting the company's environmental cause."

That's on top of making a variety of beers that have proved extremely popular. As a result, other companies are expected to keep a close eye on New Belgium and its CEO in the coming year to learn from their success.

"Given their momentum, they'll continue to see other organizations looking to them as models and for inspiration," said Julia Herz, craft beer program director at the Brewers Association.

And what does she think of Jordan, who is a member of the Brewers Association board? "She puts everyone at ease - just like their beers."

Sean Menke: CEO, Frontier Airlines

The fact that Frontier continues to fly is, in some circles, considered an amazing feat.

When the Denver-based company filed for bankruptcy in April, many observers started to write the scrappy airline's obituary, citing intense competition, rising fuel costs and a weak balance sheet.

But Menke has proved the critics wrong - at least so far.

He has essentially overhauled the airline by cutting flights and routes, selling planes, reworking labor contracts, shedding some gates, enacting controversial - yet financially successful - fees and changing Frontier's fare structure, among other things.

Frontier made it through an unprecedented rise in fuel prices and the crucial slow fall period. In November, the airline posted its first monthly profit since filing for bankruptcy in April.

The restructuring is far from over, and the company's ability to continue flying is far from guaranteed - both of which will make it an interesting year for Menke.

Larry Mizel: CEO, MDC Holdings

Yes, MDC Holdings, the parent of Richmond American Homes, has seen its stock price and its profit margins hammered.

But it has suffered far less than other major, national home builders such as Toll Brothers and KB Homes. MDC's stock is down about 37 percent from its 52-week high, while Toll Brothers is down about 64 percent.

In addition, MDC has more than $1 billion in cash, which equates to about $27 in cash per share, and the stock is trading at around $30.

It also has less debt than virtually all the other giant home builders.

MDC could be in a position to buy rivals weakened by the first national housing downturn since the Great Depression, or it could be an attractive purchase.

Meanwhile, Mizel last year widened his investment in the nonprofit arena by opening the Center for Empowered Living and Learning (the Cell) in the Denver Civic Center Cultural Complex, adjacent to the Denver Art Museum.

Ed Mueller: CEO, Qwest Communications

The methodical Mueller gets credit for developing a strategy focused on boosting Internet speeds. The higher speeds now reach a potential 1.5 million customers and aid in reducing customer churn.

Qwest, which serves a largely rural region of the country, also may benefit from President-elect Barack Obama's goal to boost the country's broadband infrastructure.

Still, it's unclear to what extent Qwest's broadband push and recent aggressive Internet price promotions can offset a steep loss of traditional phone lines during a recession.

"I think that he will have a difficult year in 2009 since the economy will accelerate line losses at Qwest," said Donna Jaegers, a telecommunications analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Denver. "His DSL (price) promotion is a good idea but probably two years too late."

Look for Mueller to continue to invest aggressively in broadband and to seek ways to keep and attract customers.

A possible catalyst will be additional government contracts under the federal Networx telecommunications program.

Walter C. Rakowich: CEO, ProLogis

When Rakowich, who had been president and chief operating officer of ProLogis, took over as CEO of the Denver-based company on Nov. 12, the stock of the world's largest industrial real estate investment trust was trading at $4.47 A year earlier it had been trading at close to $70.

Nine days after Rakowich took over, the stock hit an all-time intraday low of $2.20.

Many local experts were shocked by the beating ProLogis' stock took, as Wall Street punished it for growing so aggressively in Japan, Asia and Europe - moves that had been cheered a year ago as ProLogis introduced cutting-edge distribution and logistics systems to some of the world's largest companies.

But the stock quickly rebounded from its lows because investors apparently think Rakowich and the ProLogis board made all the right moves, from cutting the dividend to announcing a reduction in general and administrative expenses by 20 percent to 25 percent, and putting a hold on future developments.

And just before Christmas, ProLogis announced it had agreed to sell its operations in China and property fund interests in Japan to the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. for $1.3 billion.

The stock closed Friday at $14.17.

Jeff Storey: president and chief operating officer, Level 3 Communications

Storey, a veteran of Southwestern Bell, Cox, WilTel and Leucadia Telecommunications, recently replaced co-founder Kevin O'Hara, who resigned amid the company's difficulties integrating recent acquisitions.

The Broomfield-based communications carrier's nationwide fiber-optic network and customer service operations already were running more smoothly. But Storey enters the scene amid a deepening recession - weaker customer demand and interest payments on massive debt from building the network threaten to sap cash reserves.

Level 3 recently raised $374 million of expensive capital to help retire early lower-interest 2009 and 2010 debt. The company also cut 8 percent of its 5,600-employee work force. But both may only delay a bankruptcy reorganization if Level 3 can't stem operational losses.

"It will be critical for (Level 3) to be cash flow positive so that they have a chance at refinancing debt due in 2011," said Donna Jaegers, a telecommunications analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Denver.

That will be Storey's job - as Level 3 founder Jim Crowe's new operational head.

Ron Snyder: CEO, Crocs

Nearly every stripe of company is facing financial head winds in 2009, but Crocs has the particular challenge of reviving shoes that some critics have disparaged as fads at a time when consumers are leery of discretionary spending.

Niwot-based Crocs, which has seen its shares plummet 97 percent in the past 12 months to $1.16, has been trying to gain traction on its turnaround plan for much of the past year. The company's efforts to expand into the clothing and sports padding market never took off, and now it's trying to build a footprint in overseas markets and strengthen its retail store presence.

The company last month significantly scaled back expectations for its fourth quarter, warning that it expects to generate sales of $100 million to $120 million during the crucial holiday sales period. Analysts had expected revenue of $185.7 million.

Jeff Wojahn President, EnCana Oil & Gas (USA)

This Canadian geophysicist took over the helm of the U.S. subsidiary of Calgary-based EnCana Corp. two years ago.

Ranked among the top gas producers in Colorado, EnCana also is a bellwether for the local energy industry. Last spring, perceiving a cloudy investment climate and weakening energy prices in the Rockies, EnCana bypassed Colorado and went to Texas and Wyoming to spend an additional $500 million.

And two weeks ago, it decided to slash its capital budget in Colorado to $400 million in 2009 from $700 million in 2008.

That's a far cry from 2004, when EnCana plunked down $2.2 billion to acquire Tom Brown, a Colorado oil and gas company, to dramatically expand its footprint in the state as energy prices rose.

Gargi Chakrabarty, Joanne Kelley, James Paton, Chris Walsh, Roger Fillion, Joyzelle Davis, John Rebchook, Jeff Smith

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