09/05/03 - Hoping for the luck o' the Irish
Mayor touts value of deals linking Denver with Emerald Isle.
Thursday was a "Belfast kind of day", in Denver, Denver Mayor Wellington Webb told about 60 business leaders at a breakfast meeting, alluding not only to the cloudy weather, but to two Irish-Denver deals.
Although the deals are small, they both have potential to grow, officials said.
Indeed, Webb said he hopes whoever succeeds him as mayor realizes the importance of international trade and travel, even during these gloomy economic times.
In the first deal, Denver-based Fighting Bull Technologies has signed a $3 million software deal with the British broadcasting Corp. in Northern Ireland.
The deal never would have been sealed if not for trade missions to Ireland by Gov. Bill owens and Webb, said Fighting Bull CEO Frederick Bolin.
And while the deal and the company are small - Fighting Bull has three employees in Denver and three in Belfast - it has potential to grow, said its 33 year old president, Jim Koustas.
Not only can their 3D software which was invented in Denver, make the broadcast industry more efficient, it has applications in industries that use digital data, including the oil, telecom and biotech industries.
Koustas is an amateur bullfighter, hence the name of the company. The firm is being bankrolled by his father, George Koustas, who once owned the undeveloped land of Castle Pines North.
The other announcement regards the opening of the Northern Ireland Technology and Development Center in Denver.
The group, which represents 15 high-tech firms from Northern Ireland, is looking to lease a small office to foster business relationships between Denver and Northern ireland, said Ron Bernstein, who leads the Mayor's Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
"We want to establish a base camp for companies that would be a resource for Denver companies that want to open an operation in Northern Ireland, or Northern Ireland companies that want to establish an operation in Denver," said Steve Brankin, chief executive at Belfast-based software company Asidua Ltd.
It will be looking at joint ventures, distribution, investment and other business opportunities in the telecommuncation, information technology and biotech fields.
"From my own personal perspective, Id like to see more Irish companies doing business in Denver," he said.
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