Bob Morehouse to be inducted into business hall of fame

BOULDER — It should not have been a surprise when Bob Morehouse, founder of the 42-year-old advertising and marketing agency Vermilion, decided to elevate three of his long-time co-workers to the status of partner while he took a step back from the day-to-day management of the company.

Such a transfer of operational control fits with the firm that Morehouse headed for all those years. Vermilion, a B Corp. certified company, placed transparency, accountability and environmental consciousness at the forefront of its operations.

For his long-time, deeply embedded role in Boulder, Morehouse will be inducted into the 2022 Boulder County Business Hall of Fame on Sept 15.

He founded the creative agency in 1980 and took on clients to help them grow their presence in the community. Among his clients have been Allegro Coffee, Via Mobility Services and the Community Foundation of Boulder County. He also worked on national accounts such as the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Wild Planet Foods, The MacArthur Foundation and the Gill Foundation.

Morehouse provided free services to community nonprofit organizations. He was a founding member of the Colorado Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and became an AIGA Fellow in 2007. He has volunteered with civic organizations such as the Boulder County AIDS Project board, the Community Foundation board, the Colorado Chautauqua Association board, and was a member of the Boulder Chamber board and co-chair of its Community Affairs Council. He received the Pacesetter for Business award, the Chamber’s Business Person of the Year, the Open Door Fund’s ChangeMaker Award, and Boulder Rotary’s Service Above Self Award. 

His company’s ethos of “helping make a difference for those making a difference” has been an extension of his own sense of what an individual and a business ought to be all about.

In an interview with BizWest just after transferring daily control of the agency to his new partners, Morehouse said he would continue working in a reduced role with the company while focusing on philanthropy and fighting climate change.

“What’s important to me is that the culture and DNA of Vermilion continue on,” Morehouse said. 

The Hall of Fame induction luncheon will be 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel, 2601 Canyon Blvd. in Boulder. Tickets are available and priced at $65 for individual tickets or $520 for tables of eight. 

Six individuals or groups will be inducted in this, the Hall of Fame’s 30th year.

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