Briefcase – Oct. 16, 2015

BRIEFS

The Loveland Chamber of Commerce announced its 2015-2016 Leadership Loveland class, a program designed to develop emerging leaders. The participants include Darren Boyle, Dave Davis, Liz Hogan, A.J. Steele and Brian Weirich of University of Colorado Health; Collin Eisenhart of Home State Bank; Kelly Evans of Neighbor 2 Neighbor; Jamie Frost of Guaranty Bank; Vincent Gentry of Lamp Rynearson and Associates; Carly Miller of Rabo AgriFinance; Justin Perdue of the city of Loveland; Heidi Phelps of the city of Fort Collins; Sarah Rice of Kaiser Permanente; Patty Roehrs of the Weedin Agency; Susie Stokes of Bank of Colorado; and Mariah Swaffer of Platte River Power Authority.

CLOSINGS

Camacho’s Mexican Restaurant closed after 14 years at 3750 Cleveland Ave. in Wellington. Its location in Eaton remains open.

The Laboratory, a 17-month-old restaurant at 1801 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins that specialized in gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, closed on Oct. 11.

CONTRACTS

Weld County contracted with Englewood-based Interstate Highway Construction for the Weld County Road 49 Corridor design-build Project. This contracted price is not to exceed $109,589,267.51.

The city and county of Denver purchased PowerTap 2000 portable power units from Boulder-based Boulder Power Technologies to power public-address systems, lighting, other electronics and more at public events.

DEADLINES

The Loveland Chamber of Commerce is accepting design and verse entries through Nov. 6 for the 2016 official Loveland Valentine card and cachet, and the Loveland Post Office  also has issued its public call for valentine postal cancellation designs. Winning card and verse entries will be used to create the official 2016 Loveland Valentine, which is sold throughout northern Colorado. Winning cachet designs and verse entries will be compiled and stamped on all outgoing valentines produced through the 70th annual Valentine Remailing Program, which kicks off in February. Winners of the card and cachet contests are awarded cash prizes and become part of Loveland’s history. Specifications for the annual card and cachet contest are available at the chamber, the Visitor Center and on the chamber’s website at Loveland.org. For more information about the cancellation, call Cindy Kinney at 970-663-3010.

Friday, Oct. 16, is the deadline in Estes Park to apply to be a member of the board of directors of the new Estes Arts District. A job description for the one-year term and an application are online at estesartsdistrict.org, and applications can be emailed to info@estesartsdistrict.org. Applications also can be picked up and dropped off at Cultural Art Center of Estes Park, 423 W. Elkhorn Ave., Unit A,, Greg Miles’ Studio Fine Art & Framing, 541 Big Thompson Ave., Suite G, or the Estes Park Library, 335 E. Elkhorn Ave.

Nominations will be accepted until Nov. 2 for Fort Collins-based Rosabella Consulting LLC’s 2015 E+ Awards, which honor unsung heroes who are taking a risk, challenging the status quo and creating something of value. Nomination categories include youths younger than 21, local and regional (all ages in Northern Colorado), and national and international (all ages beyond Colorado). Nominations can be made online at EntrepreNerds.biz. One recipient will be selected for each category. Award recipients will be selected by students at Fort Collins High School and announced on Jan. 1.

EARNINGS

Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) quadrupled profits for its 2015 fiscal year that ended July 31, with further increases projected for 2016. The Broomfield-based owner of several ski resorts, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone, posted net income of $114.8 million, or $3.07 per share, despite a fourth-quarter net loss of $70.1 million. The profit for the year was up from $28.5 million, or 77 cents per share, for the prior year. Revenue climbed 11.6 percent to $1.4 billion. The company issued guidance, meanwhile, for its 2016 fiscal year of net income of between $118 million and $144 million.

KUDOS

For the third straight year, Longmont-based Left Hand Brewing took home three medals – a gold and two bronzes – from the Great American Beer Festival, one of four breweries to do so this year. Loveland-based Grimm Brothers also took home multiple medals, winning a silver and a bronze. The GABF this year featured 6,647 competition entries, about 20 percent more than a year ago, from 1,552 breweries. The competition featured 92 categories. Other breweries from the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado that won medals include: golds for Wiley Roots Brewing Co. and Fort Collins Brewery and Tavern of Fort Collins; silvers for WeldWerks Brewing Co. of Greeley, Avery Brewing Co. of Boulder and Bootstrap Brewing Co. of Niwot; and bronzes for Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co. and Odd 13 Brewing of Lafayette, Black Bottle Brewery of Fort Collins, City Star Brewing of Berthoud and Fate Brewing Co. of Boulder.

Fort Collins-based Pathways Hospice reached Level IV status within the “We Honor Veterans” program, which was launched by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Neenan Co., a design-build firm based in Fort Collins, was awarded the 2015 Urban Design Award for Sustainable Design by the city of Fort Collins for its work on Colorado State University’s Powerhouse Energy Campus.

Scott Tally, who has been a New York Life Insurance Co. agent since 2008 and is associated with the Fort Collins sales and Colorado General offices, was named a member of the company’s 2015 President’s Council.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Maitland, Fla.-based Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery, which owns a network of more than 120 dermatology clinics around the nation, acquired Dermatology of Northern Colorado, 3726 S. Timberline Road in Fort Collins. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. ADCS is a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, which has offices in Menlo Park, Calif., and Boston. It owns several practices in Colorado, including Fort Collins Skin Clinic, which has offices in Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.

RV America Inc., which has the largest indoor recreational-vehicle showroom in Johnstown, is set to be acquired by Florida-based Lazydays, the world’s largest RV dealership. Included in the deal are Colorado-based RV America’s Johnstown and Aurora locations, as well as its Discount RV Corner site at the junction of Interstate 25 and Highway 119 in Longmont. The Johnstown location is just off I-25 at 4777 Marketplace Drive. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Several changes are in the works for AM radio stations in Longmont and Loveland that had been beaming satellite-fed Roman Catholic-oriented programming to Front Range listeners. The programming, which originates with Excelsior Springs, Mo.-based Catholic Radio Network, had been heard since 2008 on 7,000-watt KPIO-AM 1570 in Loveland but was switched to the 50,000-watt signal of KRCN-AM 1060 in Longmont on Jan. 1. The Loveland signal has gone silent. CRN, an affiliate of the Eternal Word Television Network, has been leasing KRCN’s facilities from its owner, Indianapolis-based Pilgrim Communications Inc., with an option to purchase it. That purchase likely will be completed by late this year or early 2016. CRN has launched a capital campaign to raise funds for the KRCN project, including $1.1 million to buy the station from Pilgrim and $750,000 to operate it for three years. Meanwhile, the Loveland station changed call letters from KPIO to KKCL on July 1, and early this month was sold by Loveland Radio Partners LLC for $80,000 to Kona Coast Radio LLC, according to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission. According to the Colorado Secretary of State’s database, Kona Coast is owned and managed by Victor Michael of Loveland, whose history of radio ownership spans more than 25 years and includes stations in Colorado, Wyoming and Hawaii.

Jody and Emily Rouse of Berthoud, owners and operators of Main Street Car Wash, 2025 N. Main St. in Longmont since 1998, sold the business to the owners of Breeze Thru Car Wash for $1.4 million. The Rouses sold the 3,443-square-foot car wash through their company, EMR Holdings LLC, to John Agnew of Fort Collins, who used the entity BTLMS LLC. Agnew’s family business owns Breeze Thru locations at 1213 Ken Pratt Blvd. in Longmont; 1171 E. Mulberry St. in Fort Collins, 3417 W. 28th St. in Greeley and 2106 Dell Range Blvd. in Cheyenne, Wyo. Agnew opened the automated Breeze Thru Car Wash in Longmont in 2013.

Investor Group, led by Ed Shirley, acquired the majority of assets of Blue Moose of Boulder, a maker of natural hummus and refrigerated spreads that is based in Lafayette. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Shirley, former chief executive of Bacardi and former vice chairman of Procter and Gamble, will serve as chairman of the new Blue Moose of Boulder LLC.

Seagate Technology plc (Nasdaq: STX) completed its $696 million acquisition of Longmont-based storage-technology company Dot Hill Systems Corp. Dot Hill, which employs about 250 people at its 1351 S. Sunset St., headquarters, becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Cupertino, Calif.-based Seagate, and will no longer be publicly traded. Dot Hill had traded on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol HILL. Seagate paid $9.75 per share, or about $696 million. Dot Hill had $49 million in cash on its June 30 balance sheet, giving the deal an enterprise value of about $647 million. Seagate employs roughly 1,300 people in Longmont at its 389 Disc Drive campus.

Minneapolis-based Mocon Inc. merged Lyons-based subsidiary Baseline-Mocon into the parent company. Baseline-Mocon now becomes the Baseline business division of Mocon. The company employs 25 people at 19661 Colorado Highway 36 in Lyons. Baseline-Mocon largely provides sensors for the oil and gas industry.

MOVES

Digital-marketing agency Room 214 Inc.’s owners say they are here to stay in Boulder, having recently acquired and renovated a building in the city. Company co-founders James Clark and Jason Cormier, through Room 214’s holding company, Westfall LLC, purchased a two-story, 9,616-square-foot building at 3340 Mitchell Lane from Coggan Properties LLC for $1.6 million in April, according to public records. The building had been home to film company 42 Productions for eight years before it moved within Boulder earlier this year. Room 214 employed Boulder-based Studio Architecture to design the interior space and John Crittendon’s Apex Builders Inc. of Boulder to construct the changes. Room 214’s staff of about 25 workers completed its move-in on Sept. 15. Room 214, founded in 2004, had been leasing space at 3390 Valmont Road.

Gold Star Group moved its Loveland real estate office from 3701 N. Grant Ave. to 140 E. Fourth St. on Sept. 28.

Avior Control Technologies in Longmont will move from 1198 Boston Ave. to a larger space at 2000 Pike Road.

OPENINGS

Inkpad became the latest to join Fort Collins’ coworking scene when it opened in 2,000 square feet on the second floor of 236 Linden St. – a couple of doors down from Galvanize, which opened a local campus just last month at 242 Linden. Inkpad includes 24 desks, with members reserving space for $350 per month. Unlike some coworking models that include drop-in time or flex-desk situation, Inkpad is offering only dedicated desks where entrepreneurs can set up and use as their own as long as they’re members.

Elaine Ryan and Debra Davis opened NoCo in a Box, to provide thank-you gift boxes for realtors to present to buyers as well as corporate gift giving, gifts for college students, birthdays or just a “hello from Colorado.”

Maryland-based Credit Plus Inc., a provider of credit-information services to the mortgage industry, leased space in the Rangeview Office Campus at Centerra in Loveland, the company’s third office in the United States. Michael Crockett, an executive vice president with Credit Plus, will head the office and plans to hire additional employees before the end of 2015.

One week after Longmont-based Oskar Blues Brewery announced plans for a new brewery and taproom in Austin, Texas, its officials announced they’re opening a second CHUBurger restaurant. The new location is a 3,700-square-foot facility at 3490 Larimer St. in Denver, which is slated to open by early next year. Oskar Blues’ original CHUBurger – known for its unique list of burgers and sandwiches – is in Longmont. The company also opened a CHUBurger last year on the rooftop deck of Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies.

Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) opened a plant in northwestern India that will manufacture aluminum aerosol cans. The Broomfield-based opened the plant near Ahmedabad, the sixth-largest city in India with a population of 5.5 million. The plant initially employs 60 people and has a capacity to produce 50 million cans a year, the company said. Once fully operational in five to 10 years, Ball said, the plant could have a capacity of 300 million cans a year and employ nearly 250 people.

Fort Collins-based Bank of Colorado broke ground for its second branch in Greeley at 7017 10th St. The two-story, 11,820-square-foot bank building with drive-through lanes on 1.3 acres will be in a retail center that fronts the former Hewlett-Packard building. The bank will be housed on the first floor with tenant office space offered on the second floor. The branch will have 47 parking spaces, seven more than required by the city based on the building’s square footage.

The Human Bean will station a coffee truck at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, on the southwest side of Moby Arena at Shields and Elizabeth streets.

-Colorado-themed apparel store Colorado Limited will open on Oct. 29 at 1428 Pearl St. in Boulder.

Lady Luxe & Spa and specialty food boutique Condiment Queen opened at 325 and 329 N. Cleveland Ave., respectively, in the historic Loveland Opera House building, and antique and home-décor door Splurge reopened in the building at 136 E. Fourth St.

Lovif Bakery opened Oct. 9 at 1939 Jessup Drive, Suite 110, off Timberline Road between Prospect and Drake roads, in Fort Collins.

PRODUCT UPDATE

Boulder-based TapInfluence announced the launch of TapFusion, an influencer-marketing automation platform providing brands and the agencies that serve them the power to automate the process of identifying, distributing, and measuring high-value influencer marketing campaigns through a single software platform.

Loveland-based Kent Systems, a designer and manufacturer of plastic components, expanded its product line to include a 250-mL media bag. The Mini Media Bag provides a smaller size for for companies looking to transport a huge variety of chemical mixes.

Longmont-based Airius, a manufacturer of energy-efficient destratification fans, introduced a  Narrow Aisle fan, designed to circulate air in tightly spaced cold aisles and other narrow spaces in grocery stores.

Boulder-based Wana Brands, a producer of cannabis-infused products, partnered with Eaton-based commercial hemp company Colorado Cultivars to produce WanaCaps extended-release capsules.

Loveland-based free-software and open-source hardware company Aleph Objects Inc. released the LulzBot v2 Hot Ends – currently used on the company’s LulzBot desktop 3-D printers – as separate products for RepRap and DIY 3-D printers. They are available in three nozzle diameters.

SERVICES

Longmont United Hospital now offers patient-requested lab services through the hospital website at luhcares.org. Patients can go online, choose the tests they want performed, complete the online form and click print. The patient can review the confirmation email with instructions and take the requisition to the Outpatient Service center.

U-Haul Co. of Colorado has signed Dacono U-Pump-It, 600 Glen Creighton Drive in Dacono, as a U-Haul neighborhood dealer. It will offer U-Haul trucks, truck sales, trailers, towing equipment, support rental items and in-store pick-up for boxes.

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