July 10, 2015

Briefcase – July 10, 2015

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CLOSINGS

Banner Medical Group’s acquisition of First-Care Physicians LLC in April led to the closure of a First-Care clinic at 2160 W. Drake Road in Fort Collins. Patients can establish care at the Banner Health Center at 702-A W. Drake Road or follow their existing physician to the former First-Care clinic at 295 E. 29th St. in the Orchards Shopping Center in Loveland.

CONTRACTS

Boulder-based Blue Canyon Technologies LLC will build a commercial constellation of 12 weather satellites for Bethesda, Md., startup PlanetiQ. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. PlanetiQ aims to sell the data gathered from its satellites – each about the size of two loaves of bread – to customers worldwide in the meteorology, aviation, shipping, defense, intelligence and agriculture industries. The Maryland company will build the sensors and imaging equipment, which use a technique called GPS Radio Occultation to gather data. BCT, meanwhile, will build the spacecraft and integrate all the systems at its headquarters at 2425 55th St. in east Boulder.

Longmont-based data-storage firm Dot Hill Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: HILL) has expanded its original equipment manufacturing agreement with Wortmann AG, a German-based IT solutions provider. Wortmann is increasing its market opportunities with Terra San hybrid-storage systems based on Dot Hill’s AssuredSanR 4000 Series arrays and RealStor next-generation real-time storage operating system.

GRANTS

A University of Northern Colorado program that prepares interpreters for work in educational settings received a five-year grant totaling $1.25 million from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services. The grant will support 30 scholarships of approximately $30,000 each for interpreting-students enrolled in the bachelor’s degree program in American Sign Language-English Interpretation.

OPENINGS

Henderson Property Management and Real Estate opened a 1,300-square-foot office at 2124 35th Ave. in Greeley, its third in Northern Colorado.

Craig Murray and Nicki Murray opened a Flip Flop Shops franchise at FlatIron Crossing mall July 2. The store sells a variety of styles of flip flops and casual footwear.

PRODUCT UPDATE

Oskar Blues Brewery unveiled Hotbox Roasters coffee beans, which are hitting local shelves at places such as Alfalfa’s and Lucky’s markets. The line includes a Bolivia Newton John light roast, a Frank Sumatra medium roast and a darker Kenya Dig It. The company will roast and package the imported beans at Oskar Blues’ headquarters in Longmont, taking up a small corner of the 100,000-square-foot brewery.

SERVICES

Front Range Internet Inc., a Northern Colorado Internet and commercial data services provider, unveiled a wireless Internet offering designed to provide its new 10-gigabit fiber network to businesses with limited or no connectivity in north Fort Collins, and also is extending that fiber network to Windsor. The first hub in the rollout of FRII’s wireless service, dubbed WiFRII, is just north of Fort Collins’ Old Town district, in roughly a three-mile radius extending outward from Vine Street.

The Colorado Department of Transportation launched RideBustang.com in anticipation of the service launch on July 13. Bustang is Colorado’s first state-owned and operated bus system and will connect Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and Glenwood Springs to Denver. The new website, and a mobile app that will be released before service launch, are designed to meet the Bustang rider’s on-the-go traveling needs, including buying tickets online and purchasing tickets onboard. The website and mobile app will share real-time information on bus routes and stops, travel alerts and when the next bus is arriving.

The Regional Transportation District unveiled its Flatiron Flyer bus at the Broomfield Park-n-Ride, one of six stations for the new bus rapid-transit service that will provide service between Denver and Boulder beginning Jan. 17. The buses can carry 57 passengers each and are branded with a blue-and-sunrise-orange paint scheme. The buses will have 120-volt outlets and USB ports for charging laptops, tablets and smartphones; reclining seats; footrests; overhead reading lights; and individual air vents. Each bus can carry up to eight bicycles.

San Francisco-based Instacart, a grocery delivery service whose personal shoppers hand pick and deliver items from local stores, partnered with Natural Grocers to provide grocery delivery services to customers in Boulder in as little as one hour. Delivery to Boulder area residents and businesses began June 23. Natural Grocers is the sixth Boulder-area grocery store offering delivery service through Instacart.

Boulder-based JumpCloud, makers of the first Directory-as-a-Service, began a RADIUS-as-a-Service (RaaS) solution to control and secure WiFi access. RaaS reduces administrative overhead by providing a secure, cloud-based solution that eliminates the need to install, configure and manage RADIUS services or appliances.

Leenie’s Southern Cafe, a New Orleans-themed restaurant in Twin Peaks Square, 800 S. Hover Road in Longmont that had been open only for breakfast and lunch, added a dinner menu for Friday and Saturday nights beginning June 26, according to owner Eileen Gilmore.

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