Mortgage and clean-up specialists are emerging finalists

Tom Beck and Beau Couch met when they worked at the same Greeley mortgage company in the 1990s.

The two parted ways when Beck went to work for Union Colony Bank’s mortgage department but eventually decided to pool their experience and create their own business, Lighthouse Lending, which opened in July 2002.

With record low interest rates, business for Lighthouse Lending has been great with people flocking to buy new homes or refinance their existing homes.

Lighthouse Lending has six offices in Greeley, Windsor, Fort Collins, Johnstown, Fort Morgan and Northglenn and employs about 60 people.

Angelique Hunt was born and raised in New York City and met her husband and business partner, Rick Hunt — a Colorado native — while both worked at Pfizer Inc. in New York City.

The Hunts purchased Risk Removal — a company created by the Neenan Co. in 1989 — in October 2002. Angelique is majority owner and president of the company and Rick is general manager and chief estimator.

Risk Removal is an environmental services company that cleans up asbestos, lead, mold, mercury, contaminated soils and other biohazards for clients that include schools, government, hospitals, military bases and residential customers.

The company has 15 full-time employees and serves a territory primarily in Colorado and Wyoming. Risk Removal Inc. was recently rated No. 52 in Colorado Biz magazine’s Top 100 women-owned businesses and No. 28 in the Top 50 minority-owned businesses.

Emerging Entrepreneur nominees

This year’s Bravo! Emerging Entrepreneur nominees include:

Tom Beck and Beau Couch, Lighthouse Lending; Brent Eskew, FindYourSpot.com; David Howard, 1Vision Software; Angelique Hunt, Risk Removal; Tom and Kristi Johnson, Bingham Hill Cheese Co.; Brenda and Richard Lucio, Coyote’s Southwestern Grill; Mike McCarty and Tim Veldhizen, McGraff’s; Clair Orr, AgTown Technologies; Howard Perko, Secure Foundations and Structures Inc.; Marcia Sampson, Eldon James Corp.; Howard Perko, Secure Foundations and Structures Inc.

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