CIG: Denver Public Relations, training, graphic design, research and proposal writing

Earn up to $75 when you choose not to drive solo

— August 10, 2010 — Join 36 Commuter CASH, an innovative program to combat traffic congestion on U.S. 36 and the Diagonal Highway. The program pays U.S. 36 and Diagonal Highway commuters who currently drive solo to work when they “make the switch” to a cleaner commute option. Participants can earn $2 per day, as much $75 in a 60-day pledge period.

Instead of driving solo, get paid to try one of these clean commute options:
• Bicycle
• Carpool
• Ride transit
• Vanpool
• Telework
• Walk

To get started, visit 36commutingsolutions.org or call 303-604-4385. For commute options resources and individual trip planning assistance, please contact Natalie at 303-604-4385 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Drive green, earn green!

RTD and Union Pacific Railroad sign agreements on railroad property for FasTracks program

Railroad property purchase marks major milesone in moving FasTracks forward

News Release from RTD FasTracks

— August 04, 2010 — Officials from the Regional Transportation District (RTD) and the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad held a signing ceremony today, Aug. 4, to finalize agreements for RTD’s purchase of railroad property and the construction and relocation of UP facilities necessary for the FasTracks transit expansion program.

These agreements total $78 million and mark another major milestone for the FasTracks program, providing property needed to build the East Corridor (from Denver Union Station to Airport Boulevard), the Gold Line (from Pecos Junction to Ralston Road), and the West Corridor (relocation of UP’s Burnham Yard Lead to the south). This is the second property transaction between RTD and UP for FasTracks. The first transaction, which totaled $118 million to purchase the right-of-way to build the North Metro Corridor, occurred in 2009.

“It is great to celebrate yet another milestone for the FasTracks investment initiative,” said Phil Washington, RTD General Manager. “The agreement we came to with Union Pacific is a demonstration of how well agencies can work together to benefit the greater good.”

“Today marks the culmination of several years of diligent work by many,” said Tony Love, Union Pacific Railroad Assistant Vice President of Real Estate. “The end result of this hard work is an agreement with a focus on safety and customer service for both freight and commuter rail traffic.”

The signing ceremony was held at the law office of Jacobs Chase LLC in Denver, Colo.

FasTracks is RTD’s voter-approved transit program to expand rail and bus service throughout the RTD service area. FasTracks will build 122 miles of commuter rail and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, add 21,000 new parking spaces, redevelop Denver Union Station and redirect bus service to better connect the eight-county District. The FasTracks investment initiative is projected to create more than 10,000 construction-related jobs during the height of construction, and will pump billions of dollars into the regional economy.

Celebrating 10 Years of RTD’s Southwest Light Rail Corridor

Over 81 million boardings since opening day July 14, 2000

News release from RTD

Denver, Colo. — July 15, 2010 — This month the Regional Transportation District (RTD) is marking ten years of light rail service along the Southwest Light Rail Line. Since RTD opened the 8.7-mile Southwest Light Rail Line July 14, 2000, the line has carried over 81 million passenger trips.

RTD Chairman Lee Kemp said, “The Southwest Rail Line connected downtown with a suburban area to help meet the current and future needs of the region. The importance of providing rapid transit options, including the full FasTracks system, cannot be overstated and the Southwest Line is yet another example of how successful passenger rail can be.”

In May 1995, RTD received a Full Funding Grant Agreement in the amount of $120 million for the $177 million Southwest Corridor line. The line opened in July 2000, adding 8.7 miles of light rail and 5 stations, bringing suburban commuters from the Englewood, Sheridan and Littleton areas into downtown Denver. This was the first light rail line running from a suburban area to downtown. Ridership exceeded projections by nearly 70 percent on opening day and continues at levels above projections.

The City of Englewood took the opportunity to redevelop the all-but abandoned Cinderella City shopping center, which once housed 1.35 million square feet of retail space, into a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) village. Utilizing a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use concept that combined retail, entertainment, residential, office, civic and open space elements, the RTD Englewood Light Rail Station was the cornerstone to its success. A former department store was transformed into the new Englewood City Center, housing City Hall, the Library and the Museum of Outdoor Arts. The Englewood City Center community is now an international model for TOD.

The Southwest Corridor has been a tremendous addition to Littleton’s quality of life. Ridership exceeded projections on opening day because Littleton citizens love the convenience of riding the train to sporting events and jobs in Downtown Denver.

The City of Sheridan is also connected to many desirable destinations through the RTD light rail system which affords many transportation options that would not be available if it was not for the Southwest Light Rail Line.

For route and schedule information, please call RTD’s Telephone Information Center at 303.299.6000. Call 303.299.6089 for the speech and hearing impaired. Visit RTD’s web site at http://www.RTD-Denver.com.
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RTD Board selects Denver Transit Partners for Eagle P3, FasTracks’ single largest contract

PRIVATE TEAM PROPOSES TO BUILD RAIL LINES TO DIA, ARVADA-WHEAT RIDGE AND WESTMINSTER $300 MILLION UNDER RTD’S BUDGET AND AHEAD

— June 15, 2010 — The Regional Transportation District (RTD) has selected Denver Transit Partners for the single largest FasTracks contract to build and operate commuter rail lines to Denver International Airport (DIA), Arvada-Wheat Ridge and south Westminster.

Denver Transit Partners’ proposal is $300 million lower than RTD’s budget estimate and it plans to open the line to DIA by January 2016, 11 months ahead of RTD’s deadline. Denver Transit Partners’ proposal along with RTD’s project costs total $2.085 billion, compared with RTD’s budget estimate of $2.385 billion. The RTD “best-value” evaluation rated it both the higher technical proposal and the lower cost proposal of the two bidding teams.

The sponsoring members of Denver Transit Partners are Fluor Enterprises Inc. and Macquarie Capital Group Ltd. They are joined by major partners Ames Construction, Balfour Beatty Rail Inc., Alternate Concepts Inc. and HDR. (See accompanying sheet for company profiles.)

“It is a remarkable achievement for RTD to get a project of this magnitude through a public-private partnership that meets our goal of contracting under our budget and ahead of our schedule,” said RTD Chair Lee Kemp. “We said three years ago that public-private partnerships would be a vital part of keeping our FasTracks program moving forward. The decision tonight shows that the faith placed in us by the Federal Transit Administration and our stakeholders through some difficult times was justified has been rewarded.”

With this decision, RTD will have 47 miles of new rail under construction or under contract, more than double the amount of rail in RTD’s existing light rail system. It also represents nearly 40 percent of the total FasTracks rail network now under contract.

The Eagle P3 Project packages several FasTracks projects into a single contract to design and construct the East Corridor to DIA, the Gold Line to Arvada-Wheat Ridge, a short segment of the Northwest Rail corridor to south Westminster and the commuter rail maintenance facility in north Denver. This design-build method is similar to how RTD and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) implemented the Transportation Expansion (T-REX) light rail and highway project, which was completed under budget and ahead of schedule in 2006.

Eagle P3 takes public-private partnerships to a broader level. In addition to final design and construction, Denver Transit Partners is bringing private financing to the table and, under a concession contract, will also operate and maintain the rail service on these lines for 40 years. In return, RTD will make annual payments to Denver Transit Partners based on its performance in meeting RTD’s service standards. Through this arrangement, called Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain, RTD reduces its need for upfront cash. RTD also expects the project to attract $1 billion next year through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Full Funding Grant Agreement process. Anthony Loui, FTA’s Eagle Project Team Leader, attended the RTD board meeting from Washington as a representative of FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff. The FTA has been a fully supportive partner in RTD’s pursuit of a P3 project.

Early construction work, such as relocation of utilities and freight tracks along the East Corridor, is projected to start by late summer.

Two teams spent the past two years working on proposals. RTD will pay the other team, Mountain-Air Transit Partners, a $2.5-million stipend in exchange for the intellectual property in its proposal. That gives RTD the option to use cost-saving ideas from the non-selected proposal.

The two proposals were thoroughly evaluated over two months by more than 120 people including RTD staff and representatives of cities and counties on the Eagle corridors – Adams County, Arvada, Aurora, Denver, Westminster and Wheat Ridge – along with staff from CDOT and DIA. RTD had technical, financial and legal input from consultants Jacobs Engineering, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

“This is a significant, prestigious and strategic selection,” said Patrick Flaherty, head of Fluor’s Infrastructure business. “We expect this to be the first of many public-private partnership transit projects procured under the available method in the U.S. in the coming year. We are delighted to have been selected by the Denver RTD. Our entire team is looking forward to helping the RTD realize its FasTracks vision and we are committed to working closely with local businesses and other stakeholders to involve them in the project and increase the long-term competitiveness of the Denver area,” said Flaherty.

Eagle P3 is a key part of RTD’s strategy to keep FasTracks moving forward in the difficult economic environment that has affected large public projects nationwide.

“RTD is the first transit agency in the United States to pursue this type of comprehensive public-private partnership that includes not only the design and construction, but the financing and ultimate operation and maintenance of the end product,” said RTD General Manager Phil Washington. “RTD has always been on the front line of finding innovative methods for delivering projects. Now this project can get on with creating thousands of jobs.”

First FasTracks project complete, saving bus commuters up to 30 minutes round-trip

$23.3 million US 36 Phase I Transit Improvements complete with the opening of US 36 & Broomfield park-n-Ride and bus ramps

— May 06, 2010 — The Regional Transportation District (RTD) joined the City & County of Broomfield and 36 Commuting Solutions, along with all of the jurisdictions along the US 36 Corridor, to celebrate the completion of the US 36 Phase I Transit Improvements at the site of the new US 36 & Broomfield park-n-Ride, at US 36 and Transit Way.

The $23.3 million US 36 Phase I Transit Improvements project is the first project to be completed in the FasTracks Program. The elements of the project include new park-n-Rides, bus pull-outs, and pedestrian bridge projects at three key US 36 interchanges – McCaslin Boulevard in Louisville, Church Ranch Boulevard in Westminster, and 116th in Broomfield. Together, these projects combine to save up to 15 minutes each way for bus riders commuting between Denver and Boulder.

Located near the 1STBANK Center, the US 36 & Broomfield park-n-Ride provides a 1,500- space parking garage, shared with the 1STBANK Center and Arista, a new pedestrian bridge and bus-only slip ramps. The park-n-Ride officially opened Sunday, May 2, as part of the May RTD service changes and resulted in the closure of the existing Broomfield park-n-Ride at 120th Avenue and Wadsworth Parkway. The movement of the park-n-Ride and addition of bus-only slip ramps help add to the overall commuter travel-time savings.

“Over the past couple of years I’ve found that RTD has made my commute from Boulder to Westminster fast, convenient, and much more economical than driving,” said George Craft, an RTD commuter. “I take the bus at least 80 percent of the time, giving me time to relax and read. I hardly remember the last time I bought gas. And what RTD has done to improve transit service along US 36 is remarkable. The new Broomfield park-n-Ride and bus slip ramps alone reduced my commute by almost 20 minutes. I really appreciate the RTD FasTracks investments into US 36 to jump start bus rapid transit and make transit more competitive with driving.”

The next phase of the project for US 36 is a joint Colorado Department of Transportation/RTD US 36 Corridor project, which includes highway and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) elements and is partially funded through FasTracks. US 36 BRT service is proposed to run along the18-mile corridor between Downtown Denver and Boulder. It will serve Denver, Westminster, Broomfield, Superior, Louisville and Boulder.

View Broomfield Enterprise coverage of the new park-n-Ride.
View 9News coverage.

Communication Infrastructure Group Celebrates Five Year Anniversary

During recession, local public relations and marketing communications firm has experienced nearly 400 percent growth

— May 05, 2010 — While the professional services and consulting industries have been hit particularly hard by the recession over the past three years, local public relations firm Communication Infrastructure Group (CIG), LLC, has experienced steady revenues and a nearly 400 percent increase in staff size. Launched in May 2005, CIG started with one full-time and one half-time professional. Five years later, the boutique firm has grown to six full-time and two half-time associates.

This month, CIG celebrates five years in business. Founded by local communication veteran and University of Denver Adjunct Professor Karen Morales, APR, CIG specializes in high-impact, long-term public infrastructure projects, as well as the local government and education sectors. Morales, former communication director and spokesperson for the Transportation Expansion (T-REX) Project, has since grown her boutique firm from the ground up, taking on several high-profile clients and projects throughout Colorado, including RTD’s FasTracks program, Denver Water, CDOT’s I-70 Mountain Corridor project, Wheat Ridge, Longmont, Adams County and Cherokee’s redevelopment of the former Gates Rubber Factory, among many others.

Morales attributes the company’s success during the ongoing recession to two key philosophies: 1) Hire the right people; and 2) Smart growth management.

“When I decided to launch CIG in 2005, I promised myself that I would never grow the company beyond my ability to hire only the right people for both our clients and our culture,” said Morales. “During the first three years, we had the opportunity to expand exponentially, but we held back a bit to ensure we grew for the right reasons. I had a very clear picture as to how and why we would embrace growth in a way that would keep CIG true to the quality, customer service and culture we wanted to provide.”

The company plans on celebrating its five-year anniversary with past and current clients and colleagues, as well as blogging about some of the more humorous moments of the past five years at www.cig-pr.com.

CIG is a DBE, WBE and SBE certified full service public relations/involvement and marketing communications firm specializing in the high-impact fields of public infrastructure, engineering and construction, local government and education. For more information visit www.cig-pr.com or contact Karen Morales at 303-618-7031. Follow CIG on Twitter @CIG_PR.

RTD FasTracks rolls out 1.2 million pound bridge over 6th Avenue

— May 03, 2010 — On the weekend of May 1, 2010, a 286-foot, 600-ton light rail bridge was rolled into place over 6th Avenue as part of the FasTracks West Corridor Project. The highway was opened 30 hours earlier than anticipated.

The joint decision by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), RTD and its contractor to completely close the highway for one full weekend reduced what could have been months of lane closures. By assembling the bridge on the side of the highway over the past several months and rolling the bridge into place over a weekend substantially minimized the impact to commuters traveling on 6th Avenue.

The 12.1-mile West Corridor light rail project is the first of the FasTracks corridors to start construction. The West Corridor line will operate between Denver Union Station in downtown Denver and the Jefferson County Government Center in Golden; serving Denver, Lakewood, the Denver Federal Center, Golden and Jefferson County. The corridor is scheduled to open to the public in 2013.

Click here to watch a time-lapse video of the process.

View CBS 4 coverage

View 9News coverage

AMA Construction named Small Business of the Year by Denver Metro Chamber

Award reinforces philosophy that good business requires good relationships

— April 22, 2010 — AMA Construction was named Small Business of the Year by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce (DMCC) on Wednesday at the annual Business Awards Luncheon hosted at the Downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel.

“Good business requires good relationships,” said Eero Allison, president of AMA Construction. “Since day one, our company philosophy has always focused on building strong interpersonal ties between the owner, architect and contractor. This philosophy extends through our membership in the Chamber and is reinforced by the many positive relationships we’ve built with other Chamber members.”

Each year, the DMCC recognizes small, emerging, nonprofit, green and minority-owned businesses that have made outstanding contributions to the Denver-metro community. AMA Construction was the only general contractor up for an award at this year’s luncheon.

AMA Construction, Inc. is a mid-sized commercial general contractor determined to redefine the role of the contractor in the building process. Uniting the objectives of owner and architect, AMA brings a higher standard in leadership, customer service and ingenuity to the industry. The company specializes in construction of office buildings, retail centers, medical buildings, tenant finish, commercial remodeling and site development.

For more information please contact Heather Dean at 720-232-2160 or via e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). AMA’s Web site is www.amaconst.com.

Union Station project funding guaranteed

Feds also guarantee funding for other FasTracks lines

Published by Denver Daily News

— February 08, 2010 — Federal Transit Administration officials swept FasTracks and Union Station supporters off their feet Friday with an announcement that “all the funding for Union Station is now secured.”

Union Station will receive a $300 million loan from the federal government to fund the $480 million redevelopment project, Peter Rogoff, FTA Administrator, announced outside the FasTracks lines at Union Station on a gorgeous afternoon.

Rogoff also announced the department’s intention to sign full-funding grant agreements of more than $1 billion for the proposed Gold Line corridor from Union Station to Wheat Ridge and the east line from Union Station to Denver International Airport.

President Obama has already proposed $40 million each for the two corridors as part of his budget proposal for fiscal year 2011.

“Make no mistake about it, the discussion is over, Union Station is going to happen,” said Rogoff to a crowd of cheers.

The Denver City Council recently guaranteed the loan with the use of general funds if necessary.

The Regional Transportation District, however, says it will cost $6.7 billion to build all of FasTracks, and will likely still ask voters to double the existing tax. Without additional revenue, FasTracks would be about $2.5 billion short, if the agency wants to complete the transit expansion project by 2017.

But the news Friday was all good for FasTracks planners, who have now crossed their last hurdle in beginning construction on the Union Station redevelopment project.

A prideful Mayor John Hickenlooper said voters should be very proud of themselves for having approved the FasTracks project in 2004.

“The voters are the ones who saw the promise and they recognized that this is something that not only will help our mobility and attract businesses, but it will also define this state as a collaborative place where we get things done, and that in the end, that will perhaps be the greatest economic part of all.”

The mayor believes the federal government is finally seeing how taxpayer dollars can be spent on collaborative efforts that benefit communities as a whole, such as building FasTracks stations along with affordable housing and at Brownfields sites.

“You are seeing a revolution in how the federal government can maximize our tax dollars into something that can really be rejoiced over,” said Hickenlooper, a Democrat who is also running for governor of Colorado.

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., spoke at the event of the 10,000 jobs the FasTracks project is expected to create.

“Ten-thousand good-paying jobs for Coloradans who want to get to work, we’re gonna help pay the bills, feed the family and help parents put money away to fund their child’s education,” said Bennet.

For RTD Chief Phil Washington, the announcement Friday brings his district one step closer to seeing FasTracks trains zooming in and out of a beautiful, redesigned Union Station.

“I can see the trains, I can see them coming in to this historic Denver Union Station, I can actually see them,” he said. “I hope you can see what I can see in terms of this build-out of this great FasTracks investment initiative, and also this great historic Denver Union Station. This is going to transform this entire region.”

Hello. Good-bye. Atlantans can only wave as rail car follows the future to Charlotte, NC

Published by Saporta Report

— February 02, 2010 — Tracks were being laid in front of the Metro Atlanta Chamber this week so Georgians could see an actual light rail car — making a stop in town for a couple of days.

The light rail vehicle, which also can operate as a streetcar, was on its way to Charlotte, N.C. as part of the North Carolina city’s second phase of its public transit system.

The symbolism was eerily ironic. The closest Atlanta was to seeing light rail was a two-day stop for a vehicle headed to our biggest competitor — Charlotte.

Of course Siemens, the German firm that designed and manufactured the light rail car, wanted Atlantans to see what they could have if they got their act together.

Proposals exist. The Atlanta streetcar. The BeltLine. But all those plans are just lines on paper. In Charlotte, permanent rail lines have been built, light rail vehicles have been purchased and transit operations are being expanded.

Pat McCrory, who served as mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009, was in Atlanta this week to participate in a “Sustainable Transportation” program put on by the government of Switzerland (more on that later).

“Every city is going through the same thing,” McCrory told the Georgia audience, mentioning other Southern cities like Nashville. “The (city that) will win this war will be the one that moves the fastest.”

McCrory, a Republican, said public transit received bi-partisan and business support in Charlotte. There was a massive “selling” job to show what Charlotte was “going to look like if we do nothing.”

Because the transit lines were linked to land-use plans, developers were able to see they could benefit from the city’s investment.

McCrory said it’s important that transit is built where it makes economic sense and is part of a transportation network.

“The right is only going to want to build roads. The political left will want to put transit everywhere out of fairness. This is not a fairness issue,” McCrory said. “There needs to be an inter-connected system of sidewalks, bikeways and buses.” Later the mayor said “you can’t do rail alone without the land-use plan.”

McCrory said transit is not a project with a beginning and an end. When Atlanta first built MARTA, it was the envy of the nation. But then, Atlanta stopped investing in transit. But in Charlotte, McCrory said: “We never finish what we started.”

On the same panel as McCrory were several Georgia leaders — Jim Durrett, a MARTA board member who is executive director of the Buckhead Community Improvement District; former Athens Mayor Doc Eldridge, who is now president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce; and Georgia Sen. Jeff Mullis, who has chaired the transportation committee.

The bottom line — there’s no money in Georgia for transit. There’s not even enough money to support the limited transit systems we currently have. And there’s not the political will among legislators to increase taxes to pay for transit.

“When politicians don’t have the guts to vote for a tax increase, then they let the voters pass a tax increase,” Mullis said.

Even that is on a slow train. Gov. Sonny Perdue has said such a question shouldn’t go before voters until 2012. Remember what McCrory said? The city that builds transit the fastest will win.

Under that scorecard, the United States is behind and Georgia is even farther behind.

In Switzerland, the national policy is to invest in sustainable transportation. Already the Swiss use public transportation for 19 percent of all its trips compared to only 2 percent in the United States. The Swiss traveled an average of 1,307 miles by train in 2007, compared to 1,228 in Japan and 839 in France. In the United States? The average American only traveled 87 miles by train.

The Swiss continue to support investments by rail, and roughly half its transportation budget goes towards public transit.

The Swiss ambassador to the United States, Urs Ziswiler, said there’s a $3 per gallon gas tax that provides revenue for transit. A gallon of gas costs $7.56 in Switzerland, more than twice the cost in the United States. The high cost of gas encourages the use of transit and discourages car and truck travel.

The Swiss currently are building a 35-mile tunnel under the Swiss Alps to connect Zurich to Milan — primarily to shift the movement of freight from trucks to rail. The total project will cost $30.2 billion, and 65 percent of it is going to be paid by a truck tax (a further disincentive to move goods by truck).

According to Swiss officials, the beauty of the truck tax is that it was being paid by trucks traveling from all over Europe. Ambassador Ziswiler said the truck industry strongly opposed the tax, but public support more than made up for that opposition.

Michaela Stockli, an official with SwissRail, showed a slide of all the different modes of rail and public transit that exists in Switzerland — at least a dozen — including tramways, funiculars, light rail, streetcars, trolley buses, high speed rail and so on.

“We have 2 billion passengers a year,” Stockli said of the country with 7.5 million residents. “We do 50 trips per year. Our railway is not only about money. There’s a lot of pride and beauty and emotion.”
She then showed a gorgeous video of trains traveling through the Alps, through cities and throughout beautiful landscapes showing how unobtrusive rail is on the environment.

After that presentation, Georgia State University economist who was moderating a panel discussion, asked those attending the Swiss program on Sustainable Transportation: “Who here has rail envy?”

The crowd applauded.

Ambassador Ziswiler later said Switzerland has had the political will to invest in public transit, and it has been able to pay for it by pricing modes of transportation that it wants to discourage.

Asked about Georgia, Ziswiler said that from what he had heard: “I don’t see the political will.”

So here we are in Atlanta.

The best we can do is have a light rail vehicle on display for two days before it completes its journey to Charlotte, N.C. — a city and a state that enjoys the political will to invest in a sustainable transportation future.

Guess who is winning this competitive war. And guess who’s losing.

In Haitian Earthquake Disaster, Twitter Gets the Word Out

Published by FOXNews.com

— January 13, 2010 — Haiti's cellular network collapsed when Haiti's buildings crumbled following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, but the Internet kept running, allowing communities to form. Via Twitter, Ustream, Twitpic and more, citizen journalists spread the word of the disaster.

The power of Twitter to turn eyewitnesses into on-the-scene journalists stood out in the wake of the massive earthquake that struck off the coast of Haiti Tuesday. Graphic photographs of Haitians covered in rubble promptly shot onto Twitter, far ahead of anything from the traditional news wire services.

Despite damage to the impoverished nation’s communication network, power wasn’t cut off for the entire island, meaning Skype and the Internet were still available.

As Haitian radio and TV host Carel Pedre noted via Twitter, “I don’t have a phone! We can Skype!!” And of course, the Internet was still up, meaning that while the mainstream media scrambled to get reporters and photographers on the ground in the area, residents were already posting hundreds of photos and reports about the situation on the ground.

“It’s worse here then in the media. people need help and there is none,” tweeted Haitian photographer Frederic Dupoux.

“The worst damage is in Carrfour (South of Port, near the Palace) we are hearing that many two and three story buildings did not make it,” reported Troy Livesay.

To follow the latest news from Twitter, search the site for hashtags,a hash symbol and brief snippet of text that group Twitter posts into themes and categories. These tags tend to emerge organically as Twitter users notice other people using them; following the earthquake, people quickly developed the #Haiti and #HelpHaiti tags.

FoxNews.com has set up a Twitter List, a selection of Twitter accounts specific to the Haitian earthquake. Follow the list for the very latest news on the disaster. Another way to keep tabs on the dynamic information on Twitter is through a service called What the Trend, which lists currently trending topics on Twitter. Along with #HelpHaiti and #Haiti, the site points to YELE, explaining that Haitian musician Wyclef Jean’s official Twitter page is calling for people to help Haiti Earthquake Relief by donating $5 by texting YELE to 501501.

Photos also shot around the Internet. Haitian photographer Marvin Ady quickly began snapping photos of the disaster and uploading them to twitpic, with captions such as ” Home is all rubble now” and ” House split in half in Haiti.”

Twitter is a text-only service, so a number of Web sites exist to host photographs to whom people can link from their tweets—services like twitpic, tweetphoto, yfrog and more. But few of these allow visitors to search them effectively, so yet another group of sites exists as search engines for those image-hosting services.

The most powerful is PicFog, which offers real-time image searching capability. Search the site for Haiti and you’ll find the latest images linked from tweets and posted to the the image hosting sites. And in the world of video, UStream is a popular and free video-streaming site. Following the earthquake, journalist Pierre Cote quickly set up a feed of video from Haiti, and others are sure to follow.

10 Things Every Company Should Know: Why RE needs PR in 2010

Published by renewableenergyworld.com

— January 12, 2010 — Renewable Energy companies need Public Relations (PR) for several reasons. These are the top 10 things I believe every company should think about in 2010.

1. Grab the Spotlight
The renewable energy industry is at the forefront of the global economy and under the spotlight on the stage of technology and innovation. That spotlight is still up for grabs, and PR can help put the focus on you, your company and your cause. A PR plan is the foundation to achieving awareness and exposure, and outlines a strategic and tactical process to reach desired audiences.

2. Tell your Story
Every company has a story, from how it got started, to how it survived. PR can tell your story in a fresh way that makes the news, giving your company a stronger voice in the industry and presence on local, national and international levels.

Why bother telling a story if the right people don’t hear it? Or worse, what if they DO hear it but don’t understand it?

3. Educate and Inform
Right now there is an opportunity to educate the entire country. People will not support something they do not understand, and education is the key. An integrated marketing and PR campaign can help close this gap in communication by reaching out to targeted audiences and eliminating fear that so often hinders action and acceptance of change. An educated public is the only public that will make the right decisions towards a sustainable future.

4. Navigate the Political Agenda/Secure Funding
Funding is one of the biggest barriers to start-ups and small companies in the renewable energy industry. We give our clients strategic counsel and writing that delivers a strong message to catch the attention of the decision makers in Washington. Politicians need to understand energy in order to effectively communicate to constituents and colleagues. Plus, if they know more about how funds are spent they will be less reluctant to hold back financial support and also be more determined to find additional resources.

5. Be Media Savvy
Not all innovators and tech-heads are media friendly, but there are many opportunities for improvement in this area. Media training is an indispensable tool with the potential to completely alter the public perception of a company and influence the way a message is delivered. When interacting with the media, the reputation of your company is at stake. You need the best possible representation to share with the world.

6. Deliver your Message
In every organization there must be a clear core message that employees can understand and communicate to outside audiences like suppliers, buyers, investors, media etc. After this message is created and fine-tuned, it must be effectively communicated to the right people at the right time.

7. Implement Cultural Change
In order for renewable energy to be effectively integrated into our culture, we must make the American public adopt and embrace new technologies. Earned media coverage, speaking opportunities and event creation can elevate the importance and desire of renewables- especially those that have already demonstrated successful implementation and a positive return.

8. Win the Energy Game
Although wind and solar seem to be the most dominant and promising players in the industry, there other energy options like hydroelectric, tidal, biomass, geothermal, hydrogen, among others. By garnering earned media coverage we enhance your credibility, grow your business and give you an advantage over the other players. Energy is a tough game, and while we all work and collaborate to become less dependent on fossil fuels, we still need to work on building up each individual sector to make alternative energy as a whole, the best (and most obvious) solution.

9. Build a Brand
Since the industry is still changing and expanding, there hasn’t been specific branding of a company or product in relation to renewable energy yet. Sure First Solar seems to be the clear leader in the solar market, but does the public outside of the energy industry know this? People may be interested in buying solar panels one day, but are not yet able to or may not even know where to go to buy the panels. The goal is to heighten awareness of every citizen, making them view your company as the energy leader. In 2010 there is an opportunity to become the go-to resource for your specific energy industry.

10. Expand your Network
This goes back to the standard principle, ‘It’s all about who you know’. Having the right people (powerful and connected) on your side pushing for you, plays a large role in the success of your business. PR can facilitate these connections by securing speaking roles at conferences, positioning your company message at networking events (in many ways, especially catering to VC’s), assisting in online networking via social media and more.

These are just a few ways that I believe marketing and PR can help businesses in the renewable energy industry. I may be in the communications field, but alternative energy is something I’ve always been passionate about. We have an opportunity to change the world, and the leaders of this change are right here in this industry.

FasTracks costs have dropped, but so have funds for project, RTD says

Published by Denver Business Journal

— January 12, 2010 — The recession has lowered the cost of building Denver's financially troubled FasTracks rail-transit project, but it's also cut the amount of sales tax revenues that the Regional Transportation District expects to get to help pay for it, transit agency officials said Tuesday.

FasTracks’ latest estimated construction costs dropped to $6.5 billion, from $6.9 billion in 2009, but projected sales tax revenues for the project also dropped—to about $4.1 billion, down from $4.7 billion a year ago.

The result: the gap between total project costs and forecast revenues is now pegged at about $2.4 billion—up from $2.2 billion a year ago, RTD officials said.

But if voters approve a 0.4 percent tax increase in 2010, a second tax increase to help pay for FasTracks, RTD would have enough money to finish FasTracks by 2017 and also to operate it, according to the review.

“With a 0.4 percent tax increase you can afford to complete it by 2017, and you can afford to operate it immediately,” said Tim Romer, managing director for Goldman Sachs’ public sector an infrastructure group, which was hired to give RTD financial advice on FasTracks.

RTD officials took the numbers, its annual evaluation of FasTrack’s budget and revenue forecast, to the agency’s board of directors Tuesday. That presentation kicks off 35 days of presentations to business and political leaders as well as other groups throughout Denver, said Phil Washington, RTD’s general manager.

Washington, and RTD Board Chairman Lee Kemp, said Tuesday during a mid-afternoon briefing on the evaluation that RTD remains committed to finishing Fastracks.

“This board is 100 percent together on making sure this whole FasTracks project gets done,” Kemp said. “That’s board members in the south, in the east, in the north and west—because that’s what voters told us they wanted in 2004.”

The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce was getting a presentation on the evaluation’s results Wednesday.

“We’re looking forward to seeing the numbers, reviewing them and seeing what the plan is,” said chamber spokeswoman Kate Horle.

RTD’s latest figures represent an assumption that FasTracks will stay on its original construction schedule, with completion slated for 2017, and remain at its original scope. Voters in 2004 approved a 0.4 percent sales tax increase, four pennies per $10 spent, for the project.

FasTracks then was billed as a 12-year construction project, to be finished in 2017, to lay more than 100 miles of mass transit rail throughout Denver, encompassing six new rail lines and extensions of three others.

Costs were originally estimated at $4.7 billion, but ballooned as high as $7.9 billion in 2008.

The drop in estimated construction costs announced Tuesday, to $6.5 billion from $6.9 billion a year ago, is due to several factors, RTD officials said.

More engineering has been done, giving officials a better idea of what’s needed to build the project, and materials costs are lower, according to the agency.

But the global recession also dropped forecasted revenues.

In 2004, RTD forecast a year-over-year growth in sales tax revenues of 6.06 percent. In 2009, the revenue forecast was cut to 4.8 year year-over-year growth.

Now, after a review by a metro-wide group of economists, RTD cut the forecast again—to a 3.7 percent year-over-year growth rate. That’s the middle range of high, medium and conservative estimates put together by the panel of economists.

The bottom line is that the agency doesn’t have enough money to build all of FasTracks by 2017, and even if it did, the projected sales tax revenues wouldn’t cover the operating and maintenance costs anyway, Romer said.

And RTD’s options remain the same: Cut FasTracks’ originally proposed lines to fit the budget, push the completion date from 2017 out beyond 2035 to allow more money to come in over time, or get more money more quickly via a second, voter-approved tax increase to keep FasTracks’ scope and timeline intact.

RTD Board Names Phil Washington New General Manager

— December 15, 2009 — Denver, CO – The Regional Transportation District (RTD) Board of Directors voted unanimously today to enter into contract negotiations with Phil Washington to serve as the agency’s new general manager and chief executive officer.

Washington has been the interim general manager since the departure of long-time GM Cal Marsella in July. Prior to his appointment to the interim position, he served as RTD’s assistant general manager for administration for the past nine years. His responsibilities included overseeing the finance, procurement, information technology, human resources, treasury and disadvantaged business enterprise departments.

Washington was one of three finalists announced by the board last week. The other finalists were British Columbia Rapid Transit Co. president and CEO Douglas Kelsey and former top United Airlines executive Sean Donohue.

The decision by the board follows a six-month national search and extensive local public input process.

Before joining RTD, Washington had a distinguished 24-year military career, retiring as a decorated active-duty U.S. Army soldier, having attained the rank of Command Sergeant Major, (E-9). He is the recipient of numerous military honors and citations for outstanding performance of duty and leadership. Washington holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Columbia College and a Master of Arts degree in Management from Webster University.

“It speaks volumes about what an exceptional agency we have that following an exhaustive nation-wide search, the best candidate for the job was right here at RTD,” Chairman Lee Kemp said. “Phil has clearly demonstrated to us over the past six months that he is more than ready to lead this agency forward.”

Kiewit named contractor for Denver Zoo’s $50M Asian Tropics exhibit

Published by the Denver Business Journal

— November 30, 2009 — The Denver Zoo said Monday it has selected Kiewit Building Group from among five bidders as general contractor for the zoo’s 10-acre Asian Tropics exhibit, the largest exhibit in its 113-year history.

The exhibit, budgeted at $50 million, is to be built along the zoo’s southern edge. When finished in 2011, it will be home to Asian elephants, Indian rhinos, Malayan tapirs and other endangered Asian animals.

The zoo will break ground on the exhibit Wednesday. Mayor John Hickenlooper, zoo President/CEO Craig Piper and Denver Zoological Foundation Board Chairman Patrick Green will be among those on hand.

Kiewit — a unit of privately held, Omaha-based Kiewit Corp. — previously built the Denver Zoo’s Bird Propagation Center in 2007.

Other bidders on the project were J.E. Dunn, G.E. Johnson, Haselden Construction and PCL.

SGB USA to open 1st U.S. factory in Colorado

Published by the Denver Business Journal

— November 18, 2009 — SGB USA Inc., an arm of German transformer manufacturer Starkstrom-Beratebau GmbH, on Wednesday said it will set up the company’s first U.S. manufacturing plant near Denver.

The company makes transformers that convert electricity generated by wind turbines into a form that can be delivered onto the power grid. In Europe, the company supplies all the major wind turbine manufacturers, a list that includes Danish company Vestas and U.S. turbine manufacturer GE, said Kerwin Stretch, general manager for SGB’s Wheat Ridge manufacturing plant.

SGB’s headquarters is in Regensburg, Germany.

Vestas has a wind blade manufacturing plant in Windsor, north of Denver, and is building additional manufacturing plants along the Front Range.

SGB expects to hire up to 10 people and invest about $1.4 million in the plant in Wheat Ridge in the 44th Industrial Park near the junction of Colorado 58 and Interstate 70, according to Stretch and the city’s announcement.

The plant will assemble components and test the transformers before they are shipped to customers, Stretch said.

“This plant is intended to just be a gateway,” Stretch said. “We have some big plans over the next few years. The first part of my job is to get this up and running.”

Stetch said the plans include adding additional capacity to SGB’s U.S. manufacturing operations and that he’s “90 percent sure it will be in the Denver area.”

SGB expects to start shipping units in the first quarter of 2010.

Wheat Ridge worked with the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. and the Jefferson Economic Council to land SGB. The city offered tax incentives to SGB, according to its announcement, but didn’t say how much and officials couldn’t be reached for comment.

Wheat Ridge seeks donations for park sculpture

Published by the Denver Post

— October 24, 2009 — The city of Wheat Ridge has selected a design for a 17-foot sculpture by Kevin Robb to anchor the west side of a new park at West 38th Avenue and Kipling Street.

About $30,000 is still needed to complete the stainless steel sculpture.

The total cost is about $50,000, but Mayor Jerry DiTullio said $10,265 in private donations has been raised, and Samuel, Son & Co. Inc., a local stainless-steel supplier, made an in-kind donation of steel valued at $10,000.

Citizens interested in making a tax-deductible donation to the mayor’s art initiative can do so by writing a check payable to the Wheat Ridge Foundation. It’s asked that “Public Art Campaign” be noted on the check. Donations may be mailed to Wheat Ridge Foundation, Attn: Mayor’s Office, 7500 W. 29th Ave., Wheat Ridge CO 80033. The Denver Post

Denver Nearly Doubles Public Transit Ridership - Despite Light Rail Expansion Delays

Published by Common Current

— October 22, 2009 — The boldest move by a US city to remake its transportation system occurred five years ago, when Denver metro area voters in 31 communities committed $4.7 billion in sales tax funding for its FasTracks initiative.

It turns out not one of the 119 miles of promised light rail have been built yet because of material and land acquisition cost increases, a poor economy and other complications. Through city-wide strategies for making public transit, walkability and bikeability the modes for addressing freeway and city arterial congestion, however, Denver has so-far succeeded despite the snafus.

The city has almost doubled its public transit ridership since FasTracks was passed in 2004. In 2004 about five percent of city commuters used public transit; that figure hit nine percent in 2008, figures recently released by the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

So how did the Mile-High City make itself into a case study for how to take a car-dependent Sun Belt metro and move it toward multi-modality?

For the complete article click here.

Communication Infrastructure Group wins 2009 Small Business Award

Expertise in Transportation Communication, Dedication and Support to COMTO Colorado Cited in Nomination

Evergreen, CO — October 15, 2009 — Communication Infrastructure Group (CIG), LLC was honored today with the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) Colorado Chapter Small Business of the Year award. CBS4 reporter Gloria Neal presented CIG Owner Karen Morales with the award at the 2009 COMTO Awards Luncheon, held at the Denver Athletic Club in Denver, Colo.

“CIG has volunteered many hours as event coordinators and public relations consultants in support of COMTO Colorado, including the chapter’s 2008 Democratic National Convention event, the 2009 scholarship banquet and other key programs,” said Neal.

In addition to public relations and public information, offers marketing, graphic design and corporate training services, CIG specializes in the industries of construction and infrastructure development, local government and education.

“Supporting the essential work of COMTO Colorado is important to us,” said Morales. “We are honored by this award and look forward to continuing to help promote the value of diversity in the transportation industry.”

Other awards at the luncheon were presented to Dr. Mary Davis, Outstanding COMTO Member; LTK Engineering, Corporate Citizen; former Colorado Department of Transportation Commissioner Gregory McKnight, Diversity Leadership; and former RTD General Manager Cal Marsella, Lifetime Achievement.

About Communication Infrastructure Group, LLC
Communication Infrastructure Group (CIG) is a full-service communications, public relations and marketing firm specializing in large public infrastructure projects and integrated strategic communications for the local government, construction/engineering and education fields. CIG is a certified small, woman-owned business enterprise (DBE/WBE/SBE). For more information, visit www.cig-pr.com.

Look Who’s talking

For better or for worse, businesses can't ignore social networking

Published by the Denver Business Journal

— October 02, 2009 — Businesses no longer canignore online social networking websites once seen as the province only of teens and tech geeks.

They’re playing a bigger role in how companies interact with their customers, blurring old distinctions between marketing, customer service and public relations.

“It’s where your customers are,” said Ari Newman, co-founder of Boulder-based Filtrbox.

His company makes software that helps more than 200 businesses find and analyze what’s being said about them online.

For more information read the attached file:

DBJ_social_networking_articles.pdf

Fossil plants found at FasTracks construction site

Published for 9news.com

— September 16, 2009 — Fossils of plants dating back at least 64 million years were found at a construction site for the FasTracks program last week.

The plant fossils were found just west of 6th Avenue and Simms Street while crews were preparing the area for construction of a retaining wall.

Representatives from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science came in and found fossil leaves in the rock layers that ended up there between 64 and 66 million years ago. The museum says it was right after the extinction of dinosaurs.

Some fossilized tree stumps were also found in the same area.

The fossils were dug out last Friday and Saturday.

While in some instances, historical finds like this could delay a construction project, there will be no delay in the West Corridor construction schedule. Since none of the fossils were new species, the museum was able to gather quality specimens within a few days.

After a Year of Crisis, Taking Stock

Stimulus: Big Impact on GDP, 1 Million Jobs Created or Saved, White House Report Says

Published by Washington Post

— September 16, 2009 — The economic stimulus package President Obama rushed through Congress during his first days in office is rapidly pumping energy into the nation's once-moribund economy and has already created or preserved more than 1 million jobs, Obama's chief economic adviser said Thursday.

In her first official assessment of the $787 billion stimulus, Christina Romer, chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, concluded that the package of tax cuts and government spending—the largest dose of economic medicine in U.S. history—has poured about $150 billion into the economy since its passage in February, boosting overall economic output by about 2.3 percentage points during the quarter that ended in June.

While the economy remains in recession and has shed more than 3 million jobs since the stimulus money began flowing, the downturn would have been more severe and the number of jobs lost far greater if the stimulus had not been enacted, Romer said. As spending continues to ramp up throughout 2010, the power of the package should grow stronger, she said, though she declined to rule out the possibility that additional government action may be needed to lift the nation out of its worst economic slump in a generation.

“Let’s take the $787 billion we have—that we think is absolutely working effectively—and see where we stand at the end of this year or early next year,” Romer told reporters.

Republican lawmakers, who voted unanimously against the stimulus package, quickly dismissed Romer’s assessment and accused the White House of whipping up a self-serving estimate of saved jobs that can never be substantiated or disproved.

“Despite skyrocketing unemployment rates and millions of lost jobs, the administration can use these models time and again to avoid accountability. By creating the immeasurable metric of ‘jobs created or saved,’ the administration can make job claims month after month that fly in the face of economic reality,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).

Added Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee: “The fuzzy math used to produce these claims of jobs ‘saved or created’ bears no resemblance to anything our children learn in school . . . Considering the so-called Recovery Act is little more than a spending binge for liberal constituencies, it’s no surprise the White House has to fudge the numbers to make it look successful.”

In a 48-page analysis, Romer cited an array of independent estimates that back up the administration’s claims. For example, Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com, projects that the stimulus will have created about 1 million jobs by the end of September, while the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the number could be as high as 1.5 million.

The numbers from two other independent forecasters, Macroeconomic Advisers and IHS Global Insight, come in much lower, projecting around 650,000 jobs saved or created so far. But “what is so striking,” Romer said, “is the broad . . . sense that this program has been very important both to real GDP growth and to the change in employment.”

Brian A. Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist for IHS Global Insight, said his firm agrees that the stimulus has had a big impact on economic growth but differs with the White House on job creation. “Since early 2009, there has been strong productivity growth, which means firms are making do with fewer people and squeezing more out of the people who are working,” Bethune said. As a result, “fewer jobs are going to be needed.”

But the stimulus has clearly prevented a large number of jobs from being destroyed, Bethune said. “Instead of losing 3 million jobs, we would have lost 3.5 million. That seems to be a reasonable calibration at this point. And it’s something that most credible macroeconomic forecasters would attest to,” he said.

The Council of Economic Advisers report also marshals evidence from abroad, noting that in the countries that adopted aggressive stimulus policies, such as the United States, economic performance exceeded expectations. And it finds support in domestic data: After two quarters of declining spending, state and local governments—among the earliest beneficiaries of the stimulus—increased spending in the second quarter at the highest rate in more than five years.

Meanwhile, the Cash for Clunkers program, which was funded with money diverted from the stimulus, fueled one of the largest surges in auto sales in U.S. history and increased employment by as much as 120,000 jobs, the report said. Cash for Clunkers “has much in common with a range of initiatives” in the stimulus package, including a tax credit for first-time home buyers, business investment incentives and weatherization subsidies, the report said. All are “designed to move demand from the future, when it is likely to be less crucial, to today, when it is clearly vital to generating recovery.”

Taken together, the evidence suggests that “we are on track to hit the 3.5 million jobs” the president promised to save or create when he first called for a stimulus package in January, Romer said.

Storm victims in whirl of repair in Colorado

Wheat Ridge residents glad to see crews on roofs after July's fierce weather

Published by the Denver Post

— September 08, 2009 — Thick piles of shingles wait for installation on the roofs of homes, and contractors are keeping busy as the cleanup continues in a swatch of the metro area hammered by a July storm.

Water jets through the roof and into Barbara Trujillo’s apartment whenever it has rained since a July 20 storm roared over the Kline Apartments near the corner of Kipling Street and West 38th Avenue in Wheat Ridge.

Last Thursday, a crew was busy repairing her roof to end the gush of water that has plagued her whenever the weather turns sour.

“Every time it rains, it comes in,” said Trujillo, 44. “It has been a mess.”

The storm spawned two tornadoes, uprooted trees, damaged vehicles, blasted out windows and downed power lines,

“Every time it rains, it comes in,” Barbara Trujillo said of the apartment that suffered a damaged roof in the July 20 storm. “It has been a mess.” A crew was busy last week fixing her roof. mostly in Lakewood, Arvada, Englewood and Wheat Ridge.

After the storm peppered buildings and vehicles with golf-ball-size hail, the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association estimated insured damages at $350 million.

Since Jan. 1 Wheat Ridge has issued 542 roofing permits, compared to 18 during the same time period last year, said Heather Geyer, a spokeswoman for the city.

At Kipling Village Apartments, more than 200 windows have been replaced, and roofers are pounding shingles into place.

“We suffered a lot of damage. We did have a tree that fell into a building,” said Kristina Hammack, 25, the assistant manager of the complex.

Jose Espinoza, 33, who lives in the 300-unit Kipling Village complex, said it took a day to clean his apartment after hail and debris blew in. “In the next apartment, it broke the TV and everything,” he said.

Maintenance workers from Argentx, a company that manages the complex, replaced most of the windows. “We wanted to make sure it was done properly,” said Hammack.

The day after the storm, Jim Stephens used a chain saw to cut downed limbs and uprooted trees, and he raked a thick tangle of debris from his mother’s property near West 32nd Avenue.

Across the street now, a home is edged by stand of newly planted juniper trees, price tags still fluttering from their branches.

In the days following the storm, Hammack said, she was deluged by contractors seeking work. “For the first week, we had five roofing companies a day coming in.”

“Every day I come home, there’s probably three business cards in the door. There really are a million contractors in the area,” said Matt Saba, 30.

In front of one low-slung ranch home, a hand- lettered sign advises, “No more sales man.”

While there are many salespeople patrolling the damaged areas, they haven’t caused any real problems, said Wheat Ridge’s Geyer.

Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Quillen: Fallacy of the carbon footprint

Published by the Denver Post

— August 20, 2009 — Reading Chuck Plunkett's article about the "Prius Effect" in Sunday's Post inspired a thought experiment.

In essence, the article argues that as automobiles become more fuel-efficient, their “carbon footprint” (the amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide produced per passenger mile) correspondingly shrinks. Indeed, it shrinks below the carbon footprint of light rail, whose streetcars are generally powered by electricity produced from coal.

Calculating a carbon footprint can be exceedingly complicated. My winter woodstove burns biomass from the current carbon cycle, rather than fossil fuels from some ancient carbon cycle, so presumably it’s wholesome. But the cordwood is generally cut with gasoline-powered chainsaws and hauled to town with gasoline-powered vehicles, all with carbon footprints.

Then you need to get into the manufacture, shipping and maintenance of the cast-iron stove, the wood-cutter’s trucks and tools, the ratio of dead wood (emits carbon dioxide as it rots) to recently live wood (absorbing carbon dioxide before the tree was felled) in the wood pile, the amount and source of the electricity used by my little wood-splitter — reckoning all this could take weeks, and the numbers could change with every cord.

So to avoid all that work, let’s get to the thought experiment. Posit an extremely energy efficient automobile that has no carbon footprint. For our purposes, we can imagine it runs from rooftop solar panels or batteries charged by nuclear power plants or, for that matter, pixie dust. The point is that it is cheap to run and does not consume fossil fuels.

All our transportation problems are thereby solved, right? Not exactly.

1. Cars need roads, and roads need maintenance, everything from snow removal to rebuilding bridges as they decay.

Traditionally, we’ve paid for that with fuel taxes, and without fuel to tax, there would have to be another method. We could go to toll roads built and operated by private entities, or some sort of Big Brother system based on mileage and vehicle weight, or perhaps funding from general tax revenues.

Thanks to reduced driving and better fuel economy, we’ve already seen the start of “creative highway financing” from our General Assembly. Instead of taking the honest and sensible course of making the public case for a gasoline tax increase to meet a highway funding shortfall, the legislature raised auto registration fees, which have at best a tenuous connection to highway wear and tear. More unfair taxes loom.

2. Our thought-experiment Imaginary Green Car doesn’t pollute and it has no carbon footprint. But as noted, it will use roads. And the more of them on the road, the more congestion, gridlock and general aggravation.

Thus there will be a demand for more freeways and more lanes on existing freeways, as well as wider streets to handle the traffic. More space devoted to roads means less space available for productive enterprise.

Meanwhile, a light-rail corridor has a much smaller physical footprint, even if it does have a carbon footprint in our thought experiment.

3. Where do we park all those cars? About 30 percent of the typical American city is paved either with roads (see above) or parking lots. More cars mean more need for paved parking, which has pernicious effects ranging from urban “heat islands” to polluted and intensified storm-sewer runoff.

So even if we could build cars with no carbon footprint, that wouldn’t come close to solving urban transportation problems. The carbon footprint may be the fashionable tool of analysis these days, but it can obscure as much as it illuminates.

Ed Quillen (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) of Salida is a freelance writer and history buff, and a frequent contributor to The Post.

CDOT finishes first stimulus-funded job

Published by the Denver Business Journal

— July 21, 2009 — Colorado’s first road project paid for with money from the federal economic stimulus package is complete, the Colorado Department of Transportation said Thursday.

The one-mile resurfacing of Belleview Avenue, between Federal Boulevard and Santa Fe Drive, kicked off May 19 with a press conference attended by Gov. Bill Ritter, local, state and federal officials. The original budget for the project was $1.2 million, but the final price tag, including engineering and other costs, was slightly less than $678,000, CDOT said.

Aggregate Industries’ West Central Region of Golden was the contractor on the project, with a bid of $407,407 for the work — about 30 percent under CDOT’s construction cost. Mike Altergott, an estimator with Aggregate Industries, said in early April that the project would probably have between 12 and 20 people working on it.

“This is a great accomplishment for CDOT, our contractor and the state of Colorado as we work to improve our economy and our transportation infrastructure,” CDOT’s executive director, Russ George, said in a statement.

RTD plans to buy BNSF property

Published by Longmont Times-Call

— July 21, 2009 — The Regional Transportation District has agreed to buy BNSF Railway property that’s to become part of the FasTracks system, including an initial southern segment of the Northwest Rail Corridor.

RTD expects to pay $93.7 million to buy BNSF right of way and other properties the railroad company owns between Denver’s Union Station and a point near 72nd Street in Westminster, under an agreement the transit agency announced Thursday.

The RTD plans to use that real estate for commuter rail service on FasTracks’ Gold Line between Denver and Wheat Ridge, as well as for the southern segment of the Northwest Rail Corridor between Denver and Longmont.

The RTD’s agreement with BNSF also commits the transit agency to spending an estimated $32 million to relocate or realign several BNSF facilities between Union Station and Pecos Street, including work at BNSF’s 23rd Street yard.

The RTD board still is wrestling with how to cover a projected $2 billion shortfall to complete the entire $7 billion FasTracks system by the original 2017 target date. But FasTracks spokeswoman Karen Morales said Thursday that the money to buy the BNSF properties and pay for relocating BNSF facilities will be available under the transit agency’s current system-improvements budget.

Formal purchase agreements are to be carried out by January, when the RTD expects to take over ownership of the BNSF property.

Morales said the RTD still is negotiating with BNSF over terms of an operating agreement under which the RTD would pay the railroad company for “time slots” during which the transit agency would operate Northwest Rail Corridor passenger service on the tracks north of Westminster — tracks BNSF would continue to own and use for its freight trains.

Morales said the RTD expects to complete the agreement about shared use of those tracks by sometime next year.

Tweeting companies may help Twitter earn revenue this year

Published by Bloomberg News

— June 25, 2009 — SAN FRANCISCO -- Twitter plans to generate its first revenue this year from companies such as Whole Foods Market, Dell and Starbucks, which use the micro-messaging site to communicate with millions of customers.

“The idea is if they are getting value out of Twitter, then we could add more value to what they are doing, and we could get some revenue,” Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said Monday. “We think we’ll get to something this year, however simple, that shows we’re making some money.”

The Internet service could make money by verifying Twitter accounts, said Stone, so users “following” brands would know it was Whole Foods or Coca-Cola sending tweets, which are instant messages that can be 140 characters long.

Twitter also could offer statistics to businesses detailing how effective their tweets are and offer multiple accounts to large businesses with many branches, he said.

FasTracks seen as key to Denver’s reputation

Published by the Denver Post

— June 25, 2009 — Building FasTracks is crucial to raising Denver's status to that of a first- tier city, according to a panel of real- estate experts.

“FasTracks is a symbol of Denver emerging as a first-tier city,” said John Greenman, vice president of investments for development firm Corporex Colorado.

Greenman spoke Wednesday at the South MetroDenver Economic Development Group’s 14th annual Real Estate Breakfast at the Marriott DTC. The panel, moderated by Denver Post editor Greg Moore, included Byron Koste, executive director of the University of Colorado Real Estate Center; and Martin Newburger, principal of KSL Capital.

It’s also crucial that the region figures out a way to share sales-tax revenue from the shopping centers that will be built near FasTracks stations, Koste said.

Otherwise, communities along the line will be competing for the same retailers, and each stop will look the same, he said.

About $1.4 trillion in real-estate debt is set to mature over the next four years, but it’s unclear how that debt will be restructured, Greenman said.

“Lenders are hoping if they just stall, they won’t get the property back—they don’t want the property back—and the economy will get better,” he said.

At $6.9 billion, FasTracks is the largest transit expansion in the country, a network of rail and bus lines the Regional Transportation District hopes to complete by 2017.

Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

PR exec pushes social media

by Jacksonville Business Journal

— June 19, 2009 — Social networking Web sites are booming, and public relations professionals are encouraging the business community to keep up with the trend. "I think many are doing a disservice to their companies," said Michael Cherenson, the chair and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America. "Now is not the time to hibernate. To be understood, you have to understand."

Cherenson is in Jacksonville to kick off the PRSA’s Sunshine District annual conference PRVille 2009 from June 18-20, which will focus on the growth of social media and how it should be used by area businesses.

“There’s no doubt media has changed,” Cherenson said. “It’s gone from a passive form of news to active, but I don’t think traditional media is gone. This is just another tool.”

According to a Conference Board report this month, 43 percent of the online community uses social networking sites, which is up from 27 percent a year ago.

In addition, a quarter of those users are logging in from their workplace, and 22 percent of Twitter users cite work-related reasons for being on the Web site, The Conference Board reported.

“Social media is here to stay,” said Lynn Franco, the director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, in a press release. “Online social networking is more than just a fad among the younger generation. They’ve become an integral part of our personal and professional lives.”

Although the majority of Internet users still use these Web sites for personal reasons, Cherenson said businesses need to use social networking to energize and interact with their publics.

“People are embracing this stuff because it’s cool,” he said. “But they need to be doing it for strategic reasons. I encourage people to become a native of all the social networking sites.”

Cherenson said each social Web site is different, and they each have their own benefits depending on the users and who they are trying to connect with online. For example, passive people who don’t want to do a lot of communicating prefer YouTube, active members of the online community work well with Facebook and Twitter is for those interested in micro-blogging and short pieces of information, he said.

No matter which Web sites businesses participate in though, Cherenson said they need to be comfortable with transparency because there are some challenges and negative side effects to social networking.

“It’s like singing in the car with the windows wide open. You have to assume everyone has a copy,” he said. “And you have to understand the public you’re trying to serve. If you don’t they will either turn you off or shut you down.”

Businesses have to have compelling content, and they need to be honest, Cherenson said. It would be easy for someone to create a fake name and profile to discredit someone, which is why a code of ethics is more important now than it has ever been, he said.

“Social media is nothing more than trust,” said Peter Shankman, one of the keynote speakers during PRVille 2009 on Friday. “People take your review at face value.”

Social media outlets do open doors for dishonesty, and they provide another way for a company to make mistakes before a large audience very quickly, Shankman said. But social media also provides businesses many opportunities to reach an audience and listen to what they are saying.

“Trust in our institutions is eroding,” Cherenson said. “The business community needs to be schooled in communication and technology by those who understand it, so they can effectively use it.”

House Democrats Craft Transportation Bill

by Wall Street Journal

— June 19, 2009 — WASHINGTON -- House Democrats are crafting a transportation spending bill that would cost roughly $450 billion over six years, but no consensus has emerged on how to fund it, according to people familiar with the matter.

The bill for the first time would establish standards—like reducing oil consumption and spurring economic growth—that would influence which highway and transit projects get federal funding. It would also consolidate to six or fewer the number of Transportation Department programs used to channel money to states, giving local officials more flexibility to combat their transportation challenges.

The legislation is being drafted by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D., Minn.), who plans to release a blueprint of his bill later this week. He declined to comment.

Many lawmakers agree on the need to better target spending and to spend more on mass transit and rail networks relative to highways. But the question of how to pay for the nation’s aging infrastructure is becoming increasingly thorny for Congress and the White House.

The current system relies heavily on taxes from gasoline and vehicle purchases. Revenue from these sources is dropping as Americans drive less and opt for more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. Meanwhile, states are encountering similar funding problems due to declines in tax revenue. The result is a growing gap between the nation’s infrastructure needs and what is being spent to maintain and upgrade it.

Some lawmakers, bolstered by groups ranging from the American Trucking Associations to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, want to raise gas taxes. The current federal levies of 18.4-cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4-cents per gallon of diesel haven’t been significantly raised in 16 years.

“At some point we’re going to have to” raise gas taxes and index future increases to inflation, said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.), in an interview on Tuesday.

The Obama administration has opposed any gas-tax increase. The White House also opposes any quick transition to a new system, which has been tested in Oregon, where drivers are taxed based on the miles they drive rather than the number of gallons they pump into their gas tanks.

People familiar with the matter say Mr. Oberstar hasn’t come up with a funding solution, and the task of writing the bill’s funding component will fall to the Ways and Means Committee. Things may proceed even slower in the Senate. That makes it unlikely Congress will pass a new bill by the time the old one expires at the end of September.

Meanwhile, states may be forced to further curb their transportation spending if Congress doesn’t come up with more money soon. Last year, Congress opted to transfer $8 billion from the Treasury’s general fund into the Highway Trust Fund to prevent last-minute cutbacks.

“In the short term, there will have to be a reliance on the general fund,” said Timothy Lynch, senior vice president at the American Trucking Associations. “There just does not seem to be a critical mass yet to see any increase in fuel taxes.”

RTD survey: 63% support tax hike to finish FasTracks in 8 years

Published by Denver Business Journal, 01/26/09

— June 19, 2009 — A phone survey of 700 likely voters in metro Denver, conducted Jan. 6-12, found 63 percent would support paying more taxes to get FasTracks done by 2017, the original time frame, the Regional Transportation District said Monday.

Respondents said they’d “generally support” increasing sales tax for RTD by up to 0.4 percent, or 4 cents on a $10 purchase, according to the RTD-commissioned poll.

That would double the amount of taxes metro-area residents currently pay for FasTracks.

Voters in 2004 approved paying an extra 0.4 percent to build FasTracks, which then had a $4.7 billion budget and a 12-year construction timeline to build more than 100 miles of rail lines throughout metro Denver, redevelop Denver Union Station and improve bus service.

Since then, skyrocketing construction costs have ballooned the budget to $7.9 billion even as the recession has shrunk RTD’s sales tax revenues to pay for the project—creating a roughly $2 billion shortfall on the project.

RTD’s board of directors is expected to make a decision this spring on what to do in the face of higher costs and lower revenues. Options on the table include shortening the transit lines, extending the time frame of the project by decades, or asking voters for more money.

That said, respondents told pollsters they thought approving FasTracks in 2004 was still a good decision, despite the budget problems that have cropped up since then.

About 83 percent of respondents said it was a good decision in the 2009 poll, compared to 79 percent with the same answer in RTD’s 2007 poll.

About 53 percent of respondents thought RTD could deliver the full FasTracks project with the current budget problems.

The poll was done for RTD by The Kenney Group.

The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus 3.7 percent.

Twitter catches on with Charlotte City Council

by Charolette Observer

— June 18, 2009 — For a minute at Monday's council meeting, Councilman Warren Cooksey appeared to be transmitting code. "The hashtags are clt dash cc and goat debate zero nine," he said to the television cameras, before leaning back in his chair, smiling. "What?" said Councilman Michael Barnes. "It went over our heads, Mr. Cooksey," said Mayor Pat McCrory. "Oh, the Twitterers know," Cooksey said. And, thus, what had been an underground phenomenon officially burst onto the wonky scene of Charlotte city government.

Cooksey is one of four council members who use Twitter—a microblogging service started in 2006 that has grown to an estimated 4 million users—to send out short blasts of information to people who have signed up to “follow” them electronically. The messages, or tweets, are limited to 140 characters.

As anyone who’s sat through a City Council meeting knows, it’s hard for Charlotte’s leaders to reduce their thoughts to a couple quick sentences—but some are trying. Typically, the council members use their Blackberries or other PDAs to post notes about their schedules, thoughts on an issue or even real-time comments from the dias during a council meeting.

“I approve of almost anything that increases interest in local govt.,” Cooksey (@wcooksey on Twitter) tweeted during Monday’s meeting, as the council debated whether to allow pygmy goats in urban areas. That message went out to the 260 or so people who have signed up to receive his updates.

A number of gadflies and city government onlookers have also chimed in on the City Council’s “twonversation.” Their tweeting picked up remarkably during the pygmy goat debate.

“You know, some cities use goats as an eco-friendly way to maintain public spaces. Also, my dog is bigger than a pygmy goat,” one person remarked on Twitter.

“CLT will never be a cool, world class city like Seattle, Portland or St Paul until we allow pygmy goats!” Tweeted another.

“Spending way too much time deciding if we should allow pygmy goats in residential areas,” Councilman John Lassiter grumbled from his Twitter-equipped PDA.

As a social media format, Twitter is something pundits can’t seem to agree on. It doesn’t make money, and studies show that people tend to have a fleeting interest in it.

But outside its entertainment value, government agencies and politicians across the country are experimenting with ways Twitter can help distribute information. During the flooding in Fargo, N.D., for example, Twitter helped organize people to build dikes, according to the Associated Press. In Topeka, Kansas, the city staff has started tweeting live bits of information during council meetings. In Charlotte, the Fire Department uses Twitter to report fires and warn people about traffic accidents.

It would seem a useful tool for politicians hoping to keep their actions in the public’s mind. In an election year, Charlotte’s City Council members tweet about their attendance at ribbon-cuttings, volunteer work or lobbying on behalf of the city. Sometimes council members tweet about their breaks from work, too.

“Get this for a great afternoon,” Councilman Andy Dulin tweeted this week. “My 4 o’clock appointment gets canceled and my 9 yr old invites me to Night at the Museum. Awesome!”

As in life, some council members have more followers than others. Anthony Foxx (@anthonyfoxx), who is running for mayor, has 698. Cooksey, who has offered Twitter trainings to his colleagues, has picked up 268. Dulin (@adulin) has 146.

Lassiter, also a mayoral candidate, has started a couple of Twitter accounts. He has 66 followers on @lassiterjohn, the account he uses most. Lassiter said he’s still getting used to the idea of Twitter, but the idea of tweeting during meetings bothers him.

“I’m supposed to be paying attention,” he said.

While some city leaders are curious about the phenomenon, others eschew it.

“I’m sorry. I’m an anti-Twitter guy,” McCrory said, after Cooksey’s plug for the service at Monday’s council meeting. The mayor said he has enough to do answering e-mails and phone calls.

Council members Warren Turner and Patsy Kinsey agreed.

“It’s too time-consuming,” Turner said. “And, secondly, I don’t think it’s the way you communicate.”

Edwin Peacock, who does not have an account, said he’s not thrilled by the real-time updates about people’s daily lives.

“I have never broken radio silence with, ‘I’m thinking about going to sleep,’” he said. But after someone else tweeted one of his remarks during the pygmy goat debate, he said he’s considering taking one of Cooksey’s Twitter training sessions.

“Now that I know people are saying things about me, I’m interested,” Peacock said.

Communication Infrastructure Group Announces Web site launch

New Web site better reflects the experience, expertise and focus of CIG

Evergreen, CO — June 18, 2009 — Communication Infrastructure Group (CIG), LLC, a DBE, WBE and SBE certified public relations and public information firm announced the launch of its new Web site, http://www.cig-pr.com, today which highlights the agency's industry focus and expertise.

CIG, which, in addition to public relations and public information, offers marketing, graphic design and corporate training services, specializes in the industries of construction and infrastructure development, local government and education.

The new Web site offers users an inside look at the people, projects and expertise of CIG through client case studies, an extensive portfolio and an interactive blog where visitors can comment and discuss on the latest news, issues and trends in the realm of PR and communications.
“Our goal is for users to not only take away something about effective public relations and associated services, but also learn something about the people behind CIG,” said Karen Morales, CIG’s CEO and owner. “We really feel the new site better expresses who we are, what we do and what makes our firm stand out.”

To check out the new Web site, or for more information about CIG, visit http://www.cig-pr.com.

About Communication Infrastructure Group, LLC
CIG was formed in 2005 on the premise that there is a different and better way to provide public relations services. To this end, CIG employs the best of the best from the respective fields and has earned a reputation for high-level strategic communications and outstanding customer service.

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For more information, visit www.cig-pr.com.

RTD’s Assistant GM Named Interim Chief

Agency veteran says he won't take "increase of one nickel"

Published by The Denver Post

— June 09, 2009 — RTD's board of directors on Tuesday chose Phillip Washington, 51, as the interim general manager to run the transit agency when current GM Cal Marsella leaves at the end of next month.

For the past nine years, Washington has been assistant general manager for administration at the Regional Transportation District, with responsibility for departments that included finance, procurement, human resources and information technology.

Before joining RTD, Washington spent 24 years in the military, retiring from the Army after reaching the rank of Command Sergeant Major.

Washington’s annual salary at RTD is $172,790. Noting the agency’s troubled financial condition, he told directors, “I’m not going to take an increase of one nickel.”

Marsella’s compensation, which included an annual base salary of about $300,000 and what some considered an overly rich benefit package, has been a point of controversy in recent months.

RTD’s board plans to hire an executive search firm to help find a permanent replacement for Marsella and some directors say the agency should consider hiring two top officials to lead RTD: one to run the current bus and light-rail operation and the other a large-project “czar” who would be responsible for getting FasTracks built.

FasTracks includes at least six new rail lines, yet the agency is short about $2.2 billion to get it built on time.

The RTD board hopes to have permanent leadership in place by early next year.

“We have many challenges right now,” Washington told directors, including “critical questions for FasTracks.”

“We will get this investment initiative done,” he said, referring to the $6.9 billion program, and “build out this transit system so it is the envy of the world.”

Washington said he will be a candidate for permanent general manager “if the board thinks that it is in the best interest of the district.”

Also Tuesday night, RTD officials reported that the agency’s sales and use tax collections declined 18.7 percent in April compared with the same month last year. For the first four months of this year, they are down 13.8 percent from the comparable 2008 period.

RTD depends on sales and use taxes to fund about 60 percent of its operations.

Finance chief Terry Howerter told directors he planned this year and next to transfer $24 million from RTD’s capital acquisition reserve “to beef up” the agency’s operating budget.

The capital fund is used to buy equipment such as new buses, but Marsella said RTD used some federal stimulus money for bus acquisition, which helped allow for the transfer.

Marsella also told directors that private consortiums bidding to win a public-private partnership, or PPP, within FasTracks are concerned “about the bankability of moving into this agreement.”

Some of the firms worry that Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights might put constraints on the PPP process.

“We are looking at alternatives,” Marsella said, that would “obviate the TABOR question.”

Small Colorado Town is Rolling in the Money

Published by CBS4 Denver

— April 29, 2009 — While many cities and towns are struggling in the recession, one town in northern Colorado has far more money coming in than it's ever had before -- Timnath.

Most towns probably start their sales tax base with smaller stores, a few restaurants, or perhaps a gas station on the interstate, but not Timnath, which is located southeast of Fort Collins. Timnath’s first real source of sales tax is a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which opened Wednesday morning.

Timnath is still a very small town—fewer than 500 people live there, but that’s twice the population of three years ago.

“This can and it will change the whole town because the town’s laid out a whole plan, and this gives us a way to fund that plan,” Timnath Mayor Donna Benson said.

Benson says the million dollars a year the Wal-Mart is expected to collect for Timnath made a bond issue possible that’s starting to fund more than $12 million in town improvements, like upgrading the old bridge over the Poudre River.

“That’s a $4.5 million new bridge that we’re totally funding with this,” Benson said. “We’re bringing in sewer, the first phase of that, to Old Town, and we’re also doing some flood mitigation.”

Some shoppers from nearby towns say they’re fine with Timnath getting the taxes if they get the convenience.

“It’s directly on the way home, so don’t have to do anything but take a left into the parking lot,” Fort Collins resident Stacy Tyler said.

“Being from smaller towns in this area, we all have had to shop in Greeley, Fort Collins, Loveland, and I’d like to see the other smaller communities get some of the tax revenues from it,” Fort Collins resident Wendy Seaman said.

Timnath is also benefiting from some grant money from Wal-Mart. The company has given more than $30,000, including, among others, funds for a new park and grants for nearby schools.

RTD survey: 63% support tax hike to finish FasTracks in 8 years

Published by Denver Business Journal

— January 29, 2009 — A phone survey of 700 likely voters in metro Denver, conducted Jan. 6-12, found 63 percent would support paying more taxes to get FasTracks done by 2017, the original time frame, the Regional Transportation District said Monday.

Respondents said they�d �generally support� increasing sales tax for RTD by up to 0.4 percent � or 4 cents on a $10 purchase, according to the RTD-commissioned poll.

That would double the amount of taxes metro-area residents currently pay for FasTracks.

Since then, skyrocketing construction costs have ballooned the budget to $7.9 billion even as the recession has shrunk RTD�s sales tax revenues to pay for the project � creating a roughly $2 billion shortfall on the project.

RTD�s board of directors is expected to make a decision this spring on what to do in the face of higher costs and lower revenues. Options on the table include shortening the transit lines, extending the time frame of the project by decades, or asking voters for more money.

That said, respondents told pollsters they thought approving FasTracks in 2004 was still a good decision, despite the budget problems that have cropped up since then.

About 83 percent of respondents said it was a good decision in the 2009 poll, compared to 79 percent with the same answer in RTD�s 2007 poll.

About 53 percent of respondents thought RTD could deliver the full FasTracks project with the current budget problems.

The poll was done for RTD by The Kenney Group.

The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus 3.7 percent.

Metro State College Floats Plan to Add Grad Program

Published by Rocky Mountain News

— October 16, 2008 — Metropolitan State College of Denver is looking at offering graduate-level programs.

“It will give students more choices and opportunities,” said spokeswoman Cathy Lucas.

On Wednesday, Metro President Stephen Jordan floated the idea before the faculty senate and the academic affairs and student services subcommittee.

“He wanted to seek their approval before developing this proposal,” Lucas said. “He got approval from both bodies.”

Jordan will submit the graduate program proposal to the college’s board of trustees at its next meeting, Nov. 4.

Lucas said there are several reasons why offering graduate programs would benefit Metro State.

“It will give us an advantage in working on recruiting and retaining full-time, tenured faculty,” she said. “It would really enhance some of our signature programs in the state, like criminal justice, teacher education and social work.”

And, Lucas added, more students are likely to enroll at Metro if it offered graduate degrees.

“Eighty-nine percent of our students are from the Denver County area. For the students we’re serving, it would be of particular relevance to them,” she said. “We would have students that are placebound who would look at that.”

LDDA receives “Governor’s Award for Downtown Excellence”

Longmont Downtown Development Authority marketing receives Governor�s Award of Excellence

Longmont, CO — September 15, 2008 — Colorado Community Revitalization Association (CCRA) awarded the Longmont Downtown Development Authority (LLDA) with the prestigious "Governors Award for Downtown Excellence" at its annual conference in Steamboat Springs yesterday. The award recognizes the progress being made in revitalizing Colorado's historic downtown and neighborhood business districts and the contributions these districts are making to Colorado's quality of life and economy.

According to CCRA, “This award program provides well-deserved recognition for a job well done.” CCRA is a nonprofit associationcommitted to building better communities by providing assistance to downtowns, commercial districts and town centers throughout Colorado.

LDDA received the award in recognition for its work with Communication Infrastructure Group, LLC in creating a new brand identity and marketing program that helped increase sales tax revenues by 11 percent and reduce retail vacancy rates by two percent over a six-month period. Programs were judged on several criteria, including impact, innovation, complements to local assets, replication, especially desirable, and use of local resources.

“We are very proud of this recognition,” said Mary Murphy-Bessler, Executive Director of the LDDA. “We have worked very hard over the last year to position Downtown Longmont as the vibrant destination to enjoy arts, food, shopping and entertainment that it has become.”

The LDDA encompasses 242 acres Downtown. Since 1982, more than $45 million in public and private funds have been invested in new and renovated buildings in the Longmont Downtown District.

About Communication Infrastructure Group, LLC
Communication Infrastructure Group (CIG) is a full-service communications, public relations and marketing firm specializing in large public infrastructure projects and integrated strategic communications for the construction, engineering, government and education fields.

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For more information, visit www.cig-pr.com

Morales Joins University of Denver Applied Communication Faculty as Adjunct Professor

Former T-REX spokesperson to teach public relations courses for university college graduate and certificate programs

Denver — March 06, 2007 — Karen Morales, former T-REX spokesperson and owner of Communication Infrastructure Group (CIG), recently joined the Applied Communication faculty at the University of Denver's University College. Morales will teach graduate public relations courses for the Master of Professional Studies Applied Communication program.

Morales is focused on delivering a curriculum that draws both from current industry needs and trends, as well as classic communication and public relations theory. Morales’ courses stress the importance of successful two-way communication and the direct impact it has on an organization’s bottom-line.

“Communication is the No. 1 reason for the success or failure of any organization,” said Morales. “Whether you work for a corporation, government agency, public relations firm or run your own small business, you must understand that the days of one-way communication from organizations to the public are over.”

Morales earned a B.A. in journalism and mass communication from the University of Northern Colorado, a Master’s Degree in applied communication from the University of Denver, and an Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Morales also has served as an adjunct professor at Colorado Christian University since 2004 and is a 1984 graduate of Broomfield High School.

About Communication Infrastructure Group, LLC
Communication Infrastructure Group (CIG) is a full-service communications, public relations and marketing firm specializing in large public infrastructure projects and integrated strategic communications for the construction, engineering, government and education fields.

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For more information, visit cig-pr.com