September 1, 2018

Briefcase – September 2018

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CLOSING

The birthplace of call-center giant Startek Inc. (NYSE: STK) soon will lose its last connection to the company. Denver-based Startek, founded as StarPak Inc. in Greeley in 1987, will close its Greeley call center in October, eliminating 186 jobs. The company filed a WARN notice on Aug. 17. The decision follows similar closures in Colorado Springs and Indiana. Startek at one time operated two call centers in Greeley but shut down the second facility in 2005.

One of the last video rental stores in the state will close Sept. 22. Showtime Video at 1821 W. Eisenhower Blvd. in Loveland began the sell-down of its inventory in anticipation of the close. The store has 18,000 titles including both movies and games.

CONTRACTS

Fort Collins-based Verified Volunteers joined forces with volunteer-recruitment company Volunteer Match to help nonprofit organizations and others that use volunteers make certain that their volunteers don’t pose risks to individuals and organizations. San Francisco-based VolunteerMatch is the largest web-based volunteer-recruitment company.

Czero Inc., an engineering firm based in Fort Collins, will provide engineering services to California-based CalWave Power Technologies Inc. in its effort to harness the power of ocean waves to produce electricity. CalWave’s patented Wave Energy Converter operates submerged, allowing it to survive stormy seas and be hidden from sight. CalWave is tapping Czero’s experience working on subsea systems and energy harvesting.

UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UQM) received several new fuel-cell compressor system purchase orders valued at $3 million from new and existing Chinese customers. The customers include a major Chinese original equipment manufacturer. The orders represent new business for Longmont-based UQM, with orders expected to be shipped later this year and early next year.

Boulder Community Health and UCHealth plan to partner on providing inpatient rehabilitation services by mid-2019. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed. Boulder Community Health, an independent health-care provider based in Boulder, and Aurora-based UCHealth will create a unit on the third floor of UCHealth’s hospital in Broomfield to provide the rehabilitation services. The unit will combine staff and specialists from Boulder Community Health and UCHealth. BCH currently operates a 14-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit at Boulder Community Hospital, 1100 Balsam Ave. in northwest Boulder. That facility will close when the Broomfield unit opens. After construction, the new unit is expected to open in mid-2019 and will provide multidisciplinary therapy services to help restore strength and independence for patients recovering from serious injuries or illness.

MiRagen Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: MGEN), a biopharmaceutical company focused on RNA-targeted therapies, and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society entered into a collaboration and funding agreement. The partnership will support the development of Boulder-based miRagen’s drug cobomarsen, also known as MRG-106, a microRNA-155 inhibitor for patients with a certain type of T-cell lymphoma. The type, called mycosis fungoides, affects about 16,000 to 20,000 people in the United States. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will provide up to $5 million through the purchase of miRagen common stock to support the drug through its clinical trial. That includes a $1 million investment upon signing the agreement and additional stock purchases upon achieving certain milestones.

Agworld Inc. LLC entered into a strategic partnership with K•Coe Isom LLP to provide a farm-management system that will allow farmers to make better decisions in data-driven agriculture. The partnership between K·Coe Isom, an accounting and consultancy firm with a major office in Loveland, and Agworld, an Australian farm-management technology provider with an operation in Windsor, was formed to offer a production agriculture Enterprise Resource Planning system. Through this partnership, farmers will now have access to data and consultancy to properly analyze, store and use the data for long-term financial outcomes.

EARNINGS

Fort Collins-based Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:AEIS) reported record-level results for the second quarter of 2018, which ended June 30. Sales were $196 million in the second quarter of 2018 compared with $195.6 million in the first quarter of 2018 and $165.9 million in the second quarter of 2017. GAAP income from continuing operations was $46.4 million or $1.17 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2018 compared with $46.4 million or $1.16 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2018, and $45.9 million or $1.14 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2017. Non-GAAP income from continuing operations was $49.4 million or $1.25 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2018. This compared with $53.4 million or $1.34 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2018, and $49.2 million or $1.22 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2017. The company generated $53 million of operating cash from continuing operations in the second quarter of 2018. During the quarter the company repurchased approximately 407,000 shares for $25.3 million.

AeroGrow International Inc. (OTCQB: AERO), the manufacturer and distributor of in-home AeroGardens, announced a net loss but improved performance overall for its first quarter, which ended June 30. The Boulder-based company had net revenue of $3.7 million, an increase of 52 percent over the same period in the prior year. Loss from operations was $653,000, improved from $729,000 in the prior year period.

Array BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY) reported a loss of $147.3 million for its fiscal year that ended June 30. The loss of 74 cents per share was more than a loss of $116.8 million, or 72 cents per share, in fiscal 2017. Revenue was $173.8 million for the fiscal year compared with $150.9 million in fiscal 2017. For the fourth quarter, revenue was $35.4 million, compared with $66.4 million for the prior quarter. Array reported a fourth-quarter loss of $52.4 million, or 25 cents per share, compared with $22.9 million, or 11 cents per share, in the prior quarter.

Broomfield-based Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) reported that second quarter 2018 net earnings were $119 million, or 34 cents per diluted share, on sales of $3.1 billion, compared with $99 million net earnings, or 28 cents per diluted share, on sales of $2.9 billion in 2017. Results for the first six months of 2018 were net earnings of $244 million, or 68 cents per diluted share, on sales of $5.89 billion compared with $167 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, on sales of $5.33 billion for the first six months of 2017. The Boulder-based aerospace segment finished the second quarter with increased contracted backlog of $1.85 billion following the recent contract award of the Wide Field Instrument Optical Mechanical Assembly for NASA’s next observatory designed to answer questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets and infrared astrophysics.

Clovis Oncology Inc. (Nasdaq: CLVS) posted a second quarter loss $1.94 per share, which still managed to beat analyst expectations by 33 cents per share. The loss is an improvement on 2017’s second quarter results, when Clovis lost $3.88 cents per share. The company’s net loss was $101 million, an improvement on the year prior, when the company lost $175 million. The Boulder-based bioscience firm had second quarter revenue of $23.76 million, a 62.5 percent increase over the same period in 2017, which beat analyst expectations by $1.32 million.

Crocs Inc. (Nasdaq: CROX) posted second-quarter earnings per share of 35 cents, beating analyst expectations by 4 cents. Net income grew from $18.1 million during the second quarter of 2017 to more than $30 million. The Niwot-based shoe manufacturer grew revenue by 4.7 percent year-over-year to $328 million, beating analyst expectations by $6.24 million. The company said the growth in revenue was managed despite losing approximately $22 million due to operating fewer stores and changes to its business model.

DMC Global Inc. (Nasdaq: BOOM) reported a record for quarterly sales, posting revenue of $80.9 million for its second quarter that ended June 30, up 71 percent compared with the same period a year ago. The Boulder-based firm manufactures explosion-welded clad metal plates, which are used to make equipment used in a variety of industries, including oil and gas. Net income was $6.4 million, or 43 cents per diluted share, versus net income of $189,000, or one cent per diluted share, in the year-ago second quarter.

Encision Inc. (OTC: ECIA) posted first quarter revenue of $2.4 million, a year-over-year improvement of 1.7 percent. Revenue for the same period the year prior was $2.36 million. The Boulder-based medical-device company, which makes Active Electrode Monitoring products that prevent stray electrosurgical burns in minimally invasive surgeries, had quarterly net income of $18,000. Encision’s quarterly net income is down from the same quarter the year prior, when it had $181,000. During that period the company had earnings of 2 cents per share. For the second quarter of 2018, the company’s earnings per share was zero cents.

FirstBank, Colorado’s second-largest bank with branches throughout the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado, reported a profit of $131.3 million for its second quarter that ended June 30. The Lakewood-based bank reported year-over-year increases in income, assets, net loan balances and total deposits. Net income grew by 26.9 percent to $131.3 million. Net loan balances increased by 5.6 percent to $10.4 billion. Deposits grew by 5.3 percent to $16.4 billion, and total assets increased by 5.5 percent to $18.3 billion.

Gaia Inc. (Nasdaq: GAIA), a Louisville-based conscious-media and community company, increased revenues by 59 percent in the second quarter of 2018 but still reported a loss for the second quarter of $6.3 million. In reporting its quarterly financials, Gaia said it had paid subscriber growth of 68 percent and a 65 percent increase in streaming revenues. Gross margins were up 70 basis points to 86.8 percent, the company reported. Total revenues in the second quarter increased to $10.5 million from $6.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Gross profit in the second quarter increased 61 percent to $9.1 million compared with $5.6 million in the year-ago quarter. Total operating expenses in the second quarter were $15.6 million, compared with $12 million in the year-ago quarter due to planned marketing expense increases associated with accelerated subscriber growth. Net loss in the second quarter was $6.3 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $6.3 million, or 42 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. As of June 30, Gaia had $41.2 million in cash and no debt.

Heska Corp. (Nasdaq: HSKA), a provider of advanced veterinary diagnostic and specialty products, reported second-quarter earnings of 24 cents per share, beating analyst expectations by 8 cents. However, earnings per share were nearly halved year-over-year, from 44 cents during the second quarter of 2017 to 24 cents this quarter. Net income fell from $3.3 million to $1.9 million. The Loveland-based company posted revenue of $29.7 million, an11.2 percent decrease from the same period last year and missing analyst expectations by a little less than $500,000.

Brazilian meat processor JBS S.A. reported a net loss for the second quarter of 2018 although U.S. beef operations generated $5.6 billion in revenue, up from the same quarter a year ago. JBS still hopes move toward an initial public offering after it addresses regulatory and debt issues.

MiRagen Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: MGEN) reported a second-quarter net loss of 29 cents per share, an improvement over the same period the year prior, when the company lost 34 cents per share. However, the improvement is likely due to the company adding shares over the year: from just more than 21 million during the second quarter of 2017 to slightly more than 30 million during the second quarter of 2018. Net loss grew year-over-year, from $7.3 million during Q2 2017 to a loss of $8.7 million during the same period in 2018. Revenue grew year-over-year, from $718,000 during the second quarter of 2017 to $2.2 million during the same period of 2018.

Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL), a Houston-based oil and gas business with significant activity in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, reported a second-quarter net loss of $23 million, or 5 cents per share. The company reported increased U.S. onshore oil production, driven by growth in the Delaware and D-J Basins.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (Nasdaq: PPC) reported a profit of $106.5 million, or 43 cents per share, for its second quarter that ended June 29. The Greeley-based chicken processor had sales of $2.84 billion for the quarter, a 3.1 percent increase compared with the same quarter a year ago.

Pinnacle Foods Inc. (NYSE: PF), the parent company to Boulder Brands, posted second-quarter earnings of 47 cents per share, a significant increase over the 16 cents per share the company posted during the same period last year. The company’s Boulder segment saw net sales increase by 4.5 percent in the second quarter year-over-year. Boulder saw sales grow from $94.7 million in 2017 to $98.9 million in 2018. Retail consumption of the Boulder segment grew by 7.2 percent. The Boulder segment’s earnings before interest and taxes grew from $12.2 million in the second quarter of 2017 to $16 million during the same period in 2018. In June, it was announced that Conagra would acquire Pinnacle for $10.9 billion.

Surna Inc. (OTCQB: SNRA), a Boulder-based manufacturer of equipment for cannabis and traditional indoor agricultural growing operations, reported a loss of $1.4 million for its second quarter that ended June 30. For the quarter, Surna posted revenue of $2 million, a 15 percent increase compared with the same quarter a year ago. Quarterly operating expenses increased by 21 percent to $1.941 million, compared with $1.61 million for the three months a year ago.

UQM Technologies Inc., a Longmont-based maker of components for the electric-motor industry, reported an increase in revenue and an increased loss of income for its second quarter that ended June 30, compared with the same period a year ago. UQM Technologies (NYSE: UQM) had revenue of $2.7 million compared with $1.8 million in the second quarter last year, an increase of 51 percent. Its net loss for the second quarter was $2.5 million, or 5 cents per common share, compared with a net loss of $1.3 million, or 3 cents per common share, for the same period last year.

Urban-gro Inc., a cannabis growth solutions company, posted a loss of two cents per share for the quarter that ended June 30. The company posted the same loss per share for the same quarter the year prior. Urban-gro, based in Lafayette, had a net loss of $499,049. Its loss grew slightly for the same period the year prior, when its loss was $447,375. The company added on shares during the year. For the period ended June 30, 2017, the company had 22,826,154 shares. By the same period in 2018 the company had 24,672,505 shares. The company grew its revenue significantly: from $3.4 million in 2017 to $5.9 million in 2018. Gross profit grew from $838,515 to $1.9 million.

KUDOS

More than 30 Front Range companies have landed on this year’s Inc. 5000 list, including one area company that is the second fastest-growing private company in the nation. The Inc. list ranks companies based upon rates of growth. PopSockets, the Boulder-based maker behind collapsible cell phone grips, landed the No. 2 spot, just behind Wisconsin-based SwanLeap.

PopSockets had annual revenue last year of $168.8 million and a three-year growth of 71,424 percent. The company was founded in Boulder in 2010 and now has 118 employees. PopSockets also nabbed the No. 1 spot for Top Consumer Products & Services companies as well as being the top Boulder and Colorado company on the list. Boulder companies included No. 182 Amplio Digital, No. 573 TextUs, No. 890 Simple Energy, No. 1,087 Wana Brands, No. 1,121 Delve, No. 1,172 Green Stone, No. 2,901 Front and Center Marketing, No. 3,230 TaxGuard, No. 3,635 Rezora, No. 3,785 MD Scripts, No. 3,908 Gorilla Logic, No. 4,292 Parallel Path, No. 4,303 Creative Alignments, No. 4,825 SnapEngage and No. 4,625 MinuteKey. Broomfield-based companies on the list were No. 818 Xero Shoes, No. 1,362 Conga, No. 2,711 Datavail, No. 3,352 Sustainable Supply, No. 3,505 Blue Sky Remodeling and No. 4,334 Altvia Solutions. Fort Collins companies on the list were No. 1,573 Madwire, No. 3,728 Fort Collins Heating and Air Conditioning and No. 3,876 Cheba Hut Toasted Subs. Lafayette-based businesses were No. 1,840 Pediatric Therapy, No. 3,178 Developintelligence and No. 4,993 TouchSource. Longmont businesses were No. 483 CanSource, No. 3,327 Stickergiant.com and No. 4,811 Alliant National Title Insurance Co. Louisville-based Office Evolution made the list at No. 4,051, and Loveland was represented by No. 288 Bridgewater Homes, No. 909 eduPresent, No. 1,717 CorKat Data Solutions and No. 2,547 Brinkman.

Connecting Point in Greeley ranks No. 215 among the world’s 501 most strategic and innovative managed service providers (MSPs), according to Channel Futures 11th annual MSP 501 Worldwide Company Rankings. The MSP 501 is the first, largest and most comprehensive ranking of managed service providers worldwide.

Three Front Range life-science companies are finalists for the Colorado Bioscience Association Venture Showcase. BRAVA Diagnostics in Boulder, Cetya Therapeutics in Fort Collins and Velóce Corp. in Fort Collins will pitch Sept. 14 in Westminster at a panel of investors and partners at the Colorado Life Science Innovation Forum. The companies are competing for a $7,500 cash prize.

Two UCHealth hospitals in Northern Colorado have made the U.S. News and World Report listing of best regional hospitals in Colorado. Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland was ranked fifth in the state, and Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins was 10th.

Ken Burns, an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, is to speak at Macky Auditorium at the University of Colorado Boulder at 7 p.m. Oct. 2, when he will receive the Wallace Stegner Award. Center of the American West’s Patty Limerick will present the award, which is granted to an individual who has made a sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West through literature, art, history, lore or an understanding of the region.

Commuting Solutions, a Louisville-based transportation solutions firm, was awarded the Excellence in Advocacy award for its project “Transportation Matters” by the Association for Commuter Transportation.

The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce was named one of three Communications Excellence Grand Award winners in the Publications category by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. The Alexandria, Va.-based association represents more than 8,000 chamber of commerce professionals, and 1,300 chambers of commerce worldwide. Winners of the award were recognized July 18 at the 2018 ACCE Annual Convention in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Fort Collins chamber won for its Northern Colorado Prospers quarterly report, produced in collaboration with Jet Marketing.

The Boulder Chamber announced this year’s recipients of the Women Who Light the Community awards. The winners are: Jan Berg, an independent business consultant; Carol Driggs, strategic staffing manager for Colorado at Northrop Grumman; Connie Minden, co-founder of Ramble on Pearl; Carmen Ramirez, founder of Resiliencia para Todos/Resiliency for All; Kirsten Wilson, founder of the Rocks Karma Arrows multi-media theater; and Cante Waste Win Zephier, a Niwot High School student who will be honored as 2018’s Emerging Youth Leader and is co-president of the Northern Colorado United National Indian Tribal Youth Council. The award ceremony will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, at the Boulder Jewish Community Center, 6007 Oreg Ave. in Boulder. Cost to attend is $55 for chamber members and $75 for non-members.

Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co. of Lafayette led Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado craft brewers in awards won July 9 at the U.S. Open Beer Championships in Oxford, Ohio. Liquid Mechanics placed eighth overall, first in the “Most Creative Name” competition for its Beasts of Bourbon label, Gold medals for its Altbier and blended barrel-aged beer, and a Silver for its Marzen/Oktoberfest. Other beer style winners from the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado were: Crow Hop Brewery, Loveland, Gold for its American Specialty Wheat and Bronze for English IPA; Mash Lab Brewing, Windsor, Bronze for Bitter and Silver for English Mild Ale; Oskar Blues Brewing, Longmont, Gold for Imperial Red Ale; Bootstrap Brewing, Longmont, Bronze for Imperial Red Ale; New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, Gold for Belgian Tripel, and Loveland Aleworks, Bronze for Wood/Barrel-aged Sour Beer.

A Boulder-based optics firm won a $1 million prize in a New York competition. Double Helix won the top prize in the state-funded Luminate NY accelerator competition, a photonics and optics contest. As a result of the reward, it must spend 18 months working with the accelerator’s program in Rochester, N.Y. Double Helix’s SPINDLE product delivers a 3D nanoscale image that is so detailed that researchers can watch reactions happen at the molecular level.

EY, the global financial firm that operates as Ernst & Young LLP in the United States, selected the winners of its Entrepreneur of the Year awards in the Mountain Desert region. Winners based or operating in the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado include: Dr. Jason Myers, co-founder, chief executive and president of ArcherDX, Inc., Boulder; Maureen Hewitt, president and CEO, InnovAge, Denver, a senior living and home care agency with facilities including Loveland and Estes Park; Bo Sharon, founder & CEO, Lucky’s Market, Niwot, with grocery locations in Boulder, Longmont and Fort Collins; David Barnett, founder & CEO, PopSockets LLC, Boulder; and David Birzon, CEO, Snooze an AM Eatery, Denver, with locations in Fort Collins and Boulder.

Several Colorado companies were recognized by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment for their outstanding workplace safety records. Northern Colorado Traffic Control Inc. of Greeley and Sun Construction & Facility Services LLC of Longmont were recognized at an awards ceremony at the Governor’s Executive Residence in Denver.

Sixteen Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado companies were named winners of the Colorado Companies to Watch for 2018 on June 22. The award was given to 50 honorees out of 100 finalists; it recognized second-stage companies succeeding in Colorado. The area winners were: Altvia Solutions LLC of Broomfield; Arbor Valley and Atlas CPAs & Advisors PLLC of Brighton; Bitsbox, CampMinder, Clear Comfort, Comptek Technologies LLC, Creative Alignments, Crunchsters Inc., Rowdy Mermaid Kombucha, Xero Shoes and Zingfit of Boulder; Blue Margin Inc. and Neuworks Mechanical Inc. of Fort Collins; YouSeeU of Loveland; and The Human Bean of Northern Colorado, of Fort Collins and Greeley. There were more than 30 finalists from the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado, including 8z Real Estate of Boulder and Louisville; A-Train Marketing Communications Inc. of Fort Collins; Avocet Communications and Cheese Importers of Longmont; Bonusly, Cain Travel, Katasi Inc., Mondo Robit, Ozo Coffee Co., Ramblin Jackson, SpaceNav, Tax Guard and Treepod Hanging Habitats / Slackline Industries of Boulder; EarthRoamer of Dacono; Johnson Storage & Moving of Boulder, Longmont and Fort Collins; and Ursa Major Technologies of Berthoud.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Two Boulder-based companies are merging to form one new company. Boulder iQ will be an expert contract consulting firm offering product development design as well as medical-device quality and regulatory services. The company is being formed from the merger of Boulder BioMed and Samson Design Associates Inc.

Minneapolis-based Apothecary Products LLC acquired Boulder’s Soft Style LLC, developer of the bamboobies brand of breastfeeding support products. Soft Styles will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Apothecary Products. Soft Style was founded in 2010 and won the Naturally Boulder Pitch Slam in 2011.

Agribotix LLC, a Boulder-based drone-enabled software company, soon will have a new owner. AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE: UAVS), based in Neodesha, Kan., has signed an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Agribotix. AgEagle provides drone imagery data analytics for the precision and sustainable agriculture markets. Terms of the agreement, which was scheduled to close by Aug. 31, were not disclosed.

Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: AEIS), a power and control technologies company based in Fort Collins, will acquire LumaSense Technologies Holdings Inc., based in Santa Clara, Calif. This acquisition adds a line of photonic-based measurement and monitoring solutions that complement Advanced Energy’s line of pyrometry-based temperature measurement products.

1908 Brands, which produces, manufactures and manages brands such as Boulder Clean, Thrive Tribe, Fruitivity Snacks and Pasta Jay’s, acquired Bundle Organics. The deal was signed July 25 in Boulder, where both companies are headquartered. Bundle is led by entrepreneur and TV personality Whitney Eve Port, along with entrepreneur John Mascari, who lives in Boulder. The company, launched in 2014, pioneered the prenatal nutrition category online and on retail shelves in more than 2,000 locations including Target and buybuy BABY.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) signed an agreement to acquire Fort Collins-based Rodelle Inc., an originator, processor and supplier of vanilla products. ADM anticipates completing the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, in the third quarter. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Nutrien Ltd., which has operations in Loveland and Greeley, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Illinois-based Agrible Inc. for $63 million. Earlier in July, Nutrien said it was acquiring agriculture laboratory firm Waypoint Analytical. Nutrien was created in January through the $36 billion merger of Agrium Inc. and Potash Corp. Agrible has a platform and product offering that includes agronomic and on-farm advisory tools, data-science capabilities and predictive analytics.

Global Healthcare Exchange LLC in Louisville, a provider of cloud-based health-care supply-chain-management products, plans to acquire a majority of the assets and employees of Germany-based Medical Columbus AG. Terms of the acquisition that is expected to close in about three months were not disclosed.

Research Electro Optics Inc., a Boulder-based optics company, was acquired by Excelitas Technologies Corp., a photonics company based in Waltham, Mass. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dallas-based Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) increased its ownership percentage and taken a majority stake in Boulder-based Good Karma Foods Inc. Good Karma, which produces flaxseed-based milk and yogurt products, will continue to operate as a Boulder-based independent company led by its existing leadership team.

Allegion plc (Nasdaq: ALLE) was to acquire ISONAS Security Systems Inc., a Boulder company, for an undisclosed amount. The deal, which is subject to customary closing conditions, was expected to close early third-quarter 2018. ISONAS owns computer technology that produces access control solutions for non-residential markets. Allegion’s world headquarters is in Dublin, Ireland, with U.S. headquarters in Carmel, Ind.

iBirth, a Boulder-based pregnancy app, was acquired by Babyscripts Inc., a virtual-care platform for managing obstetrics. iBirth can offer precision prenatal care to its customers, while Washington, D.C.-based Babyscripts offers a more engaging and holistic platform for managing pregnancy and postpartum. Combined, the two services will help manage more than 150,000 pregnancies across 20 states.

Fitness club Fort Collins Club is being acquired by Wichita, Kan.-based Genesis Health Clubs.

Genesis, which acquired Fort Collins-based Miramont Lifestyle Fitness in November, will now have four gyms in Fort Collins and Loveland, as well as locations in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Its fifth Colorado gym, Miramont Central, will close to accommodate the acquisition of the Fort Collins Club. All Miramont Central members will be transferred to Fort Collins Club members, which will provide amenities such as indoor and outdoor pools, a cafe and several courts for basketball, racquetball and volleyball, among other offerings. The Fort Collins Club will also have some of its equipment upgraded.

Conagra Brands is acquiring Pinnacle Foods, parent company to Boulder Brands, for $10.9 billion. The deal will be a cash and stock transaction and will include Conagra acquiring all of Pinnacle Foods’ outstanding shares and net debt. Under the terms of the transaction, Pinnacle Foods shareholders will get $43.11 per share and about 0.65 shares of Conagra Brands common stock for each share of Pinnacle Foods. The combined value is about $68. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, pending regulatory approval and approval by PInnacle’s shareholders. In 2016, Pinnacle acquired Boulder Brands, which makes gluten-free products.

Sphero, the maker of connected toys and devices, has acquired another Boulder-based company, Specdrums, a music-tech startup founded in 2016 that offers app-controlled rings worn on a user’s finger that turn color into sound when tapped. With the acquisition, Sphero said it plans to launch a new version of Specdrums — which has sold out after a successful $200,000 Kickstarter campaign — later this year or early next year.

MOVES

Germany-based eGym GmbH, a developer and seller of electronic fitness equipment integrated with mobile apps, moved its U.S. headquarters from New York to the Colorado Building at 1919 14th St., Suite 700, in Boulder.

Boulder Community Health merged two of its internal medicine clinics and moved them to a building on Arapahoe Road in east Boulder. Internal Medicine Associates of Boulder at 1155 Alpine Ave. in the Medical Pavilion in west Boulder and Internal Medicine Associates of Foothills at 4820 Riverbend Road next to BCH’s Foothills Hospital in east Boulder merged to form Internal Medicine Associates of Boulder and set up operations at 5495 Arapahoe Road.

Discovery DJ Services will move a proposed gas processing plant from an area near homes in south Weld County to an industrial park northeast of Keenesburg near Interstate 76. The gas processing company had been faced with a wall of protest from a residential neighborhood near where it had originally planned to build its plant.

NAME CHANGES

Level Office, the Chicago-based co-working company that has major locations in Boulder and Denver, rebranded to Novel Coworking. In January, the company purchased a three-story building at 1495 Canyon Blvd. in downtown Boulder. It was its second location in Colorado.

OPENING

Jordan Durand of Fort Collins opened a Club Pilates franchise Aug. 23 at 244 N. College Ave. in Old Town Fort Collins. Durand is planning a grand opening celebration in late September and also has plans to open a second studio in Fort Collins at Front Range Village in the future.

Swisslog Healthcare hosted a grand opening of its new technology center on Aug. 22. The 80,140-square-foot facility is at 11325 Main St. in Broomfield, near the corner of Main Street and West 112th Avenue. Swisslog Healthcare is a supplier of solutions for material transport, medication management and supply-chain management.

Collision Brewing Co. will open a restaurant and brewery this month near Longmont’s Sandstone Ranch recreation complex. The approximately 10,000-square-foot facility is owned by Jason and Eric Blythes and their father, Kent. They plan to brew a variety of beers and employ about 50 people. The restaurant will seat about 150 and have a room for private gatherings.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. opened a new urgent care center in Fort Collins. The center, to be called MedExpress Urgent Care, will be located at 110 Boardwalk Drive. The clinic will offer urgent but not emergency services, employer services and wellness/prevention services. Sports physicals also are available.

First a greenhouse, then a brewery and now a distillery. The business at 6461 Colorado Highway 392 will operate all three starting Labor Day weekend. The Heart Distillery will offer vodka, absinthe, gin, rum, bourbon and rye whiskey. High Hops Brewery and the Windsor Gardener also occupy that site.

Scott Kaier and Noel Love opened Fluid IV Lounge, an IV therapy center, at 610 Terry St. in Longmont. IV therapy provides customers with an intravenously delivered dose of vitamins and minerals, intended to enhance performance and for faster recovery from workouts. It also is intended to improve sleep and moods, and boost the immune system.

The Orthopaedic & Spine Center of the Rockies opened a youth sports medicine outreach program to benefit youth athletes during the upcoming fall, winter and spring seasons. The program offers a team of experienced sports medicine physicians and resources for sports injury prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation. Morning injury clinics will be 7:30 to 9:30 every Monday and Thursday, excluding holidays, at the Loveland, Greeley and Fort Collins locations.

Longtime commercial Realtor Joe Palieri opened his own real estate company at 697 Denver Ave., Suite 100, in Loveland. The company is called Garden Commercial Real Estate.

Miracle Method Surface Refinishing, the largest kitchen and bathroom refinishing company in the country, has opened a franchise location at 1225 Red Cedar Circle in Fort Collins.

AKA Kitchen, an American-style restaurant, opened July 13 in the former Adelita’s Mexican restaurant space at 414 E. Sixth St. in Loveland.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchisee Brandon Gerrick plans to open in Broomfield this summer. Dickey’s has locations in Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Loveland.

The Human Bean coffee shop opened at 405 E. Main St. in Windsor. With locations in Loveland, Greeley, Evans, LaSalle and Fort Collins, it offers a double-sided drive through.

Camp Bow Wow, a Westminster-based doggy day-care and overnight camp franchise and an Entrepreneur magazine Franchise 500 company, opened its newest camp at 801 S. Sherman St., in Longmont. Camp Bow Wow has sold more than 180 franchises in 40 states and Canada.

Flower Child, a healthy, fast-casual restaurant, opened at 2580 Arapahoe Ave. in the Alcove on Arapahoe Shopping Center in Boulder. Flower Child is part of the Sam Fox Restaurant Concepts and has locations in Texas, Arizona, California and Nevada. Fox Restaurant Concepts is a restaurant group with 14 concepts spanning six states with more than 4,000 employees.

Columbus, Ohio-based Vertiv will employ 100 data scientists, software developers and other professionals at a new office in Loveland. Vertiv, a provider of equipment and services for data centers, will lease a 19,000-square-foot, one-floor office space from Loveland-based McWhinney Real Estate Services Inc. at 1880 Fall River Drive in Centerra, a 3,000-acre master-planned community being developed by McWhinney.

Developers have completed Windsong at Northridge, a memory-care facility in Greeley. Brinkman Construction, Lenity Architecture and Vista Pointe Development completed the one-story, 34,078-square-foot center at 7010 Eighth St.

Urban Bricks Pizza hosted its grand opening in Fort Collins on July 21. The restaurant is located at 2860 E. Harmony Road in the Front Range Village shopping center. Urban Bricks offers customers the option to dine-in or take-out, with plans to offer delivery soon. The Fort Collins Urban Bricks is the first franchise location in Colorado and is owned and operated by local businessman Jason Wolf, who also operates Tran’s Martial Arts & Fitness Center.

The Colorado Division of Banking approved a request by ANB Bank, a Denver-based bank owned by Sturm Financial Group, to open a branch in Longmont. The site is at 600 Main St., according to division of banking documents. The property is owned by Joshnik Co. LLLP. According to public records, Wyoming-based Joshnik Co. paid Sav-O-Mat $498,705 in 2017 for the property. A Sav-O-Mat gas station currently is operating on the site. ANB Bank has more than 30 banking centers in Wyoming, the Kansas City metro area and Colorado, including Fort Collins and Boulder, with one under construction in Loveland. That one is to open in December across U.S. Highway 34 from South Shore Park at Lake Loveland.

A Fort Collins retail cannabidiol company, Joy Organics, opened at 119 W. Oak St., selling organically grown, full-spectrum CBD with zero THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, as well as cannabis/hemp oil candles, essential oil from the cannabis plant, cookie dough for recovery, spices, hemp journals, art paper, sketch paper and more.

Vitality Bowls, a superfood cafe that started in California, opened July 26 in The Village shopping center at Folsom Street and Arapahoe Avenue, its third Colorado location and its first in Boulder. Vitality Bowls is a cafe concept that focuses on providing superfoods in bowls, juices, smoothies as well as serving up soups, salads and sandwiches.

Eye Center of Northern Colorado opened its fifth location in Northern Colorado with the acquisition of Dr. Jerry J. Crews’ practice. The center began operations at Fox Run Business Park, 1701 61st Ave., in Greeley. Crews, an ophthalmologist, operated in Greeley for 24 years.

Terrapin Care Station was granted a retail license to operate in Longmont. The Boulder-based cannabis company will operate at 650 20th Ave. in a former flower shop. The 3,500-square-foot space is in the process of being renovated and has a tentative opening date for later this fall.

Ninja Nation, an obstacle course fitness facility operated by American Ninja Warrior veterans, opened June 30 at 1700 Coal Creek Drive, Unit 2, in Lafayette.

An Italian restaurant based in Denver will open a new facility in Lafayette in October. Mici Handcrafted Italian, a family-owned four-unit fast casual chain, will create a restaurant in the Waneka Marketplace at 535 W. South Boulder Road. The space, formerly a Starbucks, is undergoing construction. Plans include a 50-seat patio and 45 seats indoors. The restaurant will also deliver to homes in Lafayette, Louisville and Erie. It expects to employ 30 staff members, according to information supplied by the company.

UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital opened a 14-bed rehabilitation unit to help people who have experienced major injury or illness to regain the skills necessary for everyday life. The rehab unit is on the third floor of the hospital in Fort Collins. The rehab unit had been housed on the fifth floor of UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland.

PRODUCT UPDATE

CUE Marketplace, a one-stop shop for recommending and purchasing small-business software, released the CUE Business Dashboard. Through the dashboard, CUE customers can now operate any software purchased through CUE in one place, including managing all their payment information in one spot as well as operating tools such as outbound marketing and communication, analytics and, soon, social media.

Water Pik, Inc., the Fort Collins-based maker of oral hygiene devices, is recalling its Sonic-Fusion flossing toothbrush because the charging base may overheat and cause melting and sparking. Fire, shock or burns are possible, the company said. Water Pik has received consumer reports of product malfunctioning in the U.S. The recall is applicable only to 3,800 units of Sonic-Fusion products. All other Waterpik brand flossers and toothbrushes are not affected.

The following models have been recalled: Sonic-Fusion, Model SF-01, serial numbers SF01 17 06 01 through SF01 18 06 28. Sonic Fusion, Model SF-02, serial numbers SF02 17 06 01 through SF02 18 06 28. Water Pik said the affected units were distributed between June 2017 and June 2018 in all U.S. states and Canada and limited to professional educators, key opinion leaders, trade show customers and limited direct online sales. Consumers who have the affected units should stop using them, immediately unplug the unit, and return them to Water Pik. To receive a product return kit, or for additional information, consumers should call 1-800-674-7718 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday or email at SonicFusion-Return@Waterpik.com. Consumers can also go to SFReturn.com for information.

Inscripta Inc., a Boulder-based gene-editing technology company, has secured its first patent. he patent covers systems using MAD7, the company’s first free CRISPR enzyme, as well as patent coverage for systems using another MADzyme, MAD2.

A Boulder tech startup is looking to bring a new level of safety and education to traveling the world. GeoSure Global is an app that scores locations based on their safety record across several categories: women’s safety, physical health, theft, political freedoms, health and medical, and an overall safety score. The lower the score, the overall safer a location is.

A Boulder PR firm is launching a new practice for a form of company communication it believes could be the future of marketing. Catapult PR has launched its Narrative Practice, a strategic marketing strategy that helps clients position themselves as leaders of an industry category.

New Herb Health, a Longmont-based natural products company, unveiled a line of whole hemp extracts for humans and animals at the Summer Fancy Food Show June 30-July 2 in New York. The company’s new line, Meta Hemp Solutions, uses a spagyric technique; it’s made using alchemical procedures such as fermentation, distillation or extraction. Meta Hemp Solutions are made using organic grape oil, pure water and extraction using a low-temperature point to preserve the living components of the raw hemp plant. The products are offered in potencies of 125, 250, 500, 1,000 and 3,000 milligrams of full-profile cannabinoids in coconut-vanilla, fruit punch and unflavored. It’s also offered in animal potencies of 125 and 250 milligrams in tuna, chicken, beef tallow and unflavored varieties.

SERVICES

Food from three dozen Fort Collins restaurants is now available for delivery from Grubhub. The service replaces an online ordering system with drivers employed by Grubhub.

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