Briefcase – February 2017

BRIEFS

Lafayette is one of 11 communities nationwide that will receive services from a SolSmart adviser to address barriers to solar energy and foster the growth of local solar markets. SolSmart is a new national designation program, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative through the Solar Powering America by Recognizing Communities initiative.

An Anadarko Petroleum Corp. oil well spewed 28,000 gallons of oil, gas and drilling fluids onto surrounding property when it blew out of control for two days beginning Jan. 23. The well, located near Hudson, blew out of control as a crew was in the final stages of bringing it into production. Workers eventually diverted the flow into temporary tanks.

CLOSING

The Blue Parrot, the iconic Italian restaurant at 640 Main St. in Louisville that first opened 98 years ago, closed Jan. 31. The restaurant has suffered from financial difficulties for years.

CONTRACTS

UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UQM) entered an agreement with Michigan-based Meritor Inc. to develop electric axle systems for commercial vehicles. Meritor’s mechanical drivetrain components will be combined with Longmont-based UQM’s electric motor, controls and software. The development program is expected to last for 2½ years, and the companies anticipate that prototypes will be ready by early fall. UQM also received a follow-on order from Proterra for PowerPhase HD electric drive systems, to be manufactured and shipped throughout 2017. Proterra has fleets active in numerous cities throughout the nation.

WomanCare, a Fort Collins-based midwife practice, acquired privileges to deliver all its patients’ babies at Banner Fort Collins Medical Center. WomanCare, headed by nurse/midwife Dian Sparling, had been partnering with Poudre Valley Hospital, across the street from WomanCare’s office at 1260 Doctors Lane in Fort Collins. WomanCare is looking for a new office on the south end of town, closer to the hospital at 4700 Lady Moon Drive.

Ball Aerospace and the University of Colorado Boulder signed a five-year agreement that will help students and faculty to work with Ball Aerospace to carry out sponsored research and contribute to Ball’s talent pipeline and partner on projects. The Master University Research Agreement will apply to a variety of activities, including government-sponsored research and development work, Ball-funded work, consulting services and student design projects. Ball Aerospace in Boulder is a subsidiary of Broomfield-based Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL).

Flatiron Constructors will build a 2.4-mile bridge on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The Broomfield-based company was awarded a $145.3 million design-build contract from the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The bridge will be at Rodanthe on Hatteras Island.

Longmont-based pattern recognition software company Parascript LLC partnered with IMDS, which offers software and hardware solutions for data capture. IMDS plans to integrate Parascript products into its capture offering in order to provide additional capability and value.

Longmont-based Studio Six, a boutique agency specializing in community and transit branding, was retained in July to provide branding and strategic marketing for the town of Winter Park’s transit system, The Lift.

EARNINGS

Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: AEIS) reported a profit of $116.9 million, or $2.92 per share, for its fiscal year 2016 that ended Dec. 31, an increase compared with $83.5 million, or $2.03 per share, in 2015. The Fort Collins-based maker of power and control products used in semiconductors, flat-panel displays and other electronics reported revenue of $483.7 million for the year, compared with $414.8 million in 2015. The company’s fourth-quarter results were up compared with the previous year’s quarter. Revenue was $135.3 million compared with $126.6 million in the third quarter of 2016 and $86.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Profit was $40.4 million, or $1.01 per share, in the fourth quarter compared with $29 million, or 73 cents per share, in the third quarter, and $11.5 million, or 28 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2015. The company ended the quarter with $286.7 million in cash and marketable securities.

Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL), a can manufacturer based in Broomfield, reported profit of $224 million, or $1.39 per share, for its fiscal year that ended Dec. 31, a decline from the previous year. The Broomfield-based company made a $281 million profit last year. Revenue was up year to year, with $9.1 billion in 2016 compared with $8 billion in 2015. Fourth quarter 2016 net earnings were $14 million, or 8 cents per diluted share, on sales of $2.5 billion, compared with $55 million, or 39 cents per diluted share, on sales of $1.8 billion, in the fourth quarter of 2015. Ball Corp.’s aerospace division, based in Boulder, with operations in Broomfield and Westminster, generated earnings for the full-year 2016 of $88 million on sales of $818 million, compared with $82 million on sales of $810 million in 2015. For the fourth quarter, earnings were $26 million on sales of $241 million, compared with $21 million on sales of $162 million during the same period in 2015.

Woodward Inc. (Nasdaq: WWD) reported a profit of $47 million for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2017 that ended Dec. 31. The Fort Collins-based manufacturer of control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets recorded income of $443 million, down from $445 million for the same period a year ago. The profit represented 73 cents per share, and was a big improvement for the first quarter of 2016 when it made $26 million, or 40 cents per share. The prior year’s first quarter included after-tax special charges totaling $10 million, or 16 cents per share. Total debt was $720 million on Dec. 31, compared with $727 million on Sept. 30.

KUDOS

Boulder and Fort Collins were ranked as the top two cities in the United States for small-business owners and workers, according to a report released by ValuePenguin, a consumer research company based in New York. Boulder was ranked No. 1, Fort Collins No. 2 and Greeley No. 23 out of 200 cities that were ranked based on 11 data points, including tax rates and indexes to employment, and access to loan brokers and offices.

The city of Lafayette received a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for its comprehensive annual financial report. GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals.

Loveland-based McWhinney, developer of Centerra and The Lakes at Centerra, along with its architect and design partner, Boulder-based DTJ Design, won a platinum award for the Lake Club at The Lakes at Centerra at the National Association of Home Builders Best in American Living Awards event at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla.

. Platinum is the highest level awarded in the category, meaning that of the Community Facilities submitted from around the U.S. this year, the Lake Club is considered the best in the country. Additionally, the Lake Club won Best in Mountain Region, made up of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

Boulder-based Spectralink Corp., which produces enterprise mobility solutions for the health-care, retail and manufacturing sectors, received the 2017 Internet Telephony Product of the Year award from TMC, a global, integrated media company.

FastSigns of Boulder got national recognition out of more than almost 650 locations worldwide at the 2017 FastSigns convention in Phoenix. The locally owned and operated business received the Pinnacle Club Award, which is given to the centers ranked 26 to 125 for sales volume between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016.

Boulder-based Melton Design Build won “Best of Design and Best of Customer Service recognition from Houzz, a platform for home remodeling and design.

Louisville-based customer-experience management firm Market Force Information was recognized by Forrester Research as a breakout vendor among domain-specific insight-services providers with the capability to help business get actionable insights and tangible value.

Fort Collins-based digital marketing and software firm Madwire was named a top private company for the fifth year by Coloradobiz Magazine. Madwire ranked sixth among Northern Colorado companies and 73rd in the state.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Makeena Inc., a Boulder-based tech firm, acquired CommonKindness.com, a website that offers free grocery coupons. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Based in Sausalito, Calif., CommonKindness.com eliminates coupon loading and change costs, charging brands only for coupons redeemed. It donates 20 percent of revenue generated by advertising fees to nonprofit organizations of the shopper’s choice.

Two co-founders of Boulder-based Namasté Solar Inc. are among a four-man ownership group that has acquired McLean Forge & Welding, an artistic metal fabrication and welding shop in Boulder. Namasté co-founders Ray Tuomey and Blake Jones, former Namasté sales director Dan Yechout, and Paul Szlyk, a former employee at McLean, acquired the company from its founder Barrie McLean for an undisclosed amount. McLean, known as the Iron Man of Boulder, founded the company in 1984. An open house and grand reopening and ribbon-cutting is set for 4 to 6:30 p.m. March 3, at 1779 Valtec Lane.

Michigan-based H.W. Kaufman Financial Group acquired Essential Insurance Services Inc. in Conifer and will move its operations to Kaufman’s US-Reports corporate office in Fort Collins. Financial terms of deal were not disclosed. US-Reports provides audits, inspections and risk-management services. Essential Services provides audit services, including general liability, worker’s compensation and other auditable insurance coverages. A company spokesman said there will be 85 people working in the office in Fort Collins after the acquisition, but he declined to say how many of those were Essential Services employees making the move.

Net-Centric Design Professionals LLC, an engineering firm based in Boulder, acquired Boulder-based Advanced Radar Corp., a developer of weather radar systems. The deal allows NDP to commercialize products for weather detection in the United States and overseas. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Advanced Radar’s operations and personnel remain intact, and it will use the name Advanced Radar Co.

Boulder-based Renewable Choice Energy was acquired by Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management and automation. Renewable Choice will join the Energy and Sustainability Services business within Schneider. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Datavail Corp., a Broomfield-based provider of managed services for data and database administration, acquired Toronto-based Navantis Inc., a 200-person firm. Financial terms were not disclosed. Navantis, a Microsoft Premier Partner, will become Datavail’s Microsoft Solutions Division, which will be led by Navantis chief executive Andy Papadopoulos.

Louisville-based ThreatWave, which provides email-based data intelligence, was acquired by New York-based Return Path for an undisclosed sum. Return Path already employs about 200 people in Broomfield. ThreatWave will maintain its brand but eventually move to Broomfield.

MOVES

Natural Habitats USA, Inc., an organic palm oil company, relocated its headquarters to Boulder from Richmond, Calif. The new office is located at 948 North St., Unit 7.

Real Goods Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: RGSE) moved its headquarters from Louisville to Denver. The company, doing business as RGS Energy, installs rooftop residential and small commercial solar-powered systems. The new office is on the third floor at 110 16th St. in downtown Denver.

Apex Movement Parkour & Athletics is moving from Boulder this spring to a new building in the Colorado Technology Center in Louisville. Apex has leased 7,673 square feet in an 83,291-square-foot industrial building at 1772 Prairie Way, developed and owned by Ben Blaugrund. Parkour is the sport of moving rapidly through an area, typically in an urban environment, negotiating obstacles by running, jumping and climbing. The building was designed by Boulder-based PEH Architects and built by Longmont-based Golden Triangle Construction.

Carmel, Ind.-based Blue Horseshoe Solutions Inc. will move its employees in Colorado from Westminster to a larger space in Broomfield in May or June to provide room for more workers. Blue Horseshoe has leased 13,608 square feet at EOS, 105 Edgeview Drive, a Class A office building built on speculation by Houston-based developer Hines that opened in 2012.

The City Of Loveland Transit (COLT) bus service on Jan. 14 moved its North Transit Center to Loveland Food Share, Loveland’s branch of the Food Bank for Larimer County at 2600 N. Lincoln Ave. The new location is a half mile south of Orchards Shopping Center, where COLT for many years operated the transit center that provides connections for its 100 and 300 routes and to the FLEX express service connecting Fort Collins, Loveland, Berthoud. Longmont and Boulder. A COLT bus stop remains at the Orchards location, moving west to the sidewalk on North Garfield Avenue adjacent to the King Soopers gasoline station. That stop is being served only by COLT’s 200 route.

Canaima Outdoors, which relocated from Boulder to Louisville in 2013, made the reverse trip. The maker of slacklines and suspended tents leased 2,000 square feet at 5277 Manhattan Circle.

NAME CHANGES

36 Commuting Solutions, a public-private partnership that has worked to improve commuting along the U.S. Highway 36 corridor, expanded its geographic service area and changed its name to Commuting Solutions. Known as a transportation management organization, it will expand its reach to other key corridors in the Boulder Valley, including Colorado highways 119 and 7, and will work to improve commuting options to and from Erie, Lafayette and Longmont.

The Longmont Economic Development Partnership renamed its volunteer Existing Business Committee to ELEVATE Longmont, and added responsibilities to its members to provide more information to local businesses on the services the partnership offers. ELEVATE is an acronym for engage, listen, educate, value, acknowledge, tell the story and execute.

Waste to Energy Partners, a Boulder-based waste conversion company, changed its name to Bolder Industries. The company’s flagship product, Bolder Black, is made from end-of-life tires and is an environmentally friendly alternative to carbon black, an oil-derived component used in nearly all rubber and black plastic products.

PRODUCT UPDATE

RLE Technologies Inc. in Fort Collins received a U.S. patent for the technology behind its facilities-management system. called Delta View, which provides a visual representation of buildings, sites and equipment monitored by the company’s environmental-monitoring devices.

Broomfield-based Innovyze, developer of business analytics software and technologies for smart wet infrastructure, released the InfoWater SA (Stand-Alone) product portfolio.

SERVICES

After launching in Denver two years ago, San Francisco-based DoorDash is offering delivery from restaurants to doorsteps throughout Boulder, Lafayette, Louisville, Superior and Broomfield. Customers can place orders online at doordash.com. Apps for iPhones and Androids are available at the App Store and Google Play. The company will be delivering for approximately 220 restaurants in the area, including fast-food chains and local favorites Modern Market, Five on Black, Foolish Craig’s, Beau Jo’s, Pizzeria Locale and The Kitchen Next Door, according to a company statement. DoorDash’s national partnerships with The Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin and Taco Bell will also extend to Boulder. Restaurants pay DoorDash a commission for orders they receive from the DoorDash platform.

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