NoCo leaders receive BizWest’s Bravo! Entrepreneur awards

LOVELAND — Nine business people and three organizations from Northern Colorado were honored Wednesday morning as winners of BizWest Media’s 2016 Bravo! Entrepreneur Awards.

Entrepreneur awards were presented to Mark Kross and Gerard Nalezny of Verus Bank of Commerce for Fort Collins; Richard and Brenda Lucio of Coyote Southwestern Grill, the Palomino and Blue Agave for Greeley; Jerry Helgeson of American Eagle Distributing for Loveland; and Koel Thomae and Rob Graves of Bellvue-based Noosa Yoghurt for outlying communities.

Guaranty Bank & Trust Co. senior vice president Wes Sargent, whose career has spanned nearly 44 years, received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony, and Jeff Moe of Loveland-based Aleph Objects was honored as Emerging Entrepreneur. A Regional Spirit Award went to Fix North I-25, the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance and the North I-25 Coalition.

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The awards, which celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship by honoring regional business leaders who have had a positive economic and cultural impact on Northern Colorado, were presented during a breakfast at the Embassy Suites Loveland.

Other finalists for entrepreneur awards included Jim Quinlan of Jax Mercantile Co.; and Bonnie Szidon of Ranch-Way Feeds for Fort Collins; Dean Herl of Noffsinger Manufacturing and Chalice Springfield of Sears Real Estate for Greeley; Christina Dawkins of Co’s BMW Center and Terry and Diana Precht of Vergent Products for Loveland; and Byron Collins of Harmony Club and Paul Harter and Hap Enander of Aqua-Hot Heating Systems Inc. for outlying areas.

Presenting sponsors were EKS&H, Flood and Peterson and Home State Bank. Associate sponsors included Coan Payton & Payne LLC attorneys, McWhinney, Palmer Flowers, DaVinci Sign Systems Inc., Miramont Lifestyle Fitness, GrafXGroup, Survey Gizmo, the Better Business Bureau and event host Embassy Suites Loveland. Corporate table sponsors included American Eagle Distributing, Bill Farr, Boys and Girls Club of Larimer County, Co’s BMW Center, Coyote Southwestern Grill, Envirotech, First National Bank, the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, Guaranty Bank and Trust, Vergent Products, Verus Bank of Commerce and Weld County Garage.

Read profiles of each 2016 Bravo! Entrepreneur honoree here.