OtterBox expanding its hangar near FoCo-Loveland airport

Fort Collins-based technology case manufacturer OtterBox is expanding its hangar in the Centerpoint Business Park, adjacent to the Fort Collins-Loveland airport.

Construction has begun on the project, which has an entrance that connects to the airport, but is not part of the airport itself.

The project is likely to be finished this winter, according to airport officials.

Specifics were not available as the Eye went to bed, but the expansion comes as no surprise, considering OtterBox itself is bursting at the seams, filling its buildings with employees and bringing in more revenue than ever before.

Interest in Loveland plant?

The old Agilent Technologies campus in Loveland could see some long-awaited activity if plans for two new companies come to fruition.

Two large companies are discussing moves to Kentucky-based Cumberland & Western Resources’ Rocky Mountain Center for Innovation and Technology, according to Northern Colorado economic development officials.

After visiting the campus in April, several smaller companies also remain interested in the property, said Betsey Hale, Loveland’s economic development director. Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. representatives have done most of the negotiating.

“They’ve been talking about leasing and rates and timing and those kinds of things,” Hale said.

Other than that, however, officials either don’t know details on the negotiations, or they won’t comment.

They nonetheless are abuzz about the prospect, with EDC CEO Walt Elish recently remarking on the efforts at a Northern Colorado Commercial Association of Realtors breakfast.

Elish declined to comment further to the Eye, saying that the organization’s dealings were confidential.

In any case, two large companies along with multiple smaller ones would fit Cumberland & Western’s vision for the property. The developer is seeking a handful of anchor tenants backed by a network of suppliers and multiple mid-sized companies.

Cumberland & Western paid the city of Loveland $5 million in cash for the property in December. The Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology withdrew its Aerospace and Clean Energy initiative from the Loveland site in March, saying its vision for the park wasn’t meshing with the developers’.

How would Horak vote?

As six Fort Collins city councilors cast a split vote on an oil and gas moratorium earlier this month, their seventh colleague was on a business trip in Florida.

The June 5 meeting marked the second time that Councilman Gerry Horak had missed a vote on the hot-button issue.

Horak, vice president of CSS-Dynamac, a science and technology company, also missed the first reading vote of the ordinance. It passed unanimously, 6-0.

This time, the motion to pass an eight-month drilling ban within city limits failed on a 3-3 vote.

How might Horak have voted? The Eye may never know.

“I can’t tell you; I wasn’t there,” he said. “I didn’t hear all the comments. I don’t say how I’m going to vote until I hear the entire argument and make that decision that night.”

Given the rising tide of opposition and, in some cases, rancor surrounding oil drilling, Horak may yet still have the chance to vote on the issue.

Abound Solar loan drawdown remains unchanged

If there’s any good news to report about Abound Solar, it’s that taxpayers so far haven’t incurred any more debt, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Loveland company has not relied on any additional money from a $400 million federal government loan guarantee to expand solar production. The total amount drawn down on the loan by Abound remains $70 million – same as it was early this year, the energy department said.

Here’s more good news: the energy department said Abound had raised $260 million in private equity financing as of December.

In February, Abound announced that it temporarily would slash 180 jobs and lay off another 100 temporary workers. It also put off opening a new factory in Indiana and stopped making its first-generation thin-film photovoltaic modules.

Despite the fallout, the energy department remains committed to supporting solar companies.

“While the challenges facing solar manufacturers working to compete in a competitive global market have been widely reported, we continue to believe that supporting innovative companies is important to ensuring our nation has the ability to compete for the clean energy jobs of tomorrow,” energy department spokesman Bill Gibbons said. “Abound is an innovative domestic start-up company with a history of bipartisan support.”

Abound Chief Financial Officer Steve Abely declined to comment.

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