May 19, 2010

How NCBR helped create both company and family

On one hand 15 years is a long time, and on the other, it is the blink of an eye.

Fifteen years ago, I was living in Boulder County with a remarkable husband, a one-year-old son, and pregnant with our daughter. Chris and I had worked hard with our partners Jeff and Kathy Nuttall to launch a comprehensive business media company that would chronicle the explosive growth and ups-and-downs of Northern Colorado.

In that very first issue of the Northern Colorado Business Report, I was writing about a 75-room Hampton Inn being planned for what is now a jam-packed Harmony corridor in Fort Collins. The University Mall on South College Avenue was about to get a facelift and new tenants. And Carrabba’s Italian Grill was poised to open near the new Courtyard by Marriott on the Harmony corridor.

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The outlet mall in Loveland was continuing to attract new tenants. And Group Publishing was planning a 70,000-square-foot facility in west Loveland. A health and tennis club called Miramont Sports Center was beginning to take shape in south Fort Collins.

Long-ignored towns such as Severance, Johnstown, Milliken, Platteville, Fort Lupton and even our Eaton were seeing skyrocketing building permits as developers flocked to plot new subdivisions and accommodate population growth.

Businesses like Starpak Inc. in Greeley and Eastman Kodak Co. in Windsor were bemoaning a labor shortage. At Starpak, officials worried about both the quality and quantity of applicants. And human resource officials at Kodak were struggling to fill entry-level positions. How times change.

Elsewhere, Fleetside Pub and Brewing had recently opened in downtown Greeley. I remember going there for my 30th birthday, and being disappointed a few years later when it closed.

As I glance through the bylines, stories and employee roster, I am pulled back to those times. We were young, perhaps foolish to jump into a market where three other business publications were launching simultaneously. But we also had utter confidence in our product and believed the Northern Colorado market would recognize a solid, news-driven publication.

Taking the plunge

As for that first staff, there were six besides Chris, Jeff and myself. I remember admiring the plunge they chose to take with us. And I am proud that many of us stay in touch, even if these days that means on Facebook or occasionally running into one another at a business event.

There was Mark Bradley, one of our first sales staff, who went on to a career in commercial real estate and Joe Mivshek who we had worked with at the Denver Business Journal. Dana Coffield was our first staff writer. I had known her for years as we often ended up reporting for the same news organizations. After a few years with us, she continued her career at the Denver Post.

Veteran graphic artists Deanna Estes and David Badders rounded out the first production department. Deanna still designs in Northern Colorado, and David in the Northwest. And occasionally I still see our first office manager, Jo Ann Drago.

The staff of the Northern Colorado Business Report always has been remarkable. Over the years, I spent time in our editorial, research and sales departments. I cherished every individual with whom I got to work, from those departments to our event and administrative staff, the production and IT departments. Some have been there for years now. We became a broader family, watching one another raise families, horses and dogs, and sharing joys and tragedies alike.

Over the years we have developed deep friendships in the business community and have come to appreciate and respect the incredibly hard work that goes into building and sustaining a successful business.

I can only guess at what the next five, 10 or 15 years will bring to the Northern Colorado Business Report and the amazing region in which we all live.

I do know that here, 15 years later, I am living in Weld County and still have a remarkable husband. I have two amazing children – now in high school and middle school – who have had the utter privilege of being raised and educated in a region that is unparalled. And I am grateful to all of those who helped and supported us along the way, welcoming us and our business to Northern Colorado.

It indeed has been quite the blink of an eye.

Carol Wood is a co-founder of the Northern Colorado Business Report.

On one hand 15 years is a long time, and on the other, it is the blink of an eye.

Fifteen years ago, I was living in Boulder County with a remarkable husband, a one-year-old son, and pregnant with our daughter. Chris and I had worked hard with our partners Jeff and Kathy Nuttall to launch a comprehensive business media company that would chronicle the explosive growth and ups-and-downs of Northern Colorado.

In that very first issue of the Northern Colorado Business Report, I was writing about a 75-room Hampton Inn being planned for what is now a jam-packed Harmony…

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