RNL cut credit: Courtesy RNL Design

CAMPUS FACELIFT Colorado Christian picks RNL Design

RNL Design will give the Colorado Christian University a campus facelift. The firm’s

SPONSORED CONTENT

How Platte River Power Authority is accelerating its energy transition

Platte River Power Authority, the community-owned wholesale electricity provider for Northern Colorado, has a history of bold initiatives.

Denver office plans to locate the new academic campus on a 200-acre plot between Highway

285 and Belleview Avenue. RNL will master plan the entire site, process the plan through the approval phase and

provide conceptual design for the first building phase. Construction is slated to begin in two years.

Business Digest

NEW BUSINESS

GMAC Mortgage, a national mortgage lender, opened new offices in Boulder. The firm offers a variety

of loan programs for purchases, refinances and home equity lines of credit.

The nationwide network of home and business improvement services, the Home Service Store, is moving to Denver. Consumers in Denver wishing to renovate their home or small business can tap into the comprehensive database of pre-qualified professionals in the area. Members of the Home Service Store have access 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

RET/COM Renovations Inc., a commercial and residential contracting company, opened offices in Boulder. The company specializes in commercial tenant finish and renovation.

Higher Resources Inc., an executive search firm, opened company doors in Boulder. The firm specializes in placement of information technology and marketing management professionals.

FirsTier Bank has opened a new branch at 3000 Arapahoe Ave. in Boulder. The new branch brings the bank’s total on the Front Range to 16.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

LeagueLink Inc., a Westminster-based Internet technologies provider for recreational

sports leagues, completed a $2.6 million round of venture financing. New World Ventures

led the round and was joined by KB Partners and Perfect World Technologies.

The University of Colorado plans to donate computers to benefit the Longmont Elementary

Schools. Through the Adopt a School Program, CU will give six Macintosh computer systems

to Columbine Elementary School as well as three other computers for use in Longmont High School’s

special education classroom.

“Charter of the New Urbanism,” a 194-page book published by McGraw-Hill Publishing and edited by

two Boulderites, will be in book stores soon. Michael Leccese and Kathleen McCormick, the

principals of Fountainhead Communications Inc., spent 10 months editing the work and are

celebrating its completion with a book party at the Tattered Cover in Lower Downtown Denver, Friday, February

11, 2000, from 6-8 p.m.

Associate Professor of Marketing Ajay Menon at Colorado State University was named associate dean for academic and executive programs. In his new position, Menon will focus on all academic programs offered at the university and serve as its liaison to the corporate world.

Through its Fund for Community Service, IBM donated a $3,000 computer to The Volunteer Connection. The computer will aid the organization in placing volunteers at more than 300 Boulder County non-profit agencies.

The Volunteer Connection is a 30-year-old placement organization for the Boulder area.

BUSINESS MOVES

MacDonald Hardwoods, a company that has provided the Front Range with hardwood flooring for more than 12 years, is opening its fourth store in downtown Fort Collins at the start of 2000. This is the company’s fourth store in four years.

The Denver Foundation has moved its offices to 950 South Cherry St., Suite 200, Denver, 80246. They can be reached by phone at (303) 300-1790; fax at 303-300-6547 or online at www.denverfoundation.org.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Englewood-based Mail-Well Inc. will acquire three commercial printers in the Philadelphia area-Phototype Color Graphics of Pennsauken, N.J., Braceland Brothers of Philadelphia and Strathmore Press of Cherry Hill, N.J. The combined sales of the three companies is $63 million.

RSA Companies, a leading provider of information technology solutions based in Englewood, announced its partnership with Computer Associates International Inc. as a GOLD VIP Channel Partner.

Bruce McDuffee, owner of ProForma McDuffee Agency in Louisville, has approval to tap a $25 million acquisition fund. The fund is set up to help ProForma franchisers grow their businesses through acquisition of smaller, forms distributors, print brokerages and ad specialty businesses.

Wells Fargo & Co. announced the completion of a merger between Stagecoach Funds and Norwest Advantage Funds resulting in the creation of Wells Fargo Funds. Now offering 61 mutual funds plus nine variable trust funds with more than $55 billion in mutual fund assets, the new fund family is one of the nation’s largest.

GRANTS

In an effort to implement violence prevention programs throughout 19 Boulder Valley Schools, the Foundation for Boulder Valley Schools awarded more than $14,000 in grants through the SAPP Mini-Grant program. The foundation received more than 30 proposals to support on-time or on-going violence and substance abuse prevention programs. The 19 winning grants span the elementary and high school levels.

Colorado State Parks has been awarded a $300,000 lottery grant from Great Outdoors Colorado to build a visitors center at Eldorado Canyon State Park. The center will be used to provide education on some of the risks and necessary precautions associated with rock climbing, one of the park’s main attractions. Construction is expected to be complete in early 2001.

CONTRACTS

The Colorado Technical Recruiters Network 2000 TechConnect Job Fair hired the Atwood

Company as event managers of the job seminars. Atwood is a Boulder-based conference and event planning company, which will coordinate Colorado’s largest technical job fair.

NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES

BRW LeGrand, the Denver-based public relations and consulting firm, added two new clients to its roster — Applied Precision Inc. of Seattle and Bracco Diagnostics Inc. of Princeton, N.J.

Nutraceutix Inc., which has packaging and labeling facilities outside Boulder, has licensed Olympian

Labs Inc. with the non-exclusive right to distribute health supplement products containing the patented dietary supplement compound — Calcium D-Glucarate. Olympian Labs, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., markets and distributes sports, diet and herbal products to health food stores worldwide.

Boulder-based Webroot.com launched its new MacWasher, a Macintosh version of its popular

Window Washer software. MacWasher is a file and disk clean-up utility that preserves privacy

and restores valuable hard drive space. Webroot.com teamed with Trexar Technologies Inc.

to make the $29.95 system a reality.

The University of Wyoming will soon reap the rewards of their spider silk gene research studies. The university granted Nexia Biotechnologies Inc., a Canadian company, exclusive rights to patents resulting from the genetic research. In return, the university receives an up-front payment, direct research and development expenses and royalties on sales of spider silk-based products.

Davis Graham & Stubbs, a Denver based corporate law firm, has formed a Franchise Practice Group in order to meet the special needs of these companies. About 80 of approximately 1,500 registered franchise companies nationwide are headquartered in Colorado. The Group’s 12 attorneys provide clients with a host of services including litigation support, advice as to property and business acquisition and bankruptcy representation.

Deadline to submit items for Business Digest is three weeks prior to publication of each bi-weekly issue. Mail to Editor, Boulder County Business Report, 3180 Sterling Circle, Suite 201, Boulder, CO 80301; fax to 440-8954; or e-mail to jwlewis@bcbr.com (title any e-mail Business Digest).