Entrepreneurs deserve another ovation

While the Great Recession meant an economic slowdown for a time, you can only hold back the entrepreneurial spirit for so long. In the end, hard work, ingenuity and effective marketing once more proved to be the recipe for prosperity. And now that 2013 is off to a great start, so is the Bravo! Entrepreneur Awards program!

Our 2013 winners are leaders in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, restaurants, technology, marketing, the arts, automotive and a nonprofit organization — another great slice of the Northern Colorado market.

The UNC Monfort College of Business continues to grow and promote entrepreneurship with its Entrepreneurial Challenge. Now in its fourth year, this program is paying out more than $50,000 in prize money to the first, second- and third-place winners. I want to thank Dr. David Thomas for his continued leadership in this effort, as well as for spearheading the student judging for the Bravo! Emerging Entrepreneur Award.

My sincerest thanks also goes out to our title sponsors: the Monfort College of Business and its E-challenge program, Otterbox, Palmer Florists, EKS&H and Home State Bank. On behalf of the members of the Bravo! Steering Committee – Upstate Colorado, the Northern Colorado Economic and Development Corp., the Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland Chambers of Commerce and the Northern Colorado Business Report team — we thank you!

Additional sponsors that I want to recognize are the Social Media Pilots, DaVinci Sign Systems and our media sponsor, KUNC.

Lastly, I want to thank the entire Northern Colorado Business Report staff and especially our De Dahlgren for their help in producing this event, and Gregg Moss for assisting with the Monfort College of Business e-Challenge program.

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