Springs & Co.: A look at local business

Automatic pay stations at airport

Paying for parking at the Colorado Springs Airport is about to get easier; Ampco System Parking will open seven automatic pay stations Monday this week at the exit to the airport's short-term and long-term parking lots.

The stations, which work much like automated teller machines, accept cash and credit
cards, and are designed to reduce or eliminate lines at peak times when passengers from several flights are leaving the lots, said Kelly Jackson, an airport spokeswoman.

Ampco, which operates the lots for the airport, will still staff up to four lanes at the exit plaza with cashiers, depending on customer volume, she said.

Ampco spent nearly $675,000 on the stations. The money is expected to be repaid in five years by parking revenue during the next in five years. Installation of the pay stations has been in the works for at least six months; installation began Oct. 13, Jackson said. The stations have audio and video capabilities to give directions on how to use them to customers and are equipped with an intercom button if immediate help is needed.

The airport previously operated a pay station inside the terminal, but it was removed several years ago, Jackson said. Airport managers requested the new system to replaces an "outdated" payment system and improve customer service, she said.

Frontier still flies from the Springs

Frontier Airlines hasn't left Colorado Springs and still operates five daily round-trip flights between the Springs and Denver despite canceling plans earlier this month to build a $55 million maintenance hangar at the airport.

Airport officials are trying to get the word out that Frontier still flies to the Springs because many passengers were confused in the wake of the carrier's Nov. 6 announcement about the hangar. A Frontier spokesman said the Denver-based airline is "very pleased with Colorado Springs as a destination for us." The flights began April 15 CQ and have operated with nearly 70 percent of the seats filled.

Chamber health plan's 1st member

The Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce isn't wasting any time signing up members for its new health insurance plan.

Last week, Dublin Animal Hospital, on the Springs' north side, became the first area business to participate in the plan, which the chamber says will be a better fit for its members than a couple of previous programs.

The chamber has partnered with Kentucky-based Humana Inc. to offer a program that allows members to buy health insurance at competitive rates, with the chamber acting as an uncompensated middleman.

Unlike two previous chamber plans, Humana's program, available to chamber members with up to 99 employees, will have a broader reach than two previous chamber plans; it will ensure that give participants have access to services of Memorial Health System, Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, Colorado Springs Health Partners, Mountain View Medical Group and Pikes Peak Regional Hospital, among other area health care providers.

The Humana program is available to chamber members with up to 99 employees, which comprise make up most of the chamber's 1,500 members.

More information: www.coloradospringschamber.org/business/health.asp.