Neguse welcomes Boulder County biz legends to Hall of Fame

BOULDER — “My understanding is that part of the honor of being inducted into the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame is that you’ve made a life pledge to never leave Boulder County,” U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse joked Thursday during his remarks that opened the hall’s annual awards celebration.

Kidding aside, the adoration on display at the Boulder Jewish Community Center ought to be enough to keep the hall’s 2026 class of inductees from skipping town anytime soon. 

Gerry Agnes, Sally and Sandy Bracken, Becky Callan-Gamble and the late Dean Callan, Rene and Maria Cervantes, Rich Lopez and Denis Nock were inducted into the hall of fame this week, joining more than 200 past inductees, who are are evaluated by a selection committee that considers the nominee’s business achievements, community impact, ethical leadership and lasting contributions to Boulder County’s economic and social fabric.

“For nearly 35 years, the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame has brought our business community together to recognize and remember the achievements and the breakthroughs that are worth celebrating,” Neguse said.

Members of the 2026 class “have come from every corner of industry, but they all share some very important similarities,” he said. “All of the inductees have upheld the highest level of ethics and integrity in their business dealings. And they all have coupled their success in business with a real bone-deep commitment to improving this community that we’re all so blessed to call home.”

Gerry Agnes: As president and CEO of Elevations Credit Union for 17 years, Agnes transformed a community financial institution into one of the most recognized credit unions in the country. Under his leadership, Elevations grew to more than $3.5 billion in assets and earned the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice, one of the highest distinctions for organizational excellence in the United States. A fixture in Boulder’s business community for nearly two decades, Agnes was repeatedly recognized as one of BizWest’s Most Influential Business Leaders and served in numerous civic and industry leadership roles. He retired in February.

Sally and Sandy Bracken: The Brackens have built a legacy that spans higher education, business strategy and philanthropy. Sally Bracken has spent more than four decades helping shape Boulder County. She served as a trustee of the Boulder Community Health Foundation and, together with Sandy, made a landmark $1 million gift to Boulder Community Foothills Hospital in 2012 for an  inpatient cancer and urology unit, a space that now bears the Bracken name.

Sandy Bracken, who served as the 19th president of the University of Colorado and later held the Quigg and Virginia S. Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership at CU Boulder, began his career in higher education at Anderson College in Anderson, Indiana, and then transitioned to the business world, working for Ball Corp. in Westminster and Boulder.

The couple has also been active supporters and board members of the Community Foundation Boulder County, Student Venture, Boulder Community Health Imagine! Foundation, Impact on Education, and the Boulder Humane Society.

Dean Callan and Becky Callan-Gamble: Few names are more synonymous with Boulder’s commercial real estate landscape than Callan. Dean Callan founded Dean Callan & Co. in 1963 with a community-first approach that became the firm’s defining characteristic for more than six decades. His daughter Becky Callan-Gamble joined the company in 1992 and has served as CEO, guiding a team of brokers with more than 150 years of collective experience in tenant and landlord representation across the Front Range.

Dean Callan served on several boards, including Boulder Community Hospital, Colorado National Bank and Frasier Meadows Manor.  He died in 2011. Becky Callan-Gamble served on the initial advisory boards of the Boulder Center for Sport Medicine and the Boulder Economic Council.  In addition, Becky and her husband, Bruce, were integral to the Leadership Program for student-athletes at The University of Colorado, where the Gamble Steps Program was implemented to design comprehensive career and life skills to help seniors transition out of competitive athletics.

Both Becky and Dean served terms as president of the CU Buff Club.

Rene and Maria Cervantes: The Cervanteses arrived in Longmont more than 37 years ago with little more than hard work, hope and a determination to build something for their family. What began as a small burrito shop became La Mariposa, with multiple restaurant locations across Boulder County. Their business has not only created jobs and served generations of families but has also become a symbol of the Latino business community’s contributions to Boulder County’s economic and cultural fabric.

Rich Lopez: Raised in California, Lopez worked in agricultural fields before serving in the National Guard. He studied architecture and planning at California Polytechnic State and Cornell universities, then earned a law degree from the University of Colorado. His professional career began in city planning, where he contributed to Boulder’s first Community Energy Management Program, early planning for Denver International Airport and major land-use, transportation, energy, solid waste and bikeways initiatives. He served two years on Boulder’s planning board and four on the Boulder City Council, including as deputy mayor.  Lopez has chaired major boards including the Denver Foundation and Boulder Community Health, led wildfire and flood relief efforts for the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County and guided the Cal-Wood Education Center through the dual challenges of a pandemic and wildfire.

Denis Nock: One of Boulder’s most enduring business builders, Nock has left his mark on nearly every corner of the region’s commercial and entrepreneurial landscape. He arrived in Boulder in 1980 as president of Valleylab Inc., bringing an executive perspective he quickly put to work for the broader community. He served as president of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce for seven years, during which he was named Boulder Chamber Businessperson of the Year, before becoming the inaugural director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado. His decades of engagement with the region’s civic and commercial infrastructure have included serving on the boards of and supporting 22 nonprofit organizations.

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