Denver businesses stiffed by DNC
As soon as Charlotte Kulscar heard the Democratic National Committee named Denver its 2008 convention site, she began researching how to get a piece of the estimated $160 million economic impact for her print shop.
She thought she had a good shot.
L&M Pressworks already does printing for the city, the state and the Downtown Denver Partnership. She filled out the application for the DNC Vendor Directory and was sure to include the shop’s status as female-owned and green-certified.
Yet so far, none of that effort has resulted in work.
“Since this convention is so green, we thought that was going to be the best way to go, but we haven’t gotten anything out of it,” Kulscar said about her Denver shop, which is Forest Stewardship Council-approved, uses soy-based inks and ensures its paper mills replant the trees they use. “We’ve run into a dead end everywhere.”
The DNC Vendor Directory, an online listing, was created by the Democratic National Convention host committee to promote mostly local businesses that submit their information to be listed in anticipation of the convention Aug. 25-28. To date, the DNC Vendor Directory contains roughly 2,000 listings, though many businesses appear more than once because they’re in multiple categories.
However, an e-mail survey by PoliticsWest.com, The Denver Post’s political website, reveals only a handful of companies included on the list that have gotten work because of it and many with complaints, ranging from poor organization to lack of communication. Some vendors said they also feel they’ve been shut out by union requirements and other criteria.
The Democratic National Convention Committee refused to disclose how many contracts have been awarded for the convention or what portion went to Colorado companies.
“That is not information we share with press,” said Natalie Wyeth, a spokeswoman for the DNCC.
“It’s one way to market”
The host committee and DNCC do not measure the success rate of the vendor directory, how many hits the list has received or how many contracts have been signed because of it, said Chris Lopez, spokesman for the Denver host committee.
“Hopefully, we create awareness for sponsors or companies that are going to be holding private events so they use it or think about using it,” he said.
The PoliticsWest survey was sent to 1,400 companies on the list in June, and about 100 were returned. The Denver Post spoke to additional vendors on the list for this story.
Lopez said he has not heard any complaints from vendors on the list, but he added that he’s been busy. He noted that the list is not the only way for vendors to market themselves and admitted other factors, including union restrictions and the needs of those planning events, might limit who gets business.
“It’s one way to market — it’s not the end-all,” Lopez said. “I’ve tried to communicate that it’s just a starting point.”
Part of the invitation to sign up for the DNC Vendor Directory on the nonprofit Micro Business Development website stated: “The DNC vendor catalog is a no-cost marketing opportunity. The DNC is expected to provide Denver with $150-$200 million dollars in economic impact. Why not be one of the recipients? It’s an easy task to get set up, so take the time now to take advantage of the opportunities in the upcoming months.”
Some vendors wonder whether the majority of work is going to large or out-of-state companies.
It’s difficult to tell because the DNCC won’t disclose where its business is going. However, the DNCC did contract with New York firm Global TransAction Communications for translation services.
“Speaking to that example specifically, the firm we are working with is a woman-owned business who has experience working with conventions and a history of working with Hispanic media,” Wyeth said.
The job was not required to go to bid, Wyeth said.
Local translation firm Enlaso Corp. of Boulder has not received any calls, despite many attempts to contact convention organizers.
Wyeth said many of the vendors will see an uptick as the convention gets closer but emphasizes that the week of the event will be the busiest.
“It’s safe to assume that a large amount of business will be done convention week rather than during the lead-up,” she said.
The DNCC has held community forums for business owners and offered other advice on marketing.
“Our mission was to provide businesses with tools to help themselves, and we’ve done that very proactively,” Wyeth said.
List sent out in newsletters
Lopez said he is marketing the list to sponsors and delegations via electronic newsletters. The Vendor Directory, he said, is a staple of every convention, and delegates and state parties know to look for it.
But that’s not the impression some businesses have.
Donnie L. Betts of No Credits Productions called the list a disappointment.
“The host committee could really try to embrace local vendors,” he said. “We call and e-mail to get information and get blown off.”
The only calls Susan Grattino of Korat Consulting, a strategic marketing and research firm, has received from the list have been from other vendors, some from out of state, trying to sell wares.
Businesses that have gotten work consider themselves lucky.
Completing the paperwork for the vendor list was worth it for Juan Alvidrez, owner of Plaza Construction. His company completed a $15,000 job that came directly from the directory.
Intermountain Electric hired Plaza to remove and later replace concrete and pavement near the Pepsi Center for the placement of communication lines.
“They said they got our name from the directory, and because we took the time to get our name on the list, they wanted to work with us,” Alvidrez said. “I thought that was pretty good. It was well worth it.”
Now he’s hoping for a chance to bid on work from the larger contractors who just took control of the Pepsi Center transformation.
Melvin Bush of Insurance Design & Placement Inc. said his company got work as the insurance-claims administrator for the convention.
The company provides identification cards and manages workers’ compensation claims, liability claims and any other claims that might occur.
In addition, the DNCC reports having done business with directory vendors BC Printing, a union printer; Bernard Grant Photography; and Hanna Design.
Nonprofits also overlooked
The list has been especially frustrating for printers and caterers because of restrictions they have faced.
Printers used by the DNCC must be union shops, which leaves less than a handful in Colorado to vie for the jobs. The requirement is frustrating for most printers in the area, many of whom have certifications but are not union.
“If you come to a state that doesn’t have a lot of union printers, you have to choose some other criteria,” Kulscar said.
The requirement is even foiling nonprofits on the vendor list.
YouthBiz operates a youth-run, fully functioning screen-printing business, which earns income for youth- development programs for inner-city youth near downtown.
Even so, the group was told by a communications assistant with the convention host committee in an e-mail: “You will need to be union in order to be considered.”
“It was extremely disappointing, especially given the larger meaning of our screen-printing business,” said Sonya Garcia Ulibarri, executive director of YouthBiz.
Many of the large venues in the city being used for events already have exclusive contracts with particular caterers, leaving smaller kitchens out.
One of the largest caterers in town, Epicurean, has exclusive contracts at Invesco Field at Mile High and the Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.
A list Epicurean sent to the convention host committee naming its partners showed that 10 of 40 are on the DNC vendor list, including Haystack Mountain Goat Cheese Co., Cake Crumbs and Seattle Fish.
“I’ve never looked at their list. All of their stuff is recommendations,” said Greg Karl, chief operating officer at Epicurean Culinary Group. “They might recommend a bakery, but when you are doing 50 parties in a week, that bakery might not be able to handle what you need.”
Instead, he is working with the company’s most tried-and-true partners to pull off each event.
Some of the smaller kitchens have been disappointed by the lack of calls.
“I had really high hopes for it,” said Debbie Strom of Fancy to Fantasy Catered Affairs in Denver. “I was hoping it would generate a lot of business for us, and, honestly, it hasn’t.”
Strom, whose title is head lettuce, said that many companies are listed twice and that others have manipulated their names to be higher on the list in certain categories.
Strom had prepared proposals for the delegation parties before the host committee canceled separate parties in favor of one large event. It took her three days to prepare the proposals.
“I’m just sort of disillusioned about the whole thing.”
By ELIZABETH AGUILERA - THE DENVER POST | 7/13/08
State’s economy is on right track
If Gov. Bill Ritter is deliberately trying to wreck the Colorado economy — as his critics in the oil and gas industry and their Republican allies insist — then he’s doing a lousy job of it.
CNBC has just ranked Colorado as the fifth-best state for doing business — the first time our state has finished in the coveted top five.
The biggest reason for Colorado’s leap up the charts, according to CNBC analysts, is that it “has been actively courting what it calls the New Energy Economy — wind and solar. The effort has paid off in jobs, and a big jump in our business friendliness category, finishing fifth this year, from number 12 in 2007.”
That new energy economy, of course, has been Ritter’s signature issue from day one of his administration. Now, the strong pro-business rating confounds critics of the governor who have blasted his administration in a series of advertisements denouncing proposed new regulations on oil and gas development.
The energy industry is likewise gearing up for an all-out fight against a Ritter-backed citizens initiative that would raise severance taxes on oil and gas. If approved by voters, the initiative would create the Colorado Promise scholarship program and direct 60 percent of the new revenue to that cause. Local communities and wildlife habitat protection would each get 15 percent of the money while the final 10 percent would go to clean-energy projects.
Far from hurting the state economy, as Ritter’s foes claim, such efforts to buttress higher education are crucial to attracting quality employers. That point is underscored by another, even higher, pro-business ranking for Colorado. Last month, the Milken Institute ranked Colorado No. 3 in the country for its strong technology sector, citing the state’s highly educated workforce and its high percentage of scientists and engineers.
Let’s be clear about our economic development goals: Not all jobs are created equal. If a poultry firm wants to hire another 5,000 chicken pluckers at minimum wage, Coloradans would just as soon they look elsewhere. We’d rather work with progressive companies like Conoco-Phillips, Vestas Wind Systems, Fort Collins-based Integware, and other employers offering quality jobs.
Colorado’s future lies in buttressing its intellectual capital, as it is already doing with the Collaboratory, a consortium of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Upgrading our higher education system, as the severance tax initiative will help do, is a key to our future prosperity.
Colorado also sorely needs to maintain and expand its transportation network. A half-hearted effort to do that failed in the last legislative session, but Ritter extended the life of his blue-ribbon commission on transportation and told it to try again.
Colorado’s economy is doing well, even as the pulse of the nation’s business slows. In the hyper-competitive world of economic development, that doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels. But Colorado’s high ratings for pro-business policies are a solid sign that Ritter’s critics have taken the wrong road in trying to shortchange the higher education and transportation efforts upon which our future prosperity depends.
Editorial
Published on July 13, 2008
Teacher pay plan turns into battlefield
Denver’s pick as host of the Democratic National Convention was seen by city education leaders as a chance to show off an urban school district in the midst of groundbreaking reform.
Now it may bring more embarrassment than acclaim.
The unique collaboration between Denver Public Schools and its teachers union that produced the nation’s first wide-scale pay-for-performance plan is in tatters, as the two sides squabble over how to spend the $25 million approved by voters to make the plan work.
ProComp, officially the Professional Compensation Plan for teachers, has been hailed from New York to Beijing for thoughtfully leading the nation’s foray into merit pay for teachers.
If it collapses, “People will say, we thought that was the one that was going to work,” said Paul Teske, dean of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado in Denver. “If that didn’t work, is this really doable?”
‘Prepare to Strike’
Wednesday, DPS and union officials will meet with a mediator to set the agenda for negotiations scheduled Aug. 20-22. Three days later, on Aug. 25, the DNC kicks off with an estimated 30,000 guests and 15,000 members of the media.
“Prepare to Strike,” reads a headline in the latest issue of the teachers’ union newspaper The Slate, which also contains a notice for an Aug. 24 “all member meeting prior to the Democratic National Convention.”
But Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, denies the union is encouraging a strike during the DNC.
“We will be doing everything in our power to get to a fair and equitable settlement as quickly as possible,” she said.
Still, sentiment among some union members against DPS’ proposed changes to ProComp is strong. In May, union representatives from Denver schools voted “no confidence” in DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet. Some members circulated cartoons depicting Bennet beside a grave with a marker labeled ProComp.
One veteran teacher angry over the DPS proposal reported in an e-mail that she is “quietly, or not so quietly, making picket signs in my garage.”
A carefully crafted plan
Denver’s ProComp is unique among teacher pay plans because the district and the union spent more than seven years crafting it together.
Or, as presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has said repeatedly on the national stage, it was “developed with teachers, not imposed on them.”
“It really was a bottom-up negotiated district-level thing,” said Teske, who co-authored a book on ProComp.
“The union had a lot of buy-in. … if the union had voted no, that would have been the end of it.”
The result is a complex plan that builds a teacher’s salary based on nine components, from serving in a high- poverty school to completing academic research projects to increasing student test scores.
It also gives teachers a choice about participating — new hires must join ProComp but teachers already in DPS can opt in, or not, at various times. Slightly more than half have done so.
That system is a far cry from the salary ladder used for decades in most U.S. school districts, where all that matters are a teacher’s experience and education.
Teske said the simple fact that 59 percent of Denver teachers approved ProComp in 2004 had a ripple effect.
“People said, gee, unions everywhere aren’t opposed to this,” he said. “They can actually pass it.”
Collaboration to standoff
But if ProComp is credited with propelling some districts and states, even the federal government, into merit pay for teachers, the plan in Denver is under increasing scrutiny.
Bennet, who helped persuade voters citywide in 2005 to back funding for ProComp, wants to make changes.
Specifically, he wants to boost pay for teachers in the early years of their careers.
He cites statistics showing that, since 2005, nearly 95 percent of teachers’ voluntary resignations have been in their first 11 years.
He also wants to pour more money into two areas — bonuses for teachers willing to work in high-poverty schools and for those willing to teach hard- to-fill subjects, such as math and special education.
Those bonuses, $1,067 each in 2007-08, would nearly triple to $3,029.
“The $1,000 is not high enough,” Bennet said, “to drive differences in how people decide what they want to teach and where they want to teach.”
To fund his proposal, he wants to spend more ProComp money today. DPS estimates 23 percent of the $31 million in ProComp tax dollars and interest earnings in 2007-08 made its way to teachers’ pockets.
Is ProComp working?
By the end of 2008-09, the district estimates, the cash balance in the ProComp fund will be $87 million.
“We think that money should be spent on our teachers right now,” Bennet said.
Ursetta, the union president, calls the DPS proposal a “radical” change in a pay plan only two years old.
She also wants to increase bonuses in the same two areas — though not as high — but she disagrees with giving younger teachers more.
Ursetta also believes that the balance in the ProComp fund is needed to make future payments and that the DPS proposal could bankrupt the system.
“We’re willing to make changes, but we want to make them based on data,” she said. “We don’t have that data yet.”
An analysis of the first full year of ProComp — the 2006-07 school year — by University of Colorado School of Education researchers was inconclusive.
“In terms of improving student achievement, it’s far too early to say,” said Ed Wiley, who heads CU’s Procomp evaluation team.
The Obama factor
In fact, both Wiley and Teske admit there’s little hard data showing pay-for-performance plans anywhere have led to higher student test scores.
Sure, teachers who opted into ProComp produced slightly higher results on state exams. But, Wiley said, it’s probable those teachers joined ProComp because they believed they, and their students, were more likely to benefit from it.
So why even try it?
“I think the answer to that is actually pretty simple,” Teske said. “Do we think our current pay system is a good one? That every person who’s worked for 12 years in DPS and has a master’s degree should be paid the exact same amount?
“Even if we can’t measure outcomes perfectly,” he added, “we ought to think about aligning what we value in schools with what we pay teachers.”
Obama, meanwhile, no longer refers to ProComp.
In November, in a speech outlining his education platform, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee praised “cities like Denver” that have “proven by working with teachers … we can find new ways to increase pay.”
In May, after learning of stalled talks, Obama noted that “teachers in Denver are in the middle of tough negotiations right now” but said the city has “already proven” there are new ways to increase pay.
Last week, in addressing the National Education Association, Obama didn’t mention Denver.
Breaking down the ‘$150,000-a-year teacher’
As tensions have increased between Denver Public Schools and its teachers union, the two sides have argued over what DPS leaders call the $150,000-a-year teacher.
DPS refers to veteran teachers earning $140,000 or $150,000 or even $160,000 each year as they near retirement. Union leaders say those numbers are unfair.
Who’s right? It depends on how you look at it.
Example: A teacher with a master’s degree and 25 years of experience would earn a salary of $77,218 under ProComp, provided he or she receives the average bonuses awarded most teachers under the pay plan. That’s straight salary. DPS calculates that teacher actually would be earning $154,348 that year in total compensation. The difference of $77,130 refers to the amount that DPS is setting aside in that year for that teacher to receive after retirement.
Why does it matter?
DPS’ proposal to change ProComp is part of an attempt to get more money to teachers earlier in their careers. Under the district proposal, that same veteran teacher would receive less in salary and in total compensation — $848 less in annual salary and $1,695 less in total compensation that year.
Written by Nancy Mitchell
Published on July 11, 2008
In fiscal squeeze, RTD studies fare hike, service cuts
RTD is weighing a fare increase, cuts in bus and light-rail service or a combination of both as it faces the three-sided economic squeeze of skyrocketing fuel costs, declining sales taxes and increasing ridership.
“It’s choose your poison: Do you charge more or do you cut service?” said Cal Marsella, Regional Transportation District general manager.
On Tuesday, RTD board members got the latest report on ridership and revenue, which are, respectively, up and down.
The board will soon consider a package to trim its $458 million annual operating budget, to reflect sales tax collections running 4.5 percent below projections while ridership is up 5.6 percent. RTD had budgeted for a 3 percent ridership increase this year.
The eight-county transit agency is facing a $21.4 million gap - an estimated $15.4 million less in sales taxes than budgeted and $6 million more in cost for diesel fuel.
When the budget was adopted last year, RTD estimated it would pay $2.62 a gallon.
Instead, it recently locked in a 2008 constant price of $3.20. RTD doesn’t pay federal or state fuel taxes.
Fuel costs hammer budget
Essentially, it began the year already 22 percent over its fuel budget.
Worse, for next year, analysts are suggesting RTD budget $4.55 a gallon - a whopping 42 percent over this year.
Denver drivers don’t need to be reminded of the jump, but for the record, just four years ago RTD paid an average of $1.11 a gallon.
The sharp worldwide spike in oil is fueling a surge in transit riders - folks leaving their cars behind when they can.
As a result, RTD has to redeploy some of its buses onto heavy demand routes - adding trips to some - at the expense of lower-ridership routes.
Cutbacks on lesser-used routes can cause hardship on transit-dependent riders.
At the same time, the cost of fuel is redirecting consumer spending. As more money flows into the family car’s gas tank, less goes to discretionary spending that generates sales taxes, the lifeblood of RTD.
“Our ridership is at record- breaking levels,” Marsella said. “I took a bus home last night and we had six or seven standing-room- only passengers on the regional bus to Boulder. I talked to the driver and he said more and more he’s getting counts of standing room only.
“In this situation, you want to split the trip by adding another bus, but we can’t.
Just when we need more service, we can’t provide it because our means to provide it is being undermined.”
Less spending, less in tax
RTD gets only 14 percent of its total revenue from fares. Nearly 70 percent comes from sales taxes.
So when families stay home on the weekend and buy less, there’s less money for RTD to put into transit service.
And even though fare revenue in May was up 21 percent, RTD is providing more service for riders without getting any additional farebox revenue.
Under its Eco Pass program, RTD signs contracts with major employers to provide annual passes for their workers.
The price is based on the assumption that many workers won’t use it.
But more eligible employees are picking up their passes lately and trying transit, RTD said.
Since the crisis deepened a few months ago, RTD has had one round of its three-times-yearly service changes, which take effect Aug. 17.
But even that first swing at saving money came up short.
The original proposal in May would have cut enough service to save $4.1 million a year.
But after public pleas to spare some of the cuts, the package was thinned down, first to $3.43 million savings and finally to $2.78 million.
Written by Kevin Flynn
Published on July 8, 2008
Ritter: Colorado can be a model for U.S. energy policy
Governors from West drafting plan to submit to next president
DENVER — As Western states weigh in on energy heading into the November election, Colorado’s unique combination of resources makes it a good showcase for what a national policy can look like “going forward,” Gov. Bill Ritter said.
Ritter and other Western governors are preparing a national energy plan that they hope the next president will consider. Members of the Western Governors Association said in a meeting last week that the federal government has failed to take the lead on the issue.
Ritter said the governors committed staff time to help develop a national policy over the next few months.
“We’re talking about a bipartisan group, Republicans and Democrats alike, who believe we can get to some consensus on what we in the West would recommend the next administration should do going forward,” Ritter said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press.
Escalating prices and climate change have catapulted energy to among the top issues this election season, Ritter said. Governors in the West see developing diverse, affordable energy sources as among the solutions.
“One of the things that we believe, that I think all the governors would endorse, is that it’s not up to us to pick winners and losers,” said Ritter, referring to types of energy. “Research and development should ultimately drive the conversation.”
Coal, abundant in parts of the region, will continue to play a role, Ritter said. There will be an emphasis on technology to cut pollution from coal-fired power plants because of the greenhouse gases they emit.
“We believe that nuclear (power) may have some role to play as part of our energy future,” Ritter said. “We believe that we should avail ourselves of every opportunity to produce renewable energy.”
While a big proponent of renewable energy, Ritter said he recognizes that wind and solar aren’t necessarily “24/7″ power sources and that other approaches are needed, including conservation and improving energy efficiency.
Ritter said he believes the West, and particularly Colorado, has a chance to help shape the country’s energy future. The region, with its big numbers of unaffiliated voters and changing populations, is viewed as a battleground for the presidential candidates.
Denver will host the Democratic National Convention Aug. 25-28.
“The convention is an opportunity to showcase Colorado, to talk about the core values we have in the West,” Ritter said, “and really, put in context the need to extract these resources, produce renewable energy and do the research and development for what the 21st century energy picture should look like and to protect other resources at the same time.”
Colorado is in a unique position to do that, Ritter said.
“There is no place like Colorado that has the combination of traditional resources — oil and gas, coal and other extractive minerals — and renewable energy resources and a research and development community that’s next to none,” Ritter said.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden is one of the federal research centers in the state. The Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory has formed a partnership among NREL, the Colorado School of Mines, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State University.
Ritter is traveling to Spain this week to talk to renewable energy companies about investing in Colorado. Some of the foreign renewable companies already doing business and research in Colorado are Denmark-based Vestas Blades, German conglomerate Siemens Energy, and Abengoa Solar and Iberdrola Renewables, both from Spain.
Associated Press
Published on July 7, 2008
