Business Digest July 6, 2012

NAME CHANGES

Longmont Area Visitors Association has changed its name to Visit Longmont.

BRIEFS

SPONSORED CONTENT

People Powered: Preparing Longmont Businesses for Economic Success

Longmont Chamber and FNBO present People Powered on April 24, 2024, aiming to inform business owners about workforce development, housing, and transportation issues.

More than 3,800 bicyclists involved in the annual Bike to Work Day event on Wednesday, June 27, in Boulder did not seem to be affected by the haze coming from the Flagstaff Fire burning in the foothills to the west, according to Sue Prant, Boulder’s bike and walk coordinator. Bicyclists waited patiently to receive free breakfast treats at places such as Alfalfa’s Market grocery store, Recreational Equipment Inc.’s REI retail store and Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) offices, as well as at numerous other businesses around Boulder, Prant said. In all, more than 40 businesses operated breakfast stations. Separately, 15 to 20 sponsor companies donated a total of $45,000 in cash for the event, Prant said. In-kind services, including food, prizes and volunteers working at the breakfast stations generated another $20,000 or so, she said.

The city of Longmont’s sales- and use-tax collections increased 3 percent in May compared with the same period a year ago, according to the city finance department’s latest report. Longmont collected $3,819,984 in May, compared with $3,710,082 collected in May 2011. The collection in May represents sales made in April. The sales-tax component of collections increased 2.4 percent from the same month the year before, and the use-tax component increased by 9.9 percent. Total sales- and use-tax collections year-to-date increased 3.1 percent compared with 2011, according to the report.

The city and county of Broomfield’s sales- and use-tax collections increased 4.1 percent in May from the same period in 2011, according to the city finance department’s latest report. Broomfield collected $3,343,687 in May, compared with $3,212,709 in May 2011, according to the report. The collections in May represent sales made in April. Total sales- and use-tax collections for total general governmental revenue year-to-date increased 1.3 percent, compared with 2011, according to the report.

The city of Boulder’s sales- and use-tax collections increased 7.3 percent in May, compared with the same month a year ago, according to the city finance department’s latest report. Boulder collected $7,079,320 in May, compared with the $6,595,647 collected in May 2011, according to the report. The collection in May represents sales made in April. Retail sales-tax receipts were down 5.1 percent for the month, compared with the same month last year, according to the report. But apparel sales-tax receipts were up 19.2 percent, in large part because of the added sales-tax growth from the Nordstrom Rack clothing store, which posted its first sales-tax revenues in May 2011. For the year to date, construction use tax collection through the end of May was up by 104.4 percent compared with the same period in 2011.

Entrepreneurs chosen to be “clean-tech fellows” will have a chance to work with the Colorado Center for Renewable Energy Economic Development in Golden as part of the new Cleantech Fellows Institute. Specific financial terms of a deal were not disclosed between the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association, the Denver-based industry trade group putting the Cleantech Fellows Institute program together, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL, the federal lab in Golden that sponsors the renewable-energy center. National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, in Boulder and the University of Colorado-Boulder’s clean-tech program also are involved with the new, $400,000 Cleantech Fellows Institute. The 17-week program of classes is designed to train entrepreneurs on various aspects of clean technology so that they can create new, successful companies in the industry. The deadline to apply for the program is Friday, July 6. For more information and to apply, go online at cleantechfellows.com.

Level 3 Communications Inc., a telecommunications company with headquarters in Broomfield, is expanding its resources, infrastructure and service portfolio in France and has opened a data center in Omaha, Nebraska. Level 3 (NYSE: LVLT) is targeting its services at French enterprise customers and will be adding sales and customer support teams in France, according to a press release. The “advanced Omaha data center will serve businesses and government agencies from a Tier III-certified facility as rated by The Uptime Institute, a third-party data-center research firm. Tier III facilities provide redundant power and environmental features necessary to ensure that critical business applications perform reliably and predictably. In addition, the data center provides connectivity to Level 3’s global IP network and offers carrier-neutral interconnections.

Retail operations owned by Longmont-based Oskar Blues Brewery LLC raised more than $4,500 during the weekend of June 15-17 and donated it to the American Red Cross’ Northern Colorado chapter to help those affected by the High Park Fire in Larimer County. Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids & Solids and the Tasty Weasel Taproom in Longmont and Oskar Blues Grill & Brew in Lyons took $1 for the Red Cross from each of the more than 4,475 pints of draft beer they sold, according to a press statement, and more than $100 in cash also was donated. In addition, the Oskar Blues Bonewagon food truck traveled to the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland on June 15 and served more than 180 meals to people displaced by the fire in the mountains west of Fort Collins.

Medical-device maker Surefire Medical Inc. has received Food and Drug Administration clearance to market its new microcatheter, which can be used in procedures to treat liver and kidney cancer. The Westminster-based company plans to step up its marketing efforts to hospitals in the United States and overseas, said Jim Chomas, the company’s chief executive. Surefire infusion systems use an expandable tip that collapses in forward flow and expands in reverse flow, according to a company press statement.

CONTRACTS

Data-storage manufacturer Dot Hill Systems Corp. has partnered with the German computer data-storage company SUSE. Terms of the deal were not disclosed between Longmont-based Dot Hill (Nasdaq: HILL) and Nuremburg, Germany-based SUSE. Dot Hill Systems’ Longmont plant has about 300 employees. SUSE plans to use more Dot Hill equipment at its data centers around the globe, according to a press statement.

Koglin Group LLC in Louisville signed a contract with Georgia-based Radiant Systems Inc. to install electrical and data services to 106 Arby’s restaurants in California, Utah and Florida. This is part of the Koglin Groups’ point of sales services, which provides expertise in structured cabling, network architecture and electrical systems.

Boulder-based Comer & Associates LLC, a provider of management solutions, has been retained by Boulder Community Hospital to assist in the drafting of a strategic market plan for 2013.

Boulder-based FreeWave Technologies Inc. a manufacturer of spread spectrum and licensed radios for critical data transmission, and its partner, Pan-Tech Controls, has deployed hundreds of expansion modules for a major natural gas producer in the Barnett Shale in Texas. FreeWave’s modules remotely control technology for tubing pressure, casing pressure, chemical tank levels and arrival sensors.

UQM Technologies Inc., based near Longmont, will provide its PowerPhase Pro 100 electric propulsion system to KleenSpeed Technologies to power its World KAR platform that made its debut at the Stanford University 2012 Vehicle Concept Showcase.

GRANTS

The city of Lafayette received a $75,000 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado to help fund the creation of a new Parks, Recreation, Open Space and Trails master plan. The city’s outdoor amenities are currently guided by two documents; the 2003 Parks, Recreation and Trails Master Plan Update and the 2005 Open Space and Trails Master Plan. Through a public input process scheduled to begin later this year, these two guiding plans will be merged.

SERVICES

Boulder-based Transformance Advisors has developed and launched two online courses covering the basics of supply chain management. Called Supply Chain Management, Parts 1 and 2, each course provides a combination of audio video presentations, value-added exercises, quizzes, and a final exam. Participants learn about an important concept in supply chain management and then perform an exercise designed to help them evaluate how the concept is applied at their organization. This combination of presentations and exercises promotes the identification of areas that require improvement. Each participant will earn a certificate of completion after viewing all audio video presentations, turning in all exercises, completing all quizzes, and taking the final exam.

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