NATIONAL

German bank hires ex-Fed chairman Greenspan as adviser

Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, has been hired to advise the securities unit of Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest bank.

Greenspan, 81, will provide "advice and insight" to the company's corporate and investment banking unit, the Frankfurt-based bank said. Deutsche Bank's securities unit is Europe's largest by revenue.

Greenspan retired from the Fed in January 2006 after 18 years as chairman.

CLEAR CHANNEL VOTE Clear Channel Communications Inc., the largest U.S. radio broadcaster, will hold a shareholders' vote on its proposed $19.5 billion buyout by private equity companies on Sept. 25.

The buyout by Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Bain Capital LLC is likely to be approved now that Clear Channel's largest outside shareholders, Fidelity Investments and Highfields Capital Management, have signaled support for a sweetened bid, according to David Joyce, an analyst at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York.

MIDWEST BUYER An investment group that includes Northwest Airlines said it would buy Midwest Air Group for more than $400 million. The announcement came less than an hour after AirTran abandoned a two- year hostile takeover bid for the same carrier. The group, led by TPG Capital would convert Midwest Air to a privately held company. The TPG offer was superior to AirTran's and will allow Midwest Air to proceed with its goals, Midwest executive Carol Skornicka said Monday.

LOCAL

Shares rise for movie theater advertising firm

Shares of National CineMedia Inc., the company that sells advertising in movie theaters, rose 7.5 percent after an analyst upgraded the stock, citing a new agreement with a cinema chain.

The shares rose $1.71 to $24.52 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The Centennial-based company has gained 17 percent since going public Feb. 7.

National CineMedia will provide on-screen advertising in theaters owned by Sumner Redstone's National Amusements, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Barton Crockett said in an Aug. 10 report. He upgraded the shares to "overweight" from "neutral."

NEW ST. MARY CEO St. Mary- Corwin Medical Center in Pueblo said Monday that Michael Stenger has been named chief executive officer. Stenger will take the helm of the health care provider Sept. 4.

Stenger has nearly 30 years in health care administration at such organizations at Hospital Sisters Health System, Quorum Health Services, Carolina Medicorp, Humana and most recently as the Illinois regional vice president of Hospital Sisters Health System.

SMALL BUSINESS FAIR The U.S. Small Business Administration, in partnership with several metro Denver organizations, is hosting a free Small Business Resource Fair from 10:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Thursday at the downtown Denver Public Library.

Representatives will be available to answer questions relating to all aspects of starting, operating and growing a business. For more information, call 303- 844-2607 ext. 226.

ECONOMY

Lending standards tighten

A majority of the nation's banks have tightened lending standards on subprime mortgages, the Federal Reserve said Monday in a survey that provided further evidence of the spreading problems in mortgage lending.

The Fed said it found that 56.3 percent of banks responding to a survey reported they had tightened their lending standards for subprime mortgages, loans offered to borrowers with weak credit histories.

The survey found that 40.5 percent of banks responding said they had tightened loan standards for so-called nontraditional mortgages.

• Consumers went shopping for clothes, furniture and electronics products last month, helping give a modest boost to retail sales despite continued weakness in the demand for new cars.

The Commerce Department reported Monday that retail sales edged up 0.3 percent in July after having plunged by 0.7 percent in June.

THIS JUST IN . . .

• The U.S. Small Business Administration will honor eight community leaders during its 2007 Colorado Small Business Week Awards ceremony April 23-24 next year in Washington, D.C.

Susan Matthews Brown, president and founder of the Boppy Co., will receive the 2007 Colorado Small Business Person of the Year Award. Armando R. Atencio, program coordinator for the National Veterans' Training Institute/University of Colorado at Denver, will receive the Veteran Small Business Champion Award. He also was named the Region VIII Veteran Small Business Champion Award winner. Rudolph D. Bianchi, vice president for SBA Lending at Matrix Capital Bank, won the Financial Services Champion Award. Bianchi also was named the Region VIII Financial Services Champion winner. Makisha T. Boothe, owner of Ya Ya Spa LLC, will receive the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and also was named the Region VIII Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner. David Cisneros, chief executive officer of Western Export Service, will receive the Small Business Exporter of the Year Award. Maury Dobbie, president and chief executive officer of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp., won the Women in Business Champion Award. Karen D. Gonzales, civil rights specialist with the Colorado Department of Transportation, won the Minority Small Business Champion Award. Jack Maher, executive producer for the morning news show on 9News, will receive the Small Business Journalist of the Year Award.

• Blue Mountain Arts, a family-owned publishing company headquartered in Boulder, will celebrate its 35th anniversary by providing $200,000 to its employees to donate individually to local and Colorado nonprofit organizations.

• C.J. Chapman, an associate in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck's real estate and corporate and securities groups, was appointed to the Denver Kids Inc. board of directors.

• Tim McCune was named director of corporate and foundation relations at Colorado State University.

• The Ritz-Carlton Club, Aspen Highlands, appointed Nicholas DiMeglio as general manager.

• Arapahoe/Douglas Works! was honored with the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility for offering excellent workplace flexibility policies and practices, and using flexibility as a tool to benefit business and employees.

• Sarah "Sally" Brashears joined Hensley Kim & Holzer LLP as a registered patent attorney.

• Design Workshop's Denver officer added Megan Higgins, Mariana Rovzar and Marcus Pulsipher as landscape architects.

Rocky staff and wire reports

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