August 8, 2014

Briefcase – Aug. 8, 2014

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CONTRACTS

Storage arrays from Longmont-based Dot Hill Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:HILL) were selected by Graphics Systems Group in New York City to support its day-to-day computing, secure its creative assets, support offsite replication and ensure critical network uptime. GSG develops and executes creative marketing materials for some major brands.

Louisville-based Sierra Nevada Corp. and BioServe Technologies, a space life science research and hardware development center located at the University of Colorado Boulder, have signed an agreement to collaborate on microgravity science applications for the Dream Chaser spacecraft, which SNC is developing to take astronauts to low-Earth orbit by 2017. SNC also announced a partnership with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. As part of the agreement, SNC will explore potential applications of Japanese technologies and the development of mission concepts, in addition to exploring the possibility of Dream Chaser launching and landing in Japan.

Fort Collins-based craft brewery New Belgium Brewing signed deals with 10 distributing partners in Kentucky but, because of faster-than-expected sales growth, won’t start actual distribution there until its second brewery in Asheville, N.C., begins operating late next year. The distributors are Eagle Distributing Co., Golden Eagle Distributing Inc., J.B. Distributors Inc., Bud of Owensboro (Hand Family LLC), Kentucky Eagle Inc., Perry Distributors Inc., River City Distributing, Smith Brothers Distributing Co., Stagnaro Distributing and Edward Utley Jr. Inc.

Electric motors and controller systems built by Longmont-based UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UQM) are being used to power an all-electric minibus built by Inter Tan-ker Ltd. in Hungary, the first all-electric mini bus to be approved for use by the Hungarian National Transport Authority.

Boulder-based Griff/SMC Inc. Medical Marketing Communications was selected by Westmed Inc. of Greenwood Village to provide comprehensive marketing communications support for the launch of the company’s new respiratory therapy device, the Vibralung Acoustical Percussor. The product, which recently received 510(k) clearance to market by the Food and Drug Administration, is designed to promote safe and effective airway-clearance therapy in patients with respiratory diseases and related conditions that involve increased mucus production, infection and inspissation of secretions, and defective mucociliary clearance.

DEADLINES

Lafayette businesses have until Sept. 15 to complete an online application at cityoflafayette.com/LESAC to be recognized for their “green” efforts. The city’s Energy Sustainability Advisory Committee launched its third annual Green Business Recognition Program to distinguish businesses taking steps towards sustainability. Applicants may qualify for a bronze, silver or gold recognition category. LESAC will announce the winners in October in newspaper ads, on the city website and at a City Council meeting. The application is at

EARNINGS

Ball Corp.’s second-quarter profit escalated about 60 percent this year compared with the same period a year ago. Net income for Broomfield-based Ball (NYSE: BLL) was $153.1 million, or $1.07 per diluted share, for the quarter ending June 30. That’s compared with $95.1 million, or 63 cents per diluted share, for the same timeframe a year ago. Revenue for the quarter was $2.3 billion, nearly a million more than a year ago. Ball manufactures packaging for food, beverage and household products, and also has an aerospace division based in Boulder.

Longmont-based satellite imagery provider DigitalGlobe Inc. (NYSE: DGI) announced a 5 percent increase in second-quarter revenue as well as a $75 million share repurchase plan. The news came in the company’s earnings report covering the fiscal quarter ending June 30. The announcement stated that the share repurchase will be executed in the next 18 months, with the possibility of shares being bought either in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. DigitalGlobe’s second-quarter revenue was $157.8 million, up from $150.6 million for the same period a year ago. The company reported net income available to common shareholders of $3.9 million, or 5 cents per diluted share. That’s compared with a loss of $22 million, or 30 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.

Dynamic Materials Corp. (Nasdaq: BOOM) saw second-quarter sales slide 7 percent versus the same period a year ago, although they climbed 12 percent over the first quarter of this year. DMC released its earnings report for the period ending June 30, showing $53.6 million in second quarter revenue, down from $57.9 million last year. Net income also declined, sliding from $3.4 million last year to $2.9 million, or 21 cents per share, this year. The Boulder-based manufacturer has two core businesses serving the energy and industrial markets.

Heska Corp. (Nasdaq: HSKA) reported a 25.5-percent increase in second quarter revenue versus the same period last year. Loveland-based Heska, a provider of diagnostic and other specialty veterinary products, pulled in revenue of $22.9 million for the period ending June 30, up from $18.3 million last year. The company reported a profit of $1.1 million, or 17 cents per share, a major swing from last year’s net loss of $2.2 million in the quarter.

Medical-device company Encision Inc. (ECIA: PK) posted revenue of nearly $2.5 million for its first quarter of fiscal year 2015 ending June 30, an 8-percent decrease from the same period a year ago. Boulder-based Encision narrowed its loss versus last year. Net loss in the first quarter was $202,000, or 2 cents per share, versus a loss of $311,000 last year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (Nasdaq: PPC) posted flat net income of $190.4 million during the second quarter, the Greeley-based chicken processor said in an earnings statement. Pilgrim’s Pride earned $190.7 million during the same period a year earlier. The company reported net sales of $2.19 billion during the second quarter, slightly up from the $2.18 billion during the second quarter of last year.

Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) posted its third quarterly profit in a row and announced a proposed $600 million private offering of senior notes. The Broomfield-based telecommunications company enjoyed a profit of $51 million, or 21 cents per share, for its second fiscal quarter ending June 30, up from a loss of $24 million for the same period last year. The profit came on revenue of $1.625 billion, up from $1.565 billion last year and $1.609 billion last quarter. Core network services revenue – from colocation and data center services, transport and fiber, internet provider and data services, and voice services – showed continue strength, rising about $100 million from last year to $1.479 billion.

UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UQM), a manufacturer of electric motors based in Weld County, reported a net loss of $1.3 million for its most recent quarter that ended June 30. Longmont-based UQM reported revenue of $1 million for its first fiscal quarter of 2014, compared with $1.9 million for the same period a year ago. The loss of $1.3 million, or 3 cents per common share, was more than the loss of $900,000, or 2 cents per share, for the same quarter a year ago.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), one of the top oil and natural-gas exploration and production companies in Weld County, earned $227 million during the second quarter, down from $929 million during the same period last year. The Woodlands, Texas,-based company said its sales volumes totaled a record 77 million barrels of oil equivalent, or a daily average 848,000 barrels of oil equivalent, during the second quarter. But exploration expenses, meanwhile, rose to $502 million during the second quarter from $178 million the same quarter a year earlier. In the Wattenberg oil field in Northern Colorado, Anadarko averaged 169,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the second quarter, a 63,000-barrel increase, or 60 percent, from the same quarter a year earlier. The company generated more than $2.4 billion in cash flow during the second quarter and ended the quarter with $5.4 billion in cash on hand.

Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA and TSX: ECA) reported net income of $271 million in the second quarter of this year, down from $730 million for the same period a year ago. Despite the drop, the Calgary, Alberta-based company, which drills oil and natural-gas wells in Northern Colorado, termed the quarter a strong one thanks to transactions such as the acquisition of significant assets in the Eagle Ford shale play in Texas and the $1.6 billion initial public offering of PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. in May. Earnings per share amounted to 37 cents. The company generated cash flow of $656 million in the period, down about $9 million from a year before. The earnings report came one day after Encana’s board declared a dividend of 7 cents per share payable Sept. 30.

Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), among the top oil and natural-gas producers in Weld County, earned $192 million during the second quarter compared with $377 million during the same period a year earlier. Houston-based Noble Energy reported higher revenue of $1.4 billion during the second quarter compared with $1.15 billion during the second quarter of 2013. Capital spending during the second quarter totaled $1.3 billion. At the same time, operating expenses increased to $854 million during the second quarter from $788 million during the second quarter of 2013.

KUDOS

The WavePoint 10e platform from Boulder-based FreeWave Technologies Inc. is a finalist in the sixth annual Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards. WavePoint lets organizations develop flexible but complex wireless communication networks to and from remote areas and enables high-speed data transmission and IP routing capabilities. Golden Bridge winners will be announced Sept. 8 in San Francisco.

Associates in Family Medicine, with eight offices in Northern Colorado, received Cigna’s Well-Being Award for “outstanding culture of well-being, beating out more than a dozen other regional applicants.

Weld County employee Aleissa Thomas was named 2014 Investigator of the Year by the Colorado Welfare Fraud Council, having been selected from all investigators at the local, state and federal levels. She won CWFC’s Income Maintenance Technician of the Year award in 2007 for excellence in prevention of public-assistance or food-assistance fraud.

PTA Plastics, an Oxford, Conn.-based, employee-owned custom-injection molding company with a facility in Longmont, is celebrating its 60th year in business. Beginning as Plastic Tooling Aids Laboratory Inc., it has grown to 200 employee owners specializing in engineering, molding, quality-control administration, sales and tooling. As it grew, its portfolio included Princess telephones, the first Xerox copier and working with Steve Jobs on Apple Inc.’s first Macintosh computer.

Weld County’s safety and wellness program was recognized as one of the top three in its network by Cigna Health at the 2014 Cigna Forum at the Ritz-Carlton in Denver. Employee health and productivity specialist Staci Datteri-Frey and benefits manager Jewel Vaughn attended the event on behalf of the county.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Private equity firm Trilantic Capital Partners and Ward Petroleum Corp. in Fort Collins are forming a new oil and gas exploration and production company, Ward Energy Partners, which will focus operations in “various basins in Oklahoma and Eastern Colorado,” according to a statement posted on Trilantic’s website. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ward Petroleum Corp. has offices in Fort Collins and Enid, Okla. Trilantic has offices in New York City and London.

Local developers sold the Two Nine North apartments, 1955 30th St. in Boulder, for $93.5 million to Two Nine North Inc., an entity representing the state of Florida’s Retirement System Trust Fund. The seller was 2nd Level Investors LLC, a group led by Boulder developer Lou DellaCava and Denver developer Darren Fisk that also included several other investors.

The Mapleton Center in Boulder, which houses Boulder Community Health’s rehabilitation services, has been sold for the second time this year. Mapleton Hill Investments LLC, registered to Don Altman, a partner of AGR Building Inc. in Boulder, purchased the property for $15 million from Crystal Ridge Colorado LLC earlier in July. Boulder-based Crystal Ridge Colorado had purchased the 14.9-acre property in January for $12,937,500 from the Boulder Community Hospital Association, according to public records. Boulder Community Health has plans to move its rehabilitation services from the Mapleton Center to space at 1100 Balsam Ave. by the end of 2015.

A private investor purchased an industrial building at 5250 Aviation Circle in Loveland for $1.25 million. Limerick Partnership LLC, headed by Elizabeth A. Sampson, sold the 10,488-square-foot building located in the Fort Collins/Loveland Air Park to Braided Trio Development LLC. Scion Aviation, a company that is owned by the Limerick Partnership and is headquartered at County Road 30, had been using the building for a variety of purposes, including storage of aircraft.

The building that Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Services division leases in the Gunbarrel neighborhood of Boulder has sold for $13.4 million, according to public records.

Macfarlan Capital Partners, a real estate investment company based in Dallas, purchased the property from Michigan-based real estate investment firm W&D Spine Road LLC. The property consists of a 167,491-square-foot one-story building built in 1965 and a 4,800-square-foot utility building on 11.9 acres.

The law firm of Porzak, Browning and Bushong closed on the purchase of the former Boedecker Foundation building at 2118 13th St. in Boulder, with plans to move there later this month. Under the entity 2118 LLC, the eight-attorney firm specializing in water law paid the Boedecker Foundation $2.5 million for the property, according to county records. Porzak, Browning and Bushong will move on Aug. 23 from 929 Pearl St., where it occupies the third floor. The Boedecker Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded by Crocs Inc. co-founder George Boedecker, moved its operations to Broomfield and Nashville, Tenn.

MOVES

Columbine Plastics Corp., a longtime Boulder manufacturing company, will move its operations to the Colorado Technology Center in Louisville. Columbine’s owner, William Leipold, under the entity WCL LLC, recently paid $2.1 million for the property at 1815 Boxelder St. in Louisville. Leipold also sold Columbine’s current home at 3195 Bluff St. in Boulder for $2.6 million to developers of Spark, a major mixed-use redevelopment project unveiled in January that also includes the site of the former Sutherlands Lumber Co. Columbine remains in the 13,800-square-foot building in Boulder but is expected to move into the larger 21,000-square-foot building in Louisville soon. The Louisville building had been occupied by Intrex Aerospace, which moved to Thornton in October.

OPENINGS

Cinebarre, the national cinema eatery chain, opened at 1164 W. Dillon Road, Louisville. The complex has a commercial kitchen, a lounge with an expansive bar and 11 theaters with bench tables in front of the seats and state-of-the-art screens and sound systems.

PRODUCT UPDATE

Boulder-based PivotDesk Inc., provider of an online marketplace for office sharing, announced the launch of Cultivate, a tool the company hopes will create a mutually beneficial relationship with commercial real estate brokers. Cultivate provides a platform for brokers to refer such clients to PivotDesk to find flexible space, thus freeing up the brokers to concentrate on locking down lease deals. In return, PivotDesk provides those brokers with an online dashboard of companies they’ve referred. Brokers can monitor businesses’ progress and growth and keep in touch with them when it appears they might be ready to take the plunge on a lease.

Fort Collins-based OtterBox introduced $64.95 Defender Series smartphone cases for Apple iPhone 5/5s, Samsung Galaxy S 4 and S 5 with all 32 National Football League team logos.

Varsity, a mobile app that helps college students discover events, clubs and classes based on their interests, will have a pilot launch for the fall semester at the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State University, according to the co-founders of Tivona & Haug Inc. Varsity not only helps students track what activities might interest them on and around campus, but schools can glean valuable data on student behavior, such as what events they’re going to and how satisfied students are with those events.

Dohm Headwear, the knitwear brand of Longmont-based Icebox Knitting, introduced the Otto beanie for fall. More than a century ago, Basque shepherds grazed livestock on the high plains of Wyoming, a tradition that continues today on a co-op of family-owned ranches. The rugged mountain climate is the source for the Rambouillet Merino wool used in Dohm’s Otto beanie.

Boulder-based Backpacker’s Pantry, manufacturer of gourmet camping food, will unveil three new products – Thai coconut curry with beef, Vietnamese pho with beef and coconut key lime pie – at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Show in Salt Lake City this month.

SERVICES

AT&T activated three new 4G mobile Internet cell sites in Boulder that will enhance coverage for area residents and businesses and provide speeds up to four times faster than 3G. Two of the sites feature an eye-catching design and are hidden in a fire station and another in a church bell tower. The sites are located along 19th Street between Broadway and U.S. Highway 36, south of Violet Avenue; along 75th Street just north of Jay Road in northeast Boulder.

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