6 selected for Boulder County Business Hall of Fame

LONGMONT – Peter D. Behrendt, Joan Brett, John Fenstermaker, Edwin Kanemoto, David M. Wyatt and the late Harlow C. Platts will be inducted into the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame in May.

The six inductees for the class of 2008 will be honored at the hall of fame’s 16th annual induction luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, May 1, at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in Longmont.

The Boulder County Business Hall of Fame, established in 1992 to recognize and honor businesswomen and men who personify “business at its best.” More than 110 people have been inducted in to the hall.

Peter D. Behrendt

Behrendt joined Exabyte in 1987 after spending 26 years with IBM. With Behrendt at the helm, Exabyte became a leading designer and manufacturer of computer tape drives and libraries and contributed tens of millions of dollars in value creation to Boulder County through its successful IPO in 1989. He supported the following: CU Artists Series, Colorado Music Festival, Boulder Youth Symphony, Emergency Family Assistance, CU, the Boulder Humane Society and others. He has served on the boards of the Boulder Chamber, CU Business School Advisory Council and the Boulder Economic Council to name a few. Today he is chairman of ProStor Systems.

Joan Brett

Brett founded the Culinary School of the Rockies from an idea when she was a practicing attorney. The school is now a world-class institution that brings people to Boulder County from all over the United States. It has rained thousands of students in home cooking, as chefs and in corporate kitchen programs.

John Fenstermaker

Fenstermaker, described as a “world class business executive,” joined IBM out of the University of North Dakota and held various engineering and engineering management assignments at IBM and Staodyn Inc. He served, and in some cases continues to serve, as leader on the board of the Longmont Chamber of Commerce, the Longmont Industrial Park Board, Boulder County Technology Incubator, Boulder County United Way Board, St. Vrain Historical Society Board, Longmont Community Fund and Front Range Community College.

Edwin Kasnemoto

Kanemoto has been vice president and co-owner of Longmont’s largest real estate company, Prudential Rocky Mountain Realtors, since 1977. He has been one of the leading commercial real estate brokers, and is a quiet business giant with strong goal-oriented planning and knows how to generate enthusiasm and energy into any endeavor in which he participates. He served, and in some cases continues to serve, on many business and nonprofit boards of directors including: Longmont Board of Realtors, Board of the Colorado Association of Realtors, regional banks, County and Longmont YMCAs, Longmont Industrial Park, Longmont Area Economic Council, Longmont Chamber of Commerce, Longmont United Hospital and Hospital Foundation Board.

David M. Wyatt

Wyatt is president and owner of Wyatt Construction Co, which he formed in 1970. His community involvement includes supporter of organizations such as the Boulder Valley Humane Society, University of Colorado, Boulder Economic Council, Boulder Chamber of Commerce, United Way, Boys Scouts of America and many others. He has also served in organizations including the Thistle Community Housing, Boulder Community Hospital and the YMCA.

Harlow C. Platts

Platts, who died in 1983 at the age of 90, moved to Boulder in his early teens and graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in engineering. During World War I, he served in France. In 1919 he entered the family business, Western States Cutlery, one of Boulder’s oldest manufacturers of sheath and pocket knives and axes and known internationally for their quality. When his father retired, he and his brother Reginald managed the business for several decades. He was active in Rotary and the Elks and served on the Boulder Planning Board from 1930 to 1960. The park at Viele Lake was named after him for his service on city boards.

Event sponsors

The Boulder County Business Hall of Fame’s presenting sponsor is the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center through the Susan M. Pratt Foundation.

Platinum sponsors are Millennium Harvest House Hotel, Heritage Bank, Boulder County Business Report, Daily Times-Call, Brock and Company CPAs, P.C., J & S Audio Visual Inc.

Gold sponsors are Amgen Inc., Aweida Venture Partners, FlatIrons Bank.

Silver sponsors are First MainStreet Insurance, Boulder Community Hospital, Tebo Development, LJD Enterprises, Longmont Power and Communications, Longmont United Hospital, W.W. Reynolds Companies, Ron’s Printing, Wells Fargo.

Bronze sponsors include Ahlberg Funeral Chapel, Boulder Trophy, CHE Sportswear, Sun Construction & Design Services, Inc., city of Boulder, Guaranty Bank/ Centennial Bank of the West, Freeman Myre, Prudential Rocky Mountain Realtors, Edward Jones/Steven Higgins, Roche Colorado Corporation, Twenty Ninth Street, US Bank. 

Reservations

Tickets this year’s Boulder County Business Hall of Fame luncheon are $50 per person and $500 for a corporate table.

To make reservations or purchase a table, go to www.blacktie-colorado.com/rsvp then enter event code: BCBHOFFINDUCTEE to complete your reservations.

If you don’t have access to a computer, contact Fred Kreider at 303-229-3582.