Business Digest August 31, 2012

OPENINGS

Former advertising employees at agencies Crispin Porter + Bogusky LLC and Sterling-Rice Group Inc. have formed the new agency Grenadier in Boulder, in partnership with a Kansas City, Missouri-based firm. Jeff Graham, Mark St. Amant, Rob Hofferman, Wade Paschall and Randy Rogers are partners in Grenadier, which is a subsidiary of Barkley LLC, said Graham. Grenadier’s 3,000-square-foot office is at 1221 Pennsylvania Ave., in The Hill business district near the University of Colorado-Boulder campus.

Jeffrey Haskin has opened HealthCare Solutions, an insurance brokerage, at 801 Main St., Suite 210, Louisville. The company provides customized plans with the goal being to reduce cost of health-insurance premiums. Phone is 720-505-8440, email is Jeffrey@hcsolutionsusa.com.

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CLOSINGS

Now & Zen, a retailer of acoustic alarm clocks, has closed its 1638 Pearl St. store in downtown Boulder after nearly 20 years and will move toward online sales. Clocks will be assembled and shipped to customers from 908 Main St., Louisville, which will not be a storefront location.

Boulder International Hostel, 1107 12th St., Boulder, has closed to make way for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a fraternity previously located at 1101 University Ave. Another location is being sought for the hostel.

Boulder-based can manufacturer Ball Corp. plans to shut down manufacturing plants in Columbus, Ohio, and Gainesville, Florida, because of changing market demand. The Columbus plant employs approximately 110 people and operates two of four existing lines that produce standard 12-ounce cans. The Gainesville plant employs approximately 125 people and produces several different beverage can ends for standard can sizes.

MOVES

Longmont Cheese Importers has opened in its new location at 103 Main St., Longmont. The building, built in 1931, originally housed Longmont’s electric utility. The store will have 11,000 square feet of space, compared with 8,000 square feet at its old location at 33 S. Pratt Parkway.

Commercial and home-remodeling contractor Melton Design Build moved to 3082 Sterling Circle, Boulder. The company’s phone number remains the same, 303-473-9542. Its new website URL is MeltonDesignBuild.com. The offices will include a new design selection center, interactive and unique product displays, multiple kitchen and bathroom vignettes, and room for growth.

NAME CHANGES

Boulder-based home and commercial remodeling contractor Melton Construction Inc. has changed its trade name to Melton Design Build and its website to MeltonDesignBuild.com to reflect that it provides both architectural design and construction services.

BRIEFS

The city of Longmont’s sales- and use-tax collections increased 3.1 percent in July, compared with the same period a year ago, according to the city finance department’s latest report. Longmont collected $4,250,472 in July, compared with $4,122,858 collected in July 2011. The collection in July represents sales made in June. The sales-tax component of collections increased by 3 percent from the same month the year before, and the use-tax component increased by 4.4 percent. Total sales- and use-tax collections for the year to date increased 2.6 percent compared with the same period in 2011, according to the report.

Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is offering its content-delivery network, or CDN, services in Latin American countries, targeting the services to businesses, government bodies and multimedia content providers that want access to an emerging market, according to a release from the company.

Boulder-based Covidien Plc will voluntarily recall some Cool-tip RFA electrode kits made before Aug. 30, 2011, after reports that four patients received serious burns from grounding pads in the kits. The kits in question are being recalled “due to a potential degradation of foil within the … grounding pad,” according to a press release from Dublin, Ireland,-based Covidien (NYSE: COV). “RFA” means radio-frequency ablation.

Boulder Housing Partners has joined 10 for Change, an initiative that challenges Boulder County businesses to save money by integrating sustainability practices in their operations. BHP is pursuing a wide-ranging sustainability program with the intention of becoming the nation’s first net-zero energy and zero-waste housing authority.

James L. Lieberman, who served as Boulder-based Array BioPharma Inc.’s manager of environmental health and safety from 2001 to 2010, agreed to pay a fine of $147,628, according to court documents for insider trading, allegedly trading shares of Array’s stock based on material nonpublic information related to an impending drug-development agreement with Novartis Inc. Lieberman neither admitted to nor denied the SEC’s allegations.

The city of Boulder has launched inspireboulder.com, a website that citizens of Boulder can use to engage and communicate with city officials on civic projects and issues. The online exchange allows participants the opportunity to share ideas, second others’ ideas, expand upon existing ideas, give feedback on initiatives and collaborate with city officials on a variety of topics online anytime, from any computer.

Office Evolution is growing nationwide by franchising its virtual office-services concept. The Boulder-based company offers virtual office services such as conference rooms, telephone answering, executive suites, reception and mail services, as well as a professional address. New franchises will be priced at $141,000 to $224,000. The privately held company’s growth plan is to sell 100 new franchises around the nation in the next five years.

Boulder-based Campus Publishers, a division of Redrock Publishing Co., has added two guides to its family of 39 official University Visitor Guides. Middle Tennessee State University’s guide will make its debut in summer 2013 and Florida State University’s guide will launch in fall 2013. The guides each will reach 80,000 members of their respective university communities. Campus Publishers also publishes the University of Colorado’s guide.

Boulder and Broomfield counties again fared better than the state and nation as a whole, in monthly unemployment figures released Aug. 17, by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. The Boulder-Longmont metropolitan statistical area recorded a jobless rate of 6.5 percent, by far the lowest along the Front Range urban corridor and unchanged from June’s figure. Broomfield County posted a 7.7 percent unemployment rate for July, up slightly from 7.6 percent in June. Colorado’s statewide jobless rate for July edged up a tenth of a point to 8.3 percent, marking the first time since October 2005 that the state’s rate matched that of the nation. The statewide rate had been 8.2 percent in June and 8.1 percent in May.

CONTRACTS

Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) has signed a multiyear agreement with Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) to expand Time Warner Cable’s national network. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The agreement also includes the delivery of additional core infrastructure services that will enhance the redundancy and reliability of the cable network.

Boulder-based full-service advertising agency Griff/SMC Inc. has been selected by Lake Forest Park, Washington-based LifeForce Foods to design new packaging and labeling for the company’s line of sprouts and micro-greens.

SERVICES

The Climb, which already runs three weekday routes each way between Gold Hill and Boulder along Fourmile Canyon, started weekday service between Boulder and Jamestown on Aug. 15. The new morning bus leaves the Jamestown Mercantile and post office at 7 a.m., making stops in Lefthand Canyon and along Lee Hill Road. It arrives at the Boulder Transit Center, 14th and Walnut streets, at 7:50 a.m., from where riders can transfer to Regional Transportation District buses to other points in the city and county of Boulder as well as toward Denver and Longmont. The new return trip will leave the Boulder Transit Center at 5:15 p.m., arriving in Jamestown at 6 p.m. The fare is $3 each way, although residents living along the route can obtain a free pass, good through the end of the year, by visiting the-climb.com or contacting Phil Carter at pcarter@viacolorado.org or at 303-447-2848.

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