Recent Articles from Mike Cote
Made in Colorado 2012
“Everyone knows Colorado as this great resort community with incredible skiing and biking and white-water rafting. They don’t realize all the innovation,” says Gov. John Hickenlooper, who cited technology, aerospace, outerwear and recreational gear as examples of the state’s leading edge. “Colorad...
Executive edge: Bill Vidal
For Guillermo "Bill" Vidal, talking about contentious topics like immigration and high school dropout rates are more than civic exercises. The Cuban native knows firsthand what challenges new arrivals to this country face. As the former mayor of Denver adjusts to his new job as the president and C...
Made in Colorado: Craft beer and spirits
Lance and Anna Hansen founded Jack Rabbit Hill Farm about 12 years ago in the North Fork Valley to grow grapes. In 2005, the California transplants decided to branch out and founded Peak Spirits, a distillery that keeps its focus on the farming connection, a concept commonly practiced in Austria a...
Cote’s Colorado: Pancakes, soup and street talk
Letting your lunch partners pick the restaurant usually means little more than trusting them to pick a place with great food. So when Roxane White — Gov. John Hickenlooper’s chief of staff — chose the original Snooze in Denver’s Ballpark neighborhood we figured that’s just where she liked to plot strategy over a cup of […]
State of the state: Technology
The concept of the “smart” home is hardly a 21st century phenomenon, but Comcast aims to bring it mainstream with a service priced low enough to be bundled with cable bills. Xfinity Home Security allows users to keep tabs on their castle both at home and remotely to control temperature, lighting a...
Former HP chief took on Senate campaign in California
Carly Fiorina didn’t wait too long to work on her second act. After leaving Hewlett-Packard in 2005, the first woman to run a Fortune 20 company took on another big challenge: running for U.S. Senate. While campaigning in 2010, the Republican challenger to incumbent Democrat and ultimate victor Barbara Boxer faced personal hardship but […]
Inside the mind of Steve Jobs
Just about anything Steve Jobs ever uttered was scrutinized as closely as the latest word from the Federal Reserve chief. It was not just about what Apple was going to do next but how the brain of a genius works. The publication of Walter Isaacson’s best-selling biography of Jobs had its release date moved […]
Cote’s Colorado: HP-Compaq merger remains Carly Fiorina’s legacy
Carly Fiorina defines true grit and risk-taking. The former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard has the distinction of being the first woman to run a Fortune 20 company. While at HP, Fiorina presided over the company’s $24 billion takeover of Compaq, a deal she publicly defended last August as HP considered spinning off its PC business. […]
Colorado Business Hall of Fame: Jake Jabs
While some of his competitors have gone out of business during the tough economic climate of the past few years, Jake Jabs has expanded his American Furniture Warehouse empire to 13, with new stores open or under way in Grand Junction and Colorado Springs. The company - long known for its founder's...
Kinky Friedman’s “Hanukkah Tour” ain’t what you think (unless you know the K
If you go:Who: Kinky FriedmanWhen: 8 p.m. ThursdayWhere: Oriental Theater, 4335 W. 44th Ave., DenverTickets: $35www.theorientaltheater.com or 720-420-0030 Kinky Friedman wastes no time getting the work done during an interview from the road. “Let’s kill this turkey,” he says once he gets his bearings. From there, it’s like pushing a button. You can just sit […]
State of the state: Hospitality
As Wende Curtis celebrates the 30th anniversary of Comedy Works in downtown Denver and the third anniversary of her second club in Greenwood Village, she doesn't have more brick and mortar on her mind.What's next likely will be more on the creative side: books, speaking engagements - and a reality...
Crawling from the wreckage
Five years ago, economist Bill Greiner gathered with a dozen or so business-people from Colorado in a San Francisco hotel meeting room and talked about the “long, hard slog” – the sluggish period he and his colleagues could see coming around the corner. Greiner and his team didn’t predict the severity of the economic crisis […]