Hall of Fame names 2013 class

Serial entrepreneurs in retail, natural products, travel and healthy living are among the prominent business leaders who will be inducted into the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame this year.

The Hall of Fame, which is located at the Plaza Conference Center in Longmont, will honor Linda Cain, Tom Chapman, Court Dixon, Scott Nix, Mark Retzloff and Jirka Rysavy. In addition, three members of the prominent Hover family of Longmont — Charles, Katherine and Beatrice – will be inducted posthumously at the induction luncheon, to be held Wednesday, April 24, at the conference center.

Cain is chief executive of The Cain Travel Group Inc. in Boulder, which employs 60 people and posted annual sales of $104 million in 2012.

Chapman is managing partner of First MainStreet Insurance Ltd. in Longmont, a full-service independent agency. The agency has grown from seven to 25 employees under Chapman’s leadership and has been a major contributor to many local charities.

Dixon was a longtime partner and owner of three businesses on the Hill in Boulder: Kinsley & Co., Kinsley Outfitters LLC and An Orvis Shop. Kinsley & Co. was a local, trendsetting haberdashery founded in 1949, providing men’s and women’s clothing. Dixon began working for Kinsley as a salesman and manager in 1982, eventually becoming sole proprietor. He founded Kinsley Outfitters to demonstrate and sell fly-fishing equipment. An Orvis Shop outfitted clients in casual and travel clothing and accessories.

Nix is owner and president of Nixcavating Inc., a Longmont-based excavating company that he launched in 1982. The company employs 20 to 25 people. Nix got his start at Bradford Construction, founded by his uncle, Jerry Bradford.

Retzloff is a co-founder and chairman of Alfalfa’s Market Inc., an iconic Boulder-based natural and organic grocer. He also co-founded Aurora Organic Dairy Corp. in 2003, and continues to serve on the company’s board of directors. He also co-founded Horizon Organic Dairy Inc. in the early 1990s and once served as chairman of Rudi’s Organic Bakery Inc.

Rysavy is founder and chairman of Louisville-based Gaiam Inc., a public company offering environmentally friendly, yoga and LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) products. Rysavy is a longtime Boulder County entrepreneur, founding such companies as the Crystal Market, which became the first Wild Oats Market when it was sold.

Charles and Katherine Hover moved to Colorado from Chicago in the early 1900s, eventually purchasing property on the west edge of Longmont. Charles Hover became a successful farmer and businessman. His wife, Katherine, founded the Hover Manor retirement community. Beatrice, adopted at age 9 by the Hovers, shepherded her mother’s vision for the retirement community, which continues to thrive.

Among the event’s sponsors are Best Western Plus Hotel and Plaza Conference Center in Longmont, Elevations Credit Union, the Millennium Harvest House hotel in Boulder, the Longmont Times-Call and Boulder Camera, Guaranty Bank and Wells Fargo Bank.

Hall of Fame tickets may be purchased for $55. Corporate tables and sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, visit www.halloffamebiz.com, or call event manager De Dahlgren at 970-232-3132.

Christopher Wood can be reached at 303-440-4950 or via email at [email protected].