Social networking sites are more likely to hurt job seekers chances of finding employment than they are to help them land a job. People ages 35 and older are the most rapidly growing age group to join Facebook, and about 51 percent of American adults with online access use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or other social networking [...]

The health care industry is expected to spend $55.5 billion on telecommunication services during the next five years - giving that sector a boost even as the economy recovers. A new market research study by Insight Research shows pending services will grow at a compounded rate of 10.2 percent during the forecast period, increasing from $7.1 billion [...]

Kaiser Permanente has entered into an agreement with Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, and starting Jan. 1, the hospital system will be an in-network provider for Kaiser commercially insured members. “Our members have long expressed a desire to have Penrose-St. Francis Health Services return as a part of our network,” said Mark Iorio, Kaiser executive director of network development [...]

Electronic gadgets are always a big holiday favorite, but this year, retailers seem to be sticking to updating tried-and-true favorites, along with slashing prices, to entice consumers into their stores.

Alliance Financial Partners has relocated its headquarters to Colorado Springs. The company specializes in commercial and residential lending through brokered mortgage loans as well as direct lending. Located at 130 East Kiowa, the company plans to hire 15 employees this year and 37 during the next four years. Employees will include loan origination executives, client relationship executives, [...]

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs hosted the 13th annual Southern Colorado Economic Forum today. The forum is presented each fall and offers a comprehensive analysis of the local economy, along with financial forecasts and quality of life indicators. Click here to download this year’s report.

Sandra Christiantelli has joined the Reeves Real Estate LLC offices of Metro Brokers Inc. She previously was an associate broker for Re/Max and has more than four years of experience. Barbara Low has joined Weichert, Realtors. Prior to becoming a real estate agent, she worked in the insurance industry and as a marketing manager at Anheuser [...]

The county Treasurer’s office annual tax lien sale last week sold 3,684 tax liens and recovered $7.1 million in owed taxes. That compares to 3,145 liens and $4.8 million last year. The sale also generated bonus bids totaling $61,646, which can be used to support ongoing county services. This year’s strong results - with net proceeds up 33 [...]

The U.S. Small Business Administration is seeking nominations for its 2010 Colorado Small Business Week Awards. Statewide award winners will compete for regional and national honors. The national celebration is scheduled for spring 2010 in Washington, D.C. The nomination guidelines and forms are available at www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com. The deadline for all nomination packages is Nov. 13. Award categories [...]

Once again, Colorado Springs is in the spotlight for being a great place to live–but this time it’s not for the mountains, the view or the many places to hike, mountain bike or road bike. The Springs is on BusinessWeek’s 40 Strongest U.S. Metro Economies list. The Pikes Peak region ranked 24th on the list, which was compiled using data and analysis [...]