Briefcase – March 2019

CLOSING

Independent Bank Group Inc. (Nasdaq: IBTX), which finalized a $1-billion acquisition of Guaranty Bancorp late last year, announced it would close eight branches in Colorado, including two in Loveland and one each in Greeley and Fort Collins.

All remaining Payless ShoeSource stores in the United States will close by May, affecting multiple stores in the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado including locations on Foothills Parkway in Fort Collins, Fall River Drive in Loveland, Centerplace Drive and the Greeley Mall in Greeley, Flatiron Crossing Drive in Broomfield and Kuner Road in Brighton. Creditors, including hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which also controls Digital First/Media News Group, took control after a 2007 Payless bankruptcy filing.

Conagra Brands Inc. will permanently close the Boulder office of Pinnacle Foods Inc., parent company to Boulder Brands, and lay off 100 workers. Conagra also is doing away with the Boulder Brands name, and its products will be available under the Conagra Brands umbrella. The office is expected to close on Dec. 31. Layoffs will begin on May 24 and continue through March 20, 2020. Boulder Brands is known for making products branded as Udi’s, Glutino and Earth Balance. Also, Thanasi Foods, which was purchased by Conagra in 2017, was to close March 1. Thanasi brands — Duke’s and Bigs — are being integrated into Conagra’s operations in Chicago and Omaha, Neb.

Former CoBiz Financial bank branches in Fort Collins and Louisville are among nine branches in Colorado and Arizona set to be shuttered this month. The closures come on the heels of the October completion of CoBiz’s acquisition by Tulsa, Okla.-based BOK Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: BOKF). Colorado Business Bank. 224 Canyon Ave. in Fort Collins, and Colorado Business Bank Northwest, 400 Centennial Parkway in Louisville, will close on or around March 22. In Boulder, the Colorado State Bank and Trust branch at 1505 Pearl St. will be consolidated into the CoBiz branch at 2025 Pearl St. and will reopen March 25 as BOK Financial.

CONTRACTS

Operators of the Mishawaka Amphitheater northwest of Fort Collins and Z2 Entertainment, which runs the Boulder Theater and Fox Theatre in Boulder are partnering to take over the Aggie Theater in Fort Collins this month. The groups, which will do business under the name Fort Collins Entertainment, will take over the Old Town music venue at 204 S. College Ave. from the owners of Denver’s Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, who bought the Aggie in 2015.

The city of Fort Collins and Atlanta-based commercial waste technology firm Rubicon Global LLC are partnering on a smart street-sweeper pilot program. Rubicon will install route-management technology on the city’s street-sweeper fleet aimed at improving efficiency and transparency of road maintenance.

a2 Milk Co. expanded its sales agreements with Kroger and Albertsons/Safeway to help achieve its goal of distribution across the United States. The company, which started in Australia and has a U.S. headquarters in Boulder, makes dairy milk that contains only the A2 protein type.

Boulder-based Clovis Oncology Inc. (Nasdaq: CLVS) entered into a research agreement with Alkermes plc, a biopharmaceutical company based in Dublin. The collaboration will evaluate ALKS 4230, an immunotherapy developed by Alkermes, in combination with rucaparib and lucitanib, two inhibitors developed by Clovis.

Boulder-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. was contracted to provide spacecraft and mission integration support for a new NASA mission that seeks to explore the origins of the universe. The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer mission, known as SPHEREx, will survey millions of galaxies in search of water and organic molecules. The two-year, $242 million mission is expected to launch in 2023.

Anemoment LLC, a specialized meteorological-instrument design firm, is expanding its international distribution. The Longmont company has named Sparv Embedded AB, a Swedish engineering firm, one of its authorized international distributors.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration formed a partnership in an effort to improve computer modeling for weather and climate forecast systems. The two organizations, which have locations in Boulder, signed a Memorandum of Agreement establishing a new state-of-the-art framework that would design common modeling infrastructure. The goal is to make a system that is transparent and is easy to access and use by public and private researchers.

Ehrlich Toyota of Greeley will use IPOWER Alliance of Lyons and L4 Construction of Greeley to retrofit the dealership’s energy system with a 368-kilowatt custom solar carport, LED retrofit, energy management system and battery backup. The result: The dealership will generate enough power for its purposes and return some to the grid.

New Boulder-based cannabis venture-capital fund 7thirty Fund LLC partnered with Jerusalem-based OurCrowd, a global crowdfunding platform for accredited investors.

EARNINGS

Advanced Energy Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: AEIS), a power and control technologies firm based in Fort Collins, saw slower sales in the fourth quarter of 2018, but revenue totals for the entire fiscal year were up compared with 2017. The company reported fourth-quarter sales of $154.2 million compared with  $173.1 million in the third quarter of 2018 and $179.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. But revenue for the full 2018 fiscal year was $718.9 million, up more than 7 percent from the $671 million in sales posted in 2017.

AeroGrow International Inc. (OTC: AERO) had a third-quarter loss of 2 cents per share and a net loss of $707,000. Compared with the same period the year prior, the Boulder-based garden system manufacturer had a net income of $391,000, or earnings of 1 cent per share. The company’s third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2018. AeroGrow had net revenue of $12.9 million, a decrease year-over-year when the company had net revenue of $17.4 million. Gross profit also shrank year-over-year, from $5.9 million in the third quarter ended in 2017 to $4 million in the third quarter ended in 2018. 

Array Biopharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY) posted a second-quarter loss of 5 cents per share, which still beat analyst expectations by 10 cents per share. The Boulder-based company had a net loss that was significantly less than in the same period the year prior. Array had a net loss of about $11.4 million for the second quarter of 2019, but a $34 million loss in the second quarter of 2018. Revenue grew by more than 95 percent year-over-year to $82.5 million, which beat analyst expectations by $30 million. Revenue for the same period of 2018 was $42.2 million.

Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) reported earnings per share of $1.29 in 2018, compared with $1.05 in 2017. The company’s net earnings for the year were $454 million, according to Ball’s 10K. In 2017, Broomfield-based Ball had net earnings of $374 million. Net sales in 2018 were $11.6 billion. In 2017, they were $10.9 billion. The company’s aerospace segment, based in Boulder, had net sales of $1.1 billion in 2018. In 2017, net sales were $991 million. Net sales for its North American beverage packaging segment were $4.6 billion, compared with $4.2 billion in 2017. Net sales for its South American beverage packaging unit were $1.7 billion in 2018 and its European beverage packaging segment had 2018 net sales of $2.6 billion.

Clovis Oncology Inc. (Nasdaq: CLVS) posted a fourth-quarter loss per share of $1.88, missing analyst expectations by 16 cents. The Boulder-based biopharmaceutical company recorded a net loss of $99.2 million, almost double the net loss the company experienced for the same period a year prior, when it had a loss of $51.8 million. Clovis recorded revenue of $30.35 million, a year-over-year increase of more than 79 percent. The revenue results beat the analyst consensus by $3.4 million. For the full year of 2018, Clovis had a loss of $7.07 per share and a net loss of $368 million. Revenue for the full year was $95 million. In 2017, the company had a loss of $7.36 per share and net loss of $346 million. Revenue for 2017 was $55.5 million.

DMC Global Inc. (Nasdaq: BOOM) posted net earnings of $1.02 per share for the fourth quarter of 2018, a significant increase over the same period a year prior, when the company recorded a net loss of 13 cents per share. The Boulder-based company had net income of nearly $15.3 million for the period ended Dec. 31. It’s an improvement on the fourth quarter of 2017, when the company had a loss of more than $1.9 million. Net sales for the company also grew significantly, from $54.4 million in 2017 to a record $90.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Medical-device company Encision Inc. (OTC: ECIA) recorded revenue of $2.12 million for the third quarter of its fiscal year, down from $2.19 million for the same period a year ago. The company posted a loss of $84,000 for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $56,000 a year ago. Revenue for the first three quarters of its fiscal year was flat, at $6.72 million, the same as the prior year. But the company’s loss of $53,000 in the first three quarters of its fiscal year represented a negative turn from a $354,000 profit a year ago.

Heska Corp. (Nasdaq: HSKA) posted fourth-quarter earnings per share of 44 cents, missing analyst expectations by 32 cents. While the company missed on its earnings, it’s an improvement over the same period the year prior, when the company had a net loss of 15 cents per share. The Loveland company, which provides advanced veterinary diagnostic and specialty products, reported net income of almost $3.5 million. For the fourth quarter of 2017, Heska posted a net loss of more than $1 million. The company recorded revenue of about $34 million, down 5.5 percent from the same period the year prior, and missed the analyst consensus by $6.79 million. For the full year of 2018, Heska had earnings of about 74 cents per share and net income of about $5.9 million. In 2017, the company had earnings of $1.30 per share and net income of almost $10 million. Net revenue fell slightly from $129 million for the full year of 2017 to $127 million for the full year of 2018.

Pilgrim’s Pride (Nasdaq: PPC), a Greeley-based poultry producer, had sales of nearly $10.94 billion for fiscal year 2018, up from about $10.77 billion the previous year. While the company’s yearly revenues improved in 2018, fourth quarter results were down compared with the same period in 2017. Sales in the final quarter of 2018 were about $2.66 billion, down more than three percent from the $2.74 billion sales figure posted in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Zayo Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZAYO) posted second-quarter earnings per share of 13 cents, in line with analyst expectations. The Boulder-based telecommunications company recorded net income of $30.2 million, which included $36.1 million from the Communications Infrastructure business segment but also a $5.9 million loss from the Allstream segment. Still, second-quarter income more than doubled from the same period last year, when it was $13.2 million. Revenue for the quarter totaled $639 million, down 2 percent from the same period last year and missing analyst expectations by $2.9 million.

EVENTS

The Better Business Bureau has begun selling tickets and table sponsorships for its 21st annual BBB Torch Awards for Ethics. The event will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 18, at Embassy Suites in Loveland. In addition to the Torch Awards, this year’s ceremony will honor the next class of the BBB Spark Award for Entrepreneurship winners.

Gov. Jared Polis will be a featured speaker at the NoCo Hemp Expo taking place March 28-30 at the Crowne Plaza DIA Convention Center. Colorado Hemp Co. produces NoCo Hemp Expo. Polis joins a lineup of speakers that includes David Bronner, cosmic enlightenment officer of top-selling Dr. Bronner’s natural soaps; and Michelle Barry, co-founder and chief executive of VITA Technologies, which provides customized innovation research.

KUDOS

The Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Tony Frank, president of Colorado State University, with the Collins Award at its 114th annual dinner. Other award winners included Valerie Arnold of Hub Real Estate, 2018 Volunteer of the Year, and Connie Dohn of Dohn Construction, 2018 board chair.

The St Julien Hotel and Spa in Boulder was named a four-star hotel by Forbes Travel Guide, the second highest Forbes rating, and a four-diamond rating from AAA, also its second highest. Broomfield’s Omni Interlocken Hotel and Resort also earned four diamonds from AAA, along with Boulder eateries Frasca and The Flagstaff House Restaurant. Flagstaff also made OpenTable’s latest list of the 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America, along with Black Cat in Boulder and Chimney Park in Windsor.

Albert Yates, former Colorado State University president, received the Founders Day Medal as CSU celebrated its 149th birthday on Feb. 11.

Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley and Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins were recognized as being among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the country by Denver-based online medical information firm Healthgrades.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Broomfield-based Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) entered into an agreement to acquire Australian Alpine Enterprises Holdings Pty. Ltd, a firm that owns and operates Falls Creek Alpine Resort and Hotham Alpine Resort in the Australian state of Victoria. The acquisition, which is expected to close in June, includes the ski school, retail and rental, reservation and property management operations at both resort areas. The purchase price is $174 million Australian, about $124 million U.S).

PivotDesk, the online marketplace for office sharing born in Boulder that closed in October, announced it is back up and running, thanks to an acquisition by New York-based commercial real-estate technology company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Louisville-based Accurence Inc., which provides property insurance solutions after structural damage caused by natural occurrences, acquired Jacksonville, Fla.-based National Water, which estimates and audits mitigation from water losses. The agreement includes three products: Prime Flood, Prime P&C and Audit, which will be integrated into the Accurence product line.

Boston-based Carbonite Inc. (Nasdaq: CARB) is acquiring Broomfield-based Webroot Inc. for $618.5 million.

Nutrien Ltd., a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based crop-nutrient company with operations in Loveland and Greeley, purchased sustainable soil product maker Actagro LLC for $340 million. Founded in Boulder in 1997, Webroot moved its headquarters to Broomfield in 2011.

Denver-based LivWell Enlightened Health acquired substantially all of the assets of Green Meadows Wellness LLC, which operates Infinite Wellness Center, a medical and recreational dispensary. Green Meadows now operates 15 dispensaries in Colorado. The location at 900 N. College Ave. in Fort Collins already is listed on the LivWell website.

Less than five years after Lafayette-based Tru Community Care and Greeley-based Hospice of Northern Colorado merged, Tru has sold its Greeley hospice operations to Banner Health Network. Tru will continue to own and operate its existing hospice services in Boulder, Broomfield, Adams and Jefferson counties. Tru Hospice of Northern Colorado will be folded into Banner’s operations over the next two to three months.

SendGrid Inc., a Boulder-born email-delivery service, completed its sale to San Francisco-based  Twilio Inc., and the deal is worth $1 billion more than originally conceived.

ArcherDX Inc., a Boulder-based company that develops genomic sequencing and analysis technology, acquired Baby Genes Inc., a genetic analysis laboratory in Golden. It will continue to operate under the name ArcherDC Clinical Services Inc. and will market genetic testing services under the Baby Genes brand name. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Belmont, Calif.-based RingCentral Inc. (NYSE: RNG), a provider of enterprise cloud communications, entered into an agreement to acquire Boulder-based Connect First, a cloud-based outbound/blended customer engagement platform for midsize and enterprise companies. Connect First has been around for 14 years and relocated to Boulder from Atlanta in 2010. There are just under 50 employees in Boulder. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

UQM Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UQM), a developer of alternative-energy technologies, entered into a merger agreement with Danfoss Power Solutions (US) Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Denmark-based Danfoss A/S. Danfoss will acquire all outstanding common shares of UQM for $1.71 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $100 million, including assumption of UQM’s debt. Danfoss, a privately owned multinational company with reported sales of 5.8 billion euros in 2017, manufactures hydraulic systems, drives, motors and components for the automotive, aerospace, HVAC, and energy industries. The merger anticipates that UQM will become part of the Danfoss Power Solutions segment. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

Boulder-based Tendril Networks Inc., a provider of home energy management solutions for the utility industry, acquired energy analytics provider EEme.

Operose Manufacturing Inc., a Frederick-based machining service and technology provider, acquired Minnesota-based 3-D CNC Inc., which provides manufacturing services to the computer, medical, electronic, aerospace and industrial equipment industries. Terms of the acquisition, which is Operose’s first, were not disclosed. Operose, founded in 2007, has seven employees in its Colorado operation and, following the 3-D CNC acquisition, about 30 employees in Minnesota. The acquisition is not expected to affect staffing levels at either site.

Cambrex Corp. (NYSE: CBM) closed on the acquisition of Avista Pharma Solutions Inc., a pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing company with a major Longmont presence.

MOVES

Functional Remedies LLC, a Superior-headquartered hemp oil product maker, expanded its lab and production facility from a roughly 5,000-square-foot space to a  25,000-square-foot space in Louisville’s Colorado Technology Center and has moved its administrative offices into a new 4,000-square-foot space in Superior.

ENGlobal Corp. (Nasdaq: ENG), a Houston-headquartered engineering firm servicing the energy industry, moved its Colorado offices from Broomfield to downtown Denver. The company formerly housed its engineering and construction operations at 10901 West 120th Ave., an office in Broomfield’s Interlocken business park. Colorado operations will now be located on the 24th floor at 700 17th St.

United Way of Larimer County will move this year from its location at 424 Pine St, in Fort Collins to a new space nearby at 525 Oak St. The move will allow the growing Teaching Tree Early Childhood Learning Center, which shares space in United Way’s Pine Street building, to expand its operations and take over the entirety of the building. The new facility is expected to be ready for United Way to move in July. Fort Collins-based development firm Brinkman owns the property and will subsidize the cost of building improvements.

Nuventra, a consulting firm for the pharmaceutical biotech industry, is moving to a larger location in Broomfield that will be completed this month. It has seven employees in Broomfield and about 100 overall

Crocs Inc. (Nasdaq: CROX), the iconic maker of casual footwear, will relocate its global headquarters from its current 98,000-square-foot headquarters at 7477 E. Dry Creek Pkwy. In Niwot to 88,000 square feet at 13699 Via Varra Road in Broomfield.

A natural-food company decided to make Boulder its headquarters. The Good Crisp Co., a brand of guilt-free chips that’s like a healthier version of Pringles, moved from Australia to Boulder. The company recently received financing from CircleUp Growth Partners.

The owners of a California-bakery that received $300,000 investment on Shark Tank, relocated their operations to Fort Collins. The Dough Bar, a bakery concept that puts 11 grams of protein into its doughnuts, is owned by Ondrea and Marquez Fernandez. It shifted its production to 501 Riverside Ave. and is opening a retail shop this spring. The bakery opened in April 2015 in San Francisco with products sold online across the country.

Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant temporarily closed its permanent location in Boulder and is operating out of a temporary spot at 1701 Pearl St. while its main location is being renovated. It also has locations in Fort Collins, Greeley, Denver, Frisco and Lone Tree.

NAME CHANGES

Chrisland Inc., a Northern Colorado real estate brokerage, changed its name to Affinity Real Estate Partners Inc. effective Feb. 28 to coincide with the company joining NAI Global, a New Jersey-headquartered real estate firm with more than 400 offices worldwide.

The PVH and MCR Foundation, which provides philanthropic support to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins and Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, changed its name to UCHealth Northern Colorado Foundation.

Boulder-based Confident Financial Solutions LLC changed its name to DigniFi. The company provides access to car-repair loans issued by WebBank.

Anton Collins Mitchell LLP, a Denver-based accounting firm with offices in Boulder, Greeley and Laramie, Wyo., simplified its name to ACM LLP and created a new logo.

OPENING

Tradehome Shoe Stores Inc. opened a store in Fort Collins’ Foothills mall on March 1, its fifth in Colorado. Tradehome, a Cottage Grove, Minn.-based company, is an employee-owned retailer that has stores in Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, Broomfield and Pueblo.

Boulder Community Health opened the 40,000-square-foot, $19 million Erie Medical Center on March 4 at 101 Erie Parkway in Erie. The center will be home to satellite offices of existing BCH services such as Boulder Heart and Boulder Women’s Care practices, and also will feature a family medicine clinic with two full-time physicians and one nurse practitioner, a full-service laboratory and an imaging facility. BCH’s Outpatient Pediatric Rehabilitation program will move in April from the health system’s Boulder facility on Broadway to Erie.

Pinocchio’s Incredible Italian opened at 1455 Rocky Mountain Ave. in east Loveland. The company also operates two Pinocchio’s restaurants in Longmont and one in Frederick, as well as Delvickio’s restaurants in Brighton, Broomfield and Superior.

Boulder-based natural-foods grocer Lucky’s Market will host a grand opening celebration March 6 at 425 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins. As part of the event, Lucky’s will provide donations to allow the nonprofit Wish For Wheels to purchase 40 bikes and helmets for second graders at Putnam Elementary School and for Project Self-Sufficiency to cover transportation costs for local families in need. The Fort Collins store will be the company’s fifth Colorado location. Lucky’s has existing stores in Boulder and Longmont.

UCHealth Orchards Medical Center opened at 221 E. 29th St. in Loveland. Services include internal medicine, occupational medicine and endocrinology.

Waypoint Real Estate LLC is launching its own development services company, Waypoint Development LLC. Todd Parker will serve as its director of development.

Studio 68 Fitness LLC hosted its grand opening Feb. 23 at 4650 Signal Tree Drive in Timnath.

The facility includes a spin-cycle studio with 20 bikes, a heated yoga studio and a strength and conditioning area, as well as the main 2,000-square-foot fitness studio. Additional amenities include a child care area and playroom, a café, and men’s and women’s locker rooms, each with a sauna. Neenan Archistruction of Fort Collins was the developer, designer and builder.

Medicine Man, a Denver-based chain of marijuana dispensaries, opened a location at 500 E. Rogers Road in Longmont. It also operates pot shops in Denver, Aurora and Thornton.

Palm Organix opened a retail store Feb. 20 at the Palisades Center Mall in Rockland County, N.Y. This will mark the first retail location for Fort Collins-based Palm Organix, which makes CBD products made from organically grown industrial hemp.

Sheltair Aviation Services LLC opened a temporary fixed-base operation at Broomfield’s Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport while the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company awaits construction of a permanent FBO. Sheltair entered into a lease agreement with Jefferson County in 2018 to build and operate a full-service FBO at the airport, the company’s first project west of the Mississippi River.

Adams Bank & Trust nopened its second Fort Collins location at 148 Remington St. The Nebraska-based bank has a branch on South College Avenue as well as in Firestone, Berthoud, Longmont, Sterling and Colorado Springs.

A 102-room, 67,000-square-foot Courtyard by Marriott hotel opened Feb. 15 in Loveland’s Centerra master-planned development. The four-story hotel developed by McWhinney Real Estate Services Inc. and Stonebridge Companies is located at 6106 Sky Pond Drive near Interstate 25 and U.S. Highway 34. This is the fourth hotel to be built in Centerra.

Cheba Hut, a cannabis-themed sandwich shop, plans to open 200 stores by 2025. The Fort Collins-based chain chain will open its 25th location later this month in Las Vegas and has three more planned for Colorado this year in Johnstown, Colorado Springs and Greeley.

Bobo’s Oat Bars, trade name for Boulder-company Simply Delicious Inc., has begun production operations in the former Canyon Bakehouse plant at 1510 E. 11th St. in Loveland. It continues its operations in Boulder as well.

Lash and Co., a medical beauty spa, opened its second Colorado location Jan. 25 at 2109 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins and will hold an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. March 8. Lash and Co. is a trade name of Pure Vida Spa LLC.

NiCHE Workspaces LLC, a Boulder-based co-working company with a flagship space in downtown Boulder, expanded to north Boulder. The company retrofitted the former Namaste Solar building at 4571 Broadway St., 5,500 square feet in all, with 22 dedicated desks and 10 private offices. NiCHE, an outgrowth of local, family-owned property management company PMD Realty, opened at 944 Pearl St., on Pearl Street’s west end, nearly two years ago.

Boulder-based engineering firm Anthem Structural Engineers is expanding with the addition of a new office in Steamboat Springs.

Norrøna, a Norwegian outdoor brand, is opening a store at 1130 Pearl St. in Boulder, its first U.S. retail location, during the first half of this year. The store will include Norrøna’s assortment of technical outerwear, an apparel repair center, community gathering space and espresso bar.

The Louisville Recreation and Senior Center, 900 W. Via Appia Way, held a grand opening and ribbon cutting event Jan. 26.

Agilent Technologies Inc. plans to have its new Frederick location open for production in the second quarter of this year. The site will have about 100 employees when it opens and has been hiring workers since August 2017.

Avanti Food & Beverage, a collective eatery in Denver, will expand to Boulder and open a second location in the former Cheesecake Factory space late this year. The 13,000-square-foot Avanti Boulder, 1401 Pearl St., will feature a rooftop deck, six different culinary concepts, two bars, coffee and pastries. The eatery will be open for lunch and dinner daily, with brunch served on weekends. Oz Architecture is the lead architect, and Scout Interiors is handling interior design. Avanti is seeking chefs and restaurateurs interested in applying for one of the six restaurant spots.

Front Range Community College will open a 27,000-square-foot manufacturing technology center in Longmont later this year that will become the new home to two programs and permit the operation of two new, accredited technology programs. The college, along with Advanced Energy Industries Inc., a Fort Collins-based manufacturer, conducted a “wall breaking” ceremony at the new facility at 1351 S. Sunset St. in Longmont in January.

Portions of the University of Northern Colorado’s Campus Commons in Greeley were open when students returned to school for the start of the spring semester.

The previously announced 24 Hour Fitness facility planned for the former Safeway building at 460A S. College Ave. in Fort Collins will open March 16. The building is owned by LC Real Estate, a Loveland-based commercial and residential real estate firm.

The long-closed Summit Restaurant in west Loveland will soon be a new dental office. Dentist Paul Bigus will move his practice from near downtown Loveland to the location on a bluff overlooking the Big Thompson watershed and foothills. The office will open in March or April.

PRODUCT UPDATE

MindFull Inc., a Boulder-based natural-products company, introduced a new ready-to-drink product, Vibe Organic Electrolyte Black Teas. The beverages, available nationwide at Whole Foods 365 Markets and Central Markets, are made using artesian spring water, organic tea, honey and natural flavors. They include naturally occurring electrolytes and minerals that come from the water source. The tea includes 48 milligrams of caffeine, about half of what is found in a typical cup of coffee. Each beverage also contains one gram of sugar and 20 calories. They are available in mint, lemon, peach and pomegranate flavors.

Tusaar, a Lafayette company producing products to remove metals from drinking water, has gotten the certification it needs from China to verify that its products work, are safe and can be sold to consumers there. Tusaar’s filters work by using coconut carbon.

Valimenta Labs, a supplement manufacturer, has plans to debut a new patent-pending technology called CELLg8TM. The technology uses naturally-occurring lipids as a sheath to preserve active nutrients during digestion.

Sara’s Cosmic Cookie Dough, trade name for Boulder-based  company 432 LLC, created a cookie dough that’s safe to eat raw or baked. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned against eating raw cookie dough because of the danger of consuming raw eggs that can carry the salmonella bacteria. Also, uncooked flour can carry E. coli. Sara’s plant-based cookie dough is made not with raw eggs or raw flour but with pasteurized almond flour and vegan ingredients. Sara’s offers three flavors: chocolate chip, oatmeal chocolate chip and double chocolate chip. All flavors are gluten-free, vegan and paleo friendly.

Skiers at Colorado resorts, starting with Winter Park so far, soon will have real-time access to resort data while they ski. Alpine Media Technology LLC of Centennial engaged Boulder-based company Human Design LLC to create a system capable of providing information to skiers while they ride lifts or as they use their smartphones to find information. Previously, real-time information was limited because of WiFi and cell-tower connectivity. The system uses the lift itself to be the connecting mechanism for the data.

Boulder’s Evo Hemp spartnered with New York-based drink manufacturer Honeydrop Beverages on a new line of CBD-infused lemonade. Honeydrop Cold-Pressed CBD Lemonades will include 20 milligrams of CBD sourced by Evo Hemp.

SERVICES

UCHealth began providing senior health and activity programming in Longmont through an expansion of its Aspen Club. The club, which is free to join and offers classes, social activities and discounts for members, is housed at Longs Peak Hospital, 750 E. Ken Pratt Blvd.

Commuting Solutions, a Louisville-based group that supports transportation-improvement efforts in the areas just northwest of Denver, partnered with Waze Carpool on a ride-sharing program for U.S. Highway 36 commuters. The program, Casual Carpool on US 36, matches drivers and riders traveling in the same direction through the Waze Carpool app for the U.S. 36 corridor. Through April 30, riders can try Casual Carpool on U.S. 36 for $1. After that date, the cost of rides will be 58 cents per mile. That’s also the amount that drivers, who will be permitted to use U.S. 36 Express Lanes for free, will be paid per mile.

Choice House, a Boulder County-based provider of 90-day extended primary treatment and long-term structured sober living, added intensive outpatient treatment to its continuum of services. The 12-week intensive outpatient program complements Choice’s inpatient and structured sober living treatment programs, providing those who struggle with drug and alcohol abuse the opportunity to choose the treatment program that best suits their needs and lifestyle.

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