D.C. lobbying firms had a tough year. Image problems caused by controversies - remember Jack Abramoff? - led to lower revenues and slower growth.

But the Denver law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck stood out, according to trade newspaper The Hill.

The paper reported that the firm increased its lobbying revenue 64.7 percent, to $11.2 million, in 2006, sending Brownstein Hyatt to No. 16 on the paper's Feb. 15 list of top lobbying firms by revenue.

The growth rate was easily the highest in a year when many of the firms on the list reported revenue declines. The second- best growth figure was 33 percent, with no other firm among the 21 topping 20 percent.

In a Feb. 21 article, The Hill said Brownstein Hyatt's revenue has climbed more than 400 percent since 2000, when it reported $2.2 million in lobbying revenue.

The firm has increased existing client billings while adding new clients such as Johnson & Johnson and U.S. Airways.

The articles can be found at http://thehill.com.

Chairlift gets new name in no time

Winter Park this week announced the name of its new $8 million detachable six-pack chairlift on Parsenn Bowl. The name: Panoramic Express.

High-powered marketing firms charge thousands of dollars and take weeks or months to research and come up with names for many a thing.

At Winter Park, it was a couple of guys hanging out in an office.

Resort officials called Jim Bain, who runs the Ski Train, asking if he had any ideas, given that several of the other lifts have railroad-themed names.

Local developer Pat Barron just happened to be sitting in Bain's office at the time. Barron grabbed a book about trains off a shelf, flipped through it and landed on a page describing the Panoramic Express train, which ran from Denver to Ogden, Utah.

"We said, 'That's it. We don't need to go any further,' " Bain recalled.

He and Barron offered the name to Winter Park officials, and the Panoramic Express six-pack chairlift was born.

Barron is hoping for a lifetime pass out of the deal.

American Skiing taking a powder

It took Les Otten most of his life to build American Skiing into a powerhouse, bigger than even Vail Resorts and Intrawest.

He did it one resort at a time. But it didn't take nearly as long for the company to all but disappear.

Otten, American Skiing's former president and chief executive officer, owned stock worth about $270 million when the company went public in November 1997.

In December, American Skiing said it would sell its Steamboat Ski Resort to Intrawest.

A few weeks ago it announced it was selling its Mount Snow and Attitash ski areas. Next came Killington and Pico in Vermont.

This week it said it's looking at selling Sunday River and Sugarloaf areas in Maine.

Next on the block: its only resort not yet in play - The Canyons in Utah. Apparently, interest for the resorts was stronger than expected.

Assistant Business Editor Jane Hoback and Deputy Business Editor Gil Rudawsky write about local business talk that doesn't necessarily end up in quarterly reports. They can be reached at business@RockyMountainNews.com.

Back to Top