September 19, 2011

Milestones Icon: Bal Swan

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Business savvy, connections to prominent politicians and a spirit of generosity helped Bal Swan start Broomfield on its rise from a small farming settlement to a thriving modern community.

Swan, born Jan. 31, 1899 in Wayne, Nebraska, was president of Empire Savings and Loan and one of the businessmen who started Broomfield Heights, the residential development that would become the nucleus of Broomfield.

The community was the brainchild of Swan and the Turnpike Land Co. Together, they decided to turn land that had once been owned by the prominent Zang family into a community of 20,000.

The development, eventually named Broomfield Heights, would…

Christopher Wood
Christopher Wood is editor and publisher of BizWest, a regional business journal covering Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties. Wood co-founded the Northern Colorado Business Report in 1995 and served as publisher of the Boulder County Business Report until the two publications were merged to form BizWest in 2014. From 1990 to 1995, Wood served as reporter and managing editor of the Denver Business Journal. He is a Marine Corps veteran and a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder. He has won numerous awards from the Colorado Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and the Alliance of Area Business Publishers.
Categories: BizWest Publications Milestones Boulder County Business Hall of Fame
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