Briefcase, March 4, 2016

CLOSINGS

Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) is shutting down its manufacturing facility in Weirton, W.Va., which employs about 300 people. The Broomfield-based metal-packaging company said the plant, which makes lithography and coating for flat sheet tinplate and can ends, will cease operations by the first quarter of 2017. Other Ball facilities will pick up the plant’s production.

Troubled Englewood-based sporting goods retailer Sports Authority is planning to close its S.A. Elite store at Boulder’s Twenty Ninth Street shopping district. The impending closure comes as the company gets set to shutter roughly 140 of its 463 stores nationwide, including its location in the iconic, 91-year-old Sports Castle at 1000 Broadway in downtown Denver. The status of Sports Authority’s other store in Boulder, as well as stores in Longmont, Fort Collins and Greeley, remain unknown, noting that the chain still is working through its evaluation of all sites and that a store in Greenwood Village is the only other Colorado location known to be closing at this time.

CONTRACTS

Greenwood Village-based GH Phipps Construction Cos., which has a branch office in Fort Collins, was awarded the job of helping set budgets for the Weld County RE-4 School District as it prepares to ask voters to approve a school construction bond package in November. The award also includes selecting Phipps to perform at least $20 million in major work at Windsor High School, if the bond package is passed by voters. The bond issue also would include work at numerous existing facilities, as well as construction of a new high school in the Severance area.

EARNINGS

Noodles & Co. (Nasdaq: NDLS) reported a loss of $13.8 million, or 48 cents per share, for its fiscal year that ended Dec. 31, the Broomfield-based company reported. The owner and franchiser of fast-casual restaurants featuring noodle dishes reported a loss of $4.3 million, or 15 cents per share, for its fourth quarter. Revenue for the quarter was $117.1 million and $455.5 million for the year, both increases compared with the same time periods a year ago.

Boulder-based pharmaceutical company Clovis Oncology (Nasdaq: CLVS) reported a 2015 net loss of $352.9 million, and also said the company is planning to submit a new-drug application for cancer drug rucaparib to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sometime during the second quarter of this year. Clovis’ loss amounted to $9.79 per share as the company works toward gaining FDA approval for a pair of its cancer drugs this year. Clovis, which had no revenue for 2015, reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $119.5 million, or $3.12 per share. The company finished the year with $528.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities. Research and development expenses for the fourth quarter totaled $76 million, and $269.3 million for the year, compared with $50.1 million and $137.7 million, respectively, for the fourth quarter and full year 2014.

PDC Energy (Nasdaq: PDCE), a significant producer of oil and natural gas in Northern Colorado’s Wattenberg Field, posted a net loss of $68.3 million for the full year of 2015. That amounted to $1.74 per diluted share, down from a profit of $155.4 million, or $4.24 per share in 2014. Despite oil prices continuing to lag in the $30 per barrel range and pummeling many companies’ bottom lines, Denver-based PDC reported net income of $3 million, or 7 cents per share, for the fourth quarter, down from $131.8 million, or $3.64 per share a year earlier. But that was well below the 45 cents per share forecast by analysts. Revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $168.6 million, down from $407.7 million a year earlier, while revenue for the year was at $595.3 million, down from $856.2 million for 2014. Overall production for 2015 increased by 65 percent. But production in the Wattenberg in the fourth quarter was up 91 percent over the previous year.

KUDOS

Former Fort Collins mayor Karen Weitkunat took home the top award Feb. 24 from the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce’s 111th annual dinner at The Hilton Fort Collins. Allison Hines, United Way of Larimer County’s vice president for resource development, received the chamber’s Young Professional of the Year award, and Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance chairman Steve Tool was named 2015 Volunteer of the Year.

Hospitals in Greeley and Lafayette were included on Denver-based Healthgrades’ list of America’s 100 Best Hospitals. Banner Health’s North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley earned distinction on Healthgrades’ top 50 list, which recognizes the top 1 percent of hospitals nationwide “for providing overall clinical excellence across a broad spectrum of conditions and procedures consistently for at least six consecutive years.” SCL Health’s Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, meanwhile, made the top 100 list honoring the top 2 percent of hospitals.

Colorado State University’s College of Business was ranked among the nation’s top business schools for veterans, according to a survey by Military Times. The college ranks 29th, highest among Colorado schools, among the 180 schools that responded to the Military Times survey. The University of Nebraska-Omaha’s business school topped the list. The business schools at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Metropolitan State University in Denver placed 37th and 45th, respectively. CSU’s business school also ranked 44th in the nation for best online Masters in Business Administration programs for veterans in a survey conducted by U.S. News and World Report. CU-Colorado Springs was tied for 35th on that list.

Fort Collins-based Employment Solutions won Inaverno’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and job seekers. Presented in partnership with CareerBuilder, Inavero’s Best of Staffing winners are industry leaders in service quality based completely on ratings given to them by their clients and the permanent and temporary employees they’ve helped find jobs.

The Loveland Chamber of Commerce Marketing Resource Committee selected the winners of the 2016 Loveland Valentine Business Decorating Contest. Hillcrest of Loveland won in the Large Business category while Dog Baths and Beyond took first in the Small Business category. The winner from the School category was Van Buren Elementary. This year, there were an additional 10 winners for creativity and sheer enthusiasm. “B” Sweet Cupcake Shop won the Sweetheart Award, First National Bank took home the Shining Light Award, Aims Community College won the Studious Heart Award, Cactus Grille won the Wicked Heart Award, Chili’s won the Flamin’ Heart Award, Cloz to Home won the Heart of Hearts Award, Country Financial got the Bloomin’ Heart Award, DS Constructors LLC took home the Fragile Heart Award, Dunkin’ Donuts won the Most Creative Award and LOCO Artisan Coffee House won the Cherry on Top Award.

Greenhouse Partners, a Boulder-based brand-strategy and communications firm, received several awards for its work on “Beauty is a Beast,” the first advertising campaign from The18.com. In addition, the agency also was a finalist for the Denver Business Journal’s annual Partners in Philanthropy awards.

The League of American Bicyclists again recognized Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing as a platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Business, the highest honor awarded.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

New Jersey-based PSEG Solar Source (NYSE: PEG) acquired the 36-megawatt solar power facility being built 25 miles north of Fort Collins for Platte River Power Authority. PSEG bought the project from Boulder-based juwi Inc., representing what PSEG officials termed in a press release “an investment of over $54 million.” Juwi, which developed the project, continues to serve as engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project. PRPA, meanwhile, retains its 25-year power purchase agreement to buy all power generated from the site. Originally dubbed Rawhide Flats Solar, PSEG renamed the project the PSEG Larimer Solar Energy Center. The project, being built on 290 acres leased from PRPA, is slated to come online by the end of the year. When complete, the project’s 117,000 solar panels will provide enough electricity to power about 7,800 homes.

Bulgarian pharmaceutical company Huvepharma closed on the acquisition of a Zoetis facility in Longmont that makes animal-health products for livestock, including poultry, swine and cattle. Huvepharma, which has its U.S. headquarters in Peachtree City, Ga., took over operations of the Longmont facility and ownership of the products made there. All 16 Zoetis employees in Longmont became Huvepharma employees.

MOVES

Prepping for growth that is to be fueled in part by a recent investment from Intel, Boulder-based laser manufacturer KMLabs sold its building and is planning a June move to a larger location. The 20,000-square-foot space the company will lease at 4775 Walnut St. will give the 30-person company room to add another 20 or 30 employees as it ramps up over the next two years. KMLabs closed on the $4.55 million sale of its building at 1855 S. 57th Court to Boulder from Element Properties, which is planning roughly $2 million in renovations and upgrades to attract new office users. KMLabs’ current two-story building is about 31,000 square feet. But the company uses only about half of that and leases out the rest to other companies.

OPENINGS

Kriser’s Natural Pet, a chain of stores selling all-natural pet-food, supplies and grooming services, will open its 34th store at 3531 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins. The chain was founded in 2006 by Brad Kriser in Chicago, and now is headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif.

Steve Hughes, founder of Boulder Brands and chairman and chief executive of the company until last year, partnered with a New York private equity firm to launch a new investment firm geared primarily toward the natural-foods sector. Sunrise Strategic Partners LLC will be based in Boulder and run by Hughes and former Citigroup investment banker Vince Love. The local pair will lead the charge in finding investments and creating relationships with companies, while Trilantic North America will provide the capital.

The search took awhile, but the owners of Denver-based Prost Brewing believe they’ve finally found a prime spot to open up a Fort Collins taproom. Co-owner Troy Johnston and his partners are aiming to open by the end of March at 321 Firehouse Alley. The 3,500-square-foot space on the back side of the Illegal Pete’s restaurant at 320 Walnut St. is just steps away from where Bohemian Cos., Sage Hospitality and McWhinney are teaming up to build a 162-room boutique hotel in the city’s Old Town district. Prost, founded in 2012, won’t brew at the Fort Collins site. Johnston said Prost just added new tanks at its Denver brewery, 2540 19th St., that will increase capacity there significantly. After brewing about 6,500 barrels of beer in 2015, Prost is aiming to brew “right around 10,000” this year.

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