NATIONAL

Online advertising in 2006 increases to record $16.8 billion

U.S. online advertising revenue climbed 34 percent to $16.8 billion during 2006, setting a new record for the third consecutive year, according to estimates released Wednesday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Last year's online ad spending totaled nearly $4.8 billion during the fourth quarter. The fourth- quarter volume represented a 32 percent increase from the same time last year.

WALGREEN LAWSUIT The federal government Wednesday sued Walgreen Co., alleging widespread racial bias against thousands of black workers throughout the nation's largest drugstore chain.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in a class-action lawsuit that Chicago-based Walgreen makes decisions about employee assignment and promotion based on race. Most of the complaints that led to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, Ill., came from employees and former employees in St. Louis, Kansas City, Detroit and Tampa, Fla.

GATES: DOUBLE SCIENCE GRADS Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates said the U.S. should double the number of science, technology and math graduates by 2015 and lift limits on visas for skilled foreign workers to improve competitiveness.

LOCAL

Raytheon Aurora unit to bid on contract

Raytheon Co.'s Aurora operations will compete against Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. for a $160 million Air Force contract to build the ground system for a constellation of next-generation global positioning system satellites.

A winner is expected to be chosen in February 2009. The ground system would give the Air Force the ability to communicate with satellites in orbit.

The satellites, part of a system dubbed Global Positioning II and III, are intended to improve navigation by air, land and sea, and to be more difficult for enemies of the U.S. military to disable.

MOLSON COORS TO CUT COSTS Molson Coors Brewing Co., the third-largest U.S. beer maker, seeks to reduce expenses by $250 million in the next three years and may use some of that savings to repurchase shares or increase dividends.

About two-thirds of the reduction will come as the company finds less expensive ways to make beer and deliver it to the marketplace, such as opening a brewery in Virginia and using uniform package sizes, Chief Financial Officer Tim Wolf said at an analyst meeting in New York.

PRESERVATION EDUCATION The University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Colorado State University, and Colorado Mountain College will launch a program that integrates preservation technology with architectural and construction management education.

It is being funded by a $200,000 startup grant from the State Historical Fund.

"The availability of this well-rounded education will grow the capacity for the future of preservation," said James Stratis, State Historical Fund preservation projects manager.

INSMED TO CUT JOBS Biotech firm Insmed will lay off one-third of its work force and scale back production at its Boulder-based manufacturing plant following a lawsuit settlement.

Glen Allen, Va.-based Insmed didn't disclose the terms of the settlement with Tercica Inc. and Genentech Inc. in a patent dispute over a drug to stimulate growth in abnormally short children.

ECONOMY

Modest growth in most of U.S. in past month

Most parts of the country saw modest economic growth in the past month, although there were pockets of sluggishness as businesses continued to cope with fallout from the troubled housing and automotive industries.

Information in the new snapshot, released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve, was collected before last week's gut- wrenching nose dive in worldwide financial markets, which in part reflected investors' worries about the health of the U.S. and Chinese economies.

The survey suggested that the price climate during the past month has been fairly steady, with most of the Fed's 12 regional districts characterizing "price pressures as little changed."

The survey is based on information supplied by the Fed's 12 regional banks.

In the Kansas City district, which includes Colorado, "Consumer spending was limited by poor weather conditions." The residential real estate market exhibited "signs of stabilization" and the construction of commercial projects "remained solid."

• Mortgage applications in the U.S. last week rose to the highest level in almost three months as lower borrowing costs boosted home purchases and refinancing, an industry report showed Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's index of applications to buy a home or refinance an existing loan increased 7.3 percent last week to 671.6, from 626.1 the prior week. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 6.04 percent, the lowest level since the week ended Dec. 8, from 6.16 percent, the report showed.

• Borrowing by consumers increased in January, reflecting an increase in auto loans.

The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that consumer credit rose at a 3.2 percent annual rate in January, up from December's 2.5 percent increase.

THIS JUST IN...

• The Shaka Franklin Foundation for Youth named former Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb to its national board of trustees, and former Denver clerk and recorder Wayne Vaden was voted vice chairman of the organization's local board of trustees. Selena Dunham and Jay Barry also were appointed to the organization's local board.

• Steve Suechting, a commercial real estate broker in the Denver office of Trammell Crow, has joined Grubb & Ellis. Trammell Crow was recently purchased by CB Richard Ellis.

• Karen Middleton has joined Denver-based ScholarCentric as vice president of development.

• PGM Integrated added Janice Roetenberg as director of public relations and Jordan Levy as online marketing strategist.

• Centennial Bank Holdings Inc. appointed Jim Simons as executive vice president and chief credit officer.

• Denver-based Quiznos appointed Steve Provost to executive vice president and chief marketing officer, effective March 26. The company also appointed Michael M. Elliott to executive vice president, franchise owner assistance.

• The Denver Department of Revenue named Paul Jacobs as the city's assessor.

• The west quad of the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business will be named in honor of Richard and Jean Engebretson, who pledged $1 million to the school's expansion and renovation.

• Scott M. Browning of Denver-based Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons LLP was recognized as one of the Denver Business Journal's Forty Under 40 for 2007.

• The 2007 LoDo Limelight Award winners are Communications, Ivar Zeile; Economic and Community Development, Downtown Denver Partnership; Events and Marketing, Larimer Square; Government Relations Committee, City Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth; Transportation Committee, Cal Marsella and RTD; Urban Design Committee, Ron Straka; and Friend of LoDo, Dave Moore.

Rocky staff and wire reports

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