Gates Foundation feeling the pinch of troubled economy.(Business)

Byline: Rocky staff and wire reports

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest philanthropic foundation, expects to slow the growth of its grant making in 2009 in response to the troubled economy.

The foundation said payouts will rise by about 10 percent next year, less than previously planned.

Started by the Microsoft Corp. co-founder and his wife in 1994, the foundation's international goals include overcoming hunger, poverty and disease. In this country, its focus is on education.

The foundation had an endowment valued at $35.1 billion as of Oct. 1, down $800 million from June, according to The Seattle Times.

AD FORECAST DOWN A marketing research firm is dimming its Internet advertising outlook for the next four years, the latest sign of the more austere times looming for the high-tech sector.

In revisions made Tuesday, eMarketer estimates U.S. advertisers will spend $25.7 billion on the Internet next year - about $2.7 billion, or 10 percent, less than a forecast from just three months ago.

The more sobering projections extend through 2012, when eMarketer envisions $37 billion being spent on U.S. online ads. That figure represents a drop of $13 billion, or 26 percent, from the 2012 estimates that eMarketer drew up in August.

VIDEO DOWNLOADS Blockbuster Inc. will start renting movies and television shows through a new gadget that may give consumers another reason to bypass the struggling video chain's 7,500 stores.

The new system announced Tuesday relies on a small box that connects to television sets and stores video after it has been downloaded over high-speed Internet connections.

The player, made by San Jose-based 2Wire Inc., is built on the same concept as storage devices made by Apple Inc. and Vudu Inc.

BEEF IS BACK U.S. beef is returning to supermarket shelves in South Korea, major discount department stores said Tuesday.

South Koreans protested in the streets for weeks when the government decided in June to lift a 2003 ban on imports of U.S. beef. For months, supermarkets and many restaurants shied away from offering U.S. beef because of strong public opposition to the government decision.

But on Tuesday, the Korea Chainstores Association said major discount stores such as E-mart, Home Plus and Lotte Mart will begin selling U.S. beef because customers have asked for cheaper meat.

LOCAL

Market losses leave El Paso pension plan short of funds

Retirement plan officials say a pension fund for El Paso County employees needs $4.7 million to stay operational.

Officials told county commissioners on Monday the fund lost $88 million, or 29 percent of its value, since October 2007 as more money was paid out than was contributed into the retirement plan. The fund also posted a one-year loss of 16.2 percent in its investments.

The retirement plan covers 3,680 employees, beneficiaries and retirees in the county. More than $3 million is expected to be paid out this year. Retirees are guaranteed a certain amount regardless of market performance.

ENERGY INITIATIVE Broomfield-based engineering company MWH has joined the University of Colorado's Energy Initiative Leadership Council.

Formed in 2006, the energy initiative is composed of corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, policymakers and academics. Its goal is to help solve global energy challenges through research, education and technology commercialization.

QWEST PRICE CUTS Qwest Communications has slashed some of its prices as part of a holiday promotion running until Dec. 31.

Internet service up to 1.5 megabits a second, for example, is $14.99 vs. $29.99 a month for a year, as long as consumers also subscribe to a home phone package.

INFOBOX

THIS JUST IN

* Colorado State University System Board of Governors appointed Michael D. Nosler general counsel for the CSU system.

* Frontier Airlines named Cameron Kenyon interim president of its regional airline subsidiary Lynx Aviation.

* Denise A. Battles, dean of the University of Northern Colorado's College of Natural and Health Sciences, was elected president of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences.

* Gary Prager, partner at Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh, was named the 2009 president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of CEFPI.

* Warren Washington and Gerald Meehl, senior scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, won the American Meteorological Society 2009 Jule G. Charney Award.

* CH2M HILL received a Prime Contractor Subcontracting Award from the Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs.

* Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck added Lawrence "Larry" W. Treece to its Denver office as a shareholder.

* The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials gave the Lakewood Housing Authority its 2008 Award of Excellence in the project design category for the Residences at Creekside.

* The American Institute of Architects gave Boulder-based Michael Folwell Architecture its 2008 Honor Design Award and its 2008 Citation Design Award.

* Theresa M. Solano and Anita Roberts, students at the Women's College of the University of Denver, were awarded Public Service Credit Union Annual Scholarships.

* The Group Inc. added Mike Boyles and Carol Story as broker associates/partners and Dennis Naibauer as a broker associate.

* Source Four Inc. was named Industry Partner of the Year by the American Society of Interior Designers Colorado chapter.

* David Zeitlin joined Barotz Dental as a dentist.

* The Colorado Hospital Association appointed Tiffany Radel vice president of communications.

* Robyn Burson joined the DTC Market Center of Keller Williams Realty as a Realtor.

* Damon Bell joined the Omni Interlocken Resort & Spa as director of group sales.

* Weise Communications received five 2008 Colorado Healthcare Communicators awards: Colorado Hospital Project of the Year Award, Gold Leaf Awards for Advertising, Gold Leaf Award for Media Relations Silver Leaf Award for Annual Report Over $10,000 and Bronze Leaf Award for Advertising.

* M. Richard Smith joined the board of directors of Evergreen Energy Inc.

* Inhibiton Therapeutics Inc. appointed Aaron A. Grunfeld to its board of directors as an independent director.

* Heidi Flammang, CEO of Camp Bow Wow, won a Stevie Awards for Women in Business for best entrepreneur.