NCBR co-publisher Wood SBA Journalist of Year

By Business Report Staff

DENVER — The U.S. Small Business Administration named Chris Wood, publisher of The Northern Colorado Business Report, as its Colorado Journalist of the Year for 2001.

The SBA made the award in recognition of support for small-business issues in Northern Colorado.

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Wood joins several other entrepreneurs, including two from Boulder, who will be honored as Colorado Small Business Week award winners. Wood will be honored at a May 1 ceremony in the Fort Collins city council chambers, and again at an SBA awards luncheon May 15 in Denver.

Also honored by the SBA were:

* Colorado Small Business Person of the Year: William Hurt, owner and chief executive of Shields Real Estate in Colorado Springs. Hurt is among 53 top small businesspeople ? one from each state, plus the District of Colorado, Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands and Guam, who will be honored by the SBA at ceremonies in Washington, D.C.;

* Financial Services Advocate: Jeffrey Lee, president of Premier Bank in Denver, the number one SBA lender in Colorado in fiscal year 2000;

* Women in Business Advocate: Anna Brooks, president of Brooks Electric Inc. in Westminster.

* Minority Small Business Advocate: David Gonzales, executive director of the Denver Enterprise Center;

* Small Business Exporter: Jin Lee, president of Lee Enterprises Inc. of Littleton;

* Entrepreneurial Success: Steven Demos, president of White Wave Inc. in Boulder;

* SBA Young Entrepreneur: Ty. W. Foose, president of Monolithic Sculptures in Boulder. His company creates climbing walls for all REI retail stores;

* Veteran Small Business Advocate: Donald Park, vice president of Compass Bank in Thornton;

* Home-based Business Advocate: Randy Johnson, director of the Small Business Development Center in Aurora.

Wood and Co-publisher Jeff Nuttall have published The Northern Colorado Business Report since 1995, when the two veterans of The Denver Business Journal headed north to stake out Northern Colorado’s business news scene, along with partners from The Boulder County Business Report, a sister publication.

“This award, though it’s in my name, honors all of the hard work that’s gone into our newspaper and all of the great journalism that’s come out of it over the past 5 1/2 years,” Wood said.

In addition to publishing the newspaper, he and Nuttall launched the Bravo! Entrepreneur annual awards program that honors Northern Colorado’s business pioneers. That program is conducted in partnership with area chambers of commerce and economic-development agencies. In addition, the newspaper conducts the annual IQ Awards project that recognizes innovative businesses and services, and the annual Mercury 100 ceremony that marks the achievements of the region’s fastest-growing companies.

In addition, Wood and his staff launched The Wyoming Business Report last year, and will release the premier edition of Poudre Magazine, a regional recreation, entertainment and lifestyle publication, next month.

“Chris is a great choice,´ said Roland Mower, president of the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. “As a small-business owner himself, Chris’ advocacy for small business is evident in each and every issue of the Business Report. Northern Colorado is fortunate to have a journalist like Chris.”

Illinois native Wood is a 1988 graduate of the University of Colorado, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He joined the staff of The Boulder County Business Report as assistant editor before beginning a five-year stint at The Denver Business Journal, where he served as real estate reporter and managing editor.

He and Nuttall published the first edition of The Northern Colorado Business Report in October 1995. Since then, the newspaper has grown to serve 10,000 Northern Colorado subscribers, mostly owners or senior managers of businesses in the region.