May 30, 2014

Briefcase

BRIEFS

Boulder-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has completed thermal vacuum environmental tests on critical components for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Membrane Optic Imager Real-Time Exploitation telescope.  Two sections of the primary mirror composite back structure and the structure deployment hinges successfully underwent environmental tests to simulate the temperature range and vacuum of a space environment.

Boulder-based Main Street Power Co. Inc. and the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on the island of St. Thomas for a 5-megawatt solar project. The project, engineered and built by System 3 Inc., will be the largest in the U.S. Virgin Islands when it is completed late this year, expected to generate approximately 7.9 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. The project was financed by Main Street Power in partnership with MS Solar Solutions Corp., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS).

SPONSORED CONTENT

Business Cares: March 2024

WomenGive, a program of United Way of Larimer County, was started in Larimer County in 2006 as an opportunity for women in our community to come together to help other women.

CLOSINGS

The Corner Bakery location at 3300 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins abruptly closed, apparently as part of redevelopment of Foothills Mall.

CONTRACTS

Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is integrating Redwood City, Calif.-based Equinix’s (Nasdaq: EQIX) Cloud Exchange into the Level 3 Cloud Connect Solutions ecosystem. This effort provides enterprises and government agencies a secure, high-performance alternative to the public Internet to access a community of cloud-service providers, such as GoGrid.

Longmont-based Dot Hill Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: HILL) developed a joint solution with Infinite Convergence Solutions, a next-generation wireless messaging and mobility solutions provider for carriers and enterprises. The solution, which integrates Dot Hill’s
 AssuredSAN Pro 5000 real-time tiering storage with Infinite Convergence’s Message Storage Application, allows major mobile operators to develop applications for users who want to access their messages any time, anywhere and across all devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops.

Boulder-based Smoker Friendly signed XO Corp. as a new authorized dealer in its Private Label program. XO does business as World Liquors, Xtra Mile, Jmart, Lakestop and Gorilla Express. Shawn Choudry operates 12 locations in the Kansas City market.

Boulder-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. received a three-year, $4.3 million contract from NASA to build an instrument that will collect data to better understand how wind transports aerosols and water vapor, affecting air quality and cloud formations. The instrument is named High-spectral-Resolution-Lidar for Aerosols Winds and Clouds – Using the Optical Autocovariance Wind Lidar, or HAWC-OAWL. Ball Aerospace is a subsidiary of Broomfield-based Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL).

The University of Colorado-Boulder and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory signed a memorandum of understanding May 22 to continue and broaden collaboration on space and Earth-science efforts going back nearly 50 years.

EARNINGS

Net income increased 5 percent during the last nine months for Corgenix Medical Corp. (OTC BB: CONX), boosted in part by a 3.1 percent increase in revenue. The Broomfield-based developer of diagnostic testing kits had an increase in net income to S323,000 in the nine months that ended March 31, up from $311,000 in the same period a year earlier.


KUDOS

Development of the Woodward Inc. Technology Center in downtown Fort Collins earned awards from economic development organizations in the state. In early May, the Economic Development Council of Colorado gave Woodward the Large Company of the Year Edie Award for demonstrated support for economic development, support for the community and significant expansion or investment during the year. In April, the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. honored Woodward with a Deal of the Year Award, “recognizing companies that have created the largest economic impact to the region through new job creation and capital investment.”

Longmont United Hospital’s intensive-care unit won a silver Beacon Award from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Mary Ann Michels, a broker associate/partner with The Group, Inc. Real Estate, was awarded three designations – Certified Residential Specialist, Certified Negotiation Expert and Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist – after completion of required courses and production achievement.

Boulder-based FreeWave Technologies Inc.’s WavePoint platform received a 2014 Smart Grid Product of the Year Award from SmartGrid.TMCnet.com, a technology media website. WavePoint securely communicates industrial data over long distances to enable M2M, broadband and SCADA applications.

The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce announced winners of its 2014 Small Business of the Year Awards. Mantooth Marketing Co. won in the small category for companies with 10 or fewer employees.  Aspen Grove Veterinary Care won in the medium category for businesses with 11 to 50 employees, and Green Ride Colorado won the award in the large category for businesses with 51 to 200 employees.


Several Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado companies that are members of the Associated Builders and Contractors Rocky Mountain Chapter were among those receiving recognition from their commercial construction industry peers at the annual Associated Builders and Contractors Safety and Scholarship Awards Banquet held at the Marriott City Center in Denver. The Safety Training and Evaluation Process (STEP) awards are granted by ABC National based on submitted applications and are based on 20 key elements of a contractor’s safety program that includes safety policies, employee commitment and training, management commitment and budgeting. Receiving one of two Diamond awards was Hensel Phelps of Greeley. Platinum-level winners included FCI Constructors Inc. of Longmont, Interstates Cos. of Fort Collins and LPR Construction Co. of Loveland. Among Gold STEP award winners were Design Mechanical Inc. of Louisville and Gregory Electric Inc. of Loveland. Silver STEP award winners included Central Mechanical Inc. of Erie and Design Mechanical Inc. of Louisville.

Loveland-based Vision Graphics Inc/Eagle:xm received a Gold Key Award for marketing excellence at the 2014 Business Marketing Association’s annual gala. Its entry was chosen from among 174 entries from Colorado’s top B2B businesses and agencies.

CivilianJobs.com, a website that connects veterans with civilian careers, named Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) a winner of its Most Valuable Employers for Military award.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Boulder-based bandwidth infrastructure provider Zayo Group LLC’s acquisition of London-based Geo Networks Ltd., is one of Zayo’s largest-ever at nearly $300 million. A Form 8-K filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission stated the purchase price at approximately 175 million British pounds. That puts the deal at about $293.5 million based on the currency conversion rate listed on foreign exchange trading website Oanda.com for May 16, the day the Geo sale closed.

MOVES

Boulder-based S.D. Merritt & Associates P.C. and Jane Caddell Paddison P.C. law firms moved to 1526 Spruce St., Suite 200. 

Zhao-Forro LLC moved its Asian food market to a renovated place about 700 feet away from its old location in Fort Collins. Steven and Sara Forro, owners of Bangkok Asian Market, decided to move to a new place because the previous property has two stores with a partial wall in the room. Now, the new property allows more efficient layout. The new market, which occupies 1,521 square feet at 1107 W. Drake Road, opened May 10.

Software developers for Canonsburg, Pa.-based Ansys Inc. will move their office in Boulder from a second-story suite above Bank of the West at 3800 Arapahoe Ave. to a 7,000-square-foot space at 5555 Central Ave. in Flatiron Park in July.

Talbots moved its women’s clothing store in Fort Collins from 100 E. Foothills Parkway to 4321 Corbett Drive in Front Range Village.

Software-development firm Pellucid Analytics Inc. signed a lease for 7,000 square feet of industrial space at 2545 Central Ave. in east Boulder and plans to move its operations in September from 1426 Pearl St. in downtown Boulder, an office that is about one-fourth the size of the new space.

OPENINGS

Rocky Mountain Innosphere, a Fort Collins-based nonprofit technology incubator supporting startups in clean tech, digital health, biosciences and enterprise software, will launch an office in Denver, The facility at 3001 Brighton Blvd. in the RiNo (River North) arts district is located in a new 120,000-square-foot redevelopment project called Industry. The office, dubbed “Innosphere at Industry,” will complement an existing office at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.

After closing last year because of arson, Boulder County CareConnect reopened its Longmont office at the Center for People with Disabilities, 615 Main St.

What We Love winery held its grand opening May 17 at 1501 Lee Hill Road, Unit 14, Boulder.

Dr. J.C. Agostini, medical director of Vein & Laser Specialists, is expanding his Denver-based practice to Northern Colorado, sharing an office two days a week with Dr. Denis Gonyon of Gonyon Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery, 4450 Union St., Johnstown. Agostini previously was director of the vascular laboratory at Cayuga Medical Center; affiliated with Cornell University Medical College. He began his own practice in Denver in 2004.

Hayden Industrial Supply opened at 1833 E. Harmony Road, Suite 1, in Fort Collins, carrying supplies for sub-contractors, property managers, facility maintenance crews, automotive shops and multiple trades. Twenty percent of the store has been left available for products specifically requested by customers. A grand opening will be held in June.

Deadline to submit items for Briefcase is three weeks prior to publication of each biweekly issue. Mail to Editor, BizWest Media LLC, 1790 30th St., Suite 300, Boulder, CO 80301, or email to news@bizwestmedia.com with Briefcase in the subject line.

BRIEFS

Boulder-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has completed thermal vacuum environmental tests on critical components for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Membrane Optic Imager Real-Time Exploitation telescope.  Two sections of the primary mirror composite back structure and the structure deployment hinges successfully underwent environmental tests to simulate the temperature range and vacuum of a space environment.

Boulder-based Main Street Power Co. Inc. and the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on the island of St. Thomas for a 5-megawatt solar project. The project, engineered and built by System 3 Inc., will be the largest in the…

Categories:
Sign up for BizWest Daily Alerts