Briefcase – Oct. 3, 2014

BRIEFS

Unico Properties LLC, a Seattle-based real-estate investment and operating company, will pursue LEED-Platinum certification for core and shell at the 1738 Pearl Street building in Boulder, now undergoing re-development. Unico is majority owner and property manager of 1738 Pearl Street, which will be a 41,000-square-foot, mixed-use office and retail building upon completion expected in April. Its tenants include Frasca Food & Wine, Pizzeria Locale and the law firm of Berg, Hill, Greenleaf, and Ruscitti.

Louisville-based Bella Energy completed a solar project at the Town of Kersey’s wastewater treatment plant. A ribbon cutting is to be held Oct. 10.

CONTRACTS

Boulder Brands Inc. and Papa Murphy’s Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: FRSH) announced a deal to make Udi’s Gluten Free pizza crust available at Papa Murphy’s stores. Boulder Brands (Nasdaq: BDBD) is the parent company of Udi’s, which makes a wide range of gluten-free bread and bakery products.

Fort Collins-based Brinkman Construction was been selected by Poudre Fire Authority for a service agreement to complete any and all of their construction projects throughout the next year.

Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications Inc. will build diverse fiber-entry points into a data center slated to open in early 2015 at Houston-based Data Foundry, a provider of data-center colocation, disaster recovery and managed services.

DEADLINES

Team Fort Collins extended the nomination deadline for its annual Lamplighter Award to Oct. 15. In its 12th year, the annual award is given to an individual or couple who contribute significant time, energy and resources to work with youth in Northern Colorado. Four finalists will be announced Nov. 15 at a Donor Appreciation Open House at Blue Agave in Fort Collins, and the winner will be announced at the Simply Red gala on Feb. 13 at the Hilton Fort Collins.

Nominations can be submitted to gordon@teamfortcollins.org. Nominee forms can be downloaded at teamfortcollins.org.

EARNINGS

Vail Resorts Inc. reported a widened loss for its fiscal fourth quarter – and issued a quarterly dividend. Broomfield-based Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN) cited 15 percent higher operating expenses and a $10.8 million loss associated with a debt repayment that offset growth in revenue. On Sept. 11, the company announced that it had acquired the Park City Mountain Resort in Utah from Powdr Corp. for $183 million in a deal that ended a legal dispute between the ski-resort operators. For the period ended July 31, Vail reported a loss of $75.4 million, or $2.08 a share, compared with a loss of $59.9 million, or $1.67 a share, for the same quarter in 2013. Revenue rose 21 percent to $135.5 million for the quarter. The company’s board of directors also declared a quarterly cash dividend of 41.5 cents per share of common stock, payable Oct. 22 to shareholders of record on Oct. 7. Net income for fiscal 2014 was $28.5 million.

KUDOS

The NOCO HBA Parade of Homes presented awards to the following builders in these categories: Best Architectural Exterior, Hartford Homes; Best Floor Plan, Westmark Homes; Best Kitchen, Spanjer Homes; Best Master Suite, TriPointe Homes; Best Landscaping, DR Horton; Best Outdoor Space, Aspen Homes; Best Green Home, Meritage Homes; Best Craftsmanship, HighCraft Builders; Remodeling Excellence Award, HighCraft Builders; Best Overall Home, Spanjer Homes; People’s Choice, Spanjer Homes.

Chief executive Lisa Calkins, chief information officer John Basso and chief operations officer Jay Millard of Boulder-based software development company Amadeus Consulting won the Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards under the Management Team of the Year category. The program recognizes and honors the world’s best executives and management teams from every major industry in the world.

The St. Vrain and Left Hand Water Conservancy District was named one of three winners of the Special District Association of Colorado’s 2014 Collaboration Award, which honors special districts that have effectively and efficiently partnered with other entities and local governments to form successful working relationships for the benefit of their citizens. The awards were presented Sept. 10-12 in Keystone. In the aftermath of the September 2013 flood, SVLHWCD, Boulder County, the city of Longmont, the town of Lyons and local property owners began the challenge of addressing short-term recovery and the channel’s ability to handle spring runoff. The group became known as the St. Vrain Creek Recovery and Restoration Team.

The Colorado Department of Higher Education selected a University of Northern Colorado course for freshmen as part of a statewide campaign that promotes successful postsecondary completion. Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia, who serves as executive director of CDHE, will visit the campus in Greeley on Oct. 22 as part of the campaign titled Colorado Completes! The UNC course submitted, University 101, is a three-credit course that promotes a successful transition from high school to college.

FreeWave Technologies, Inc. in Boulder, which provides industrial, secure Machine to Machine and Internet of Things wireless networking solutions, received the 2014 North American Unified Industrial Wireless Platform New Product Innovation Leadership Award from Frost & Sullivan for its WavePoint platform.

A trio of Boulder Valley companies have made the B Corp Best for Workers List of 2014. The list honors the top 10 percent of all certified B Corps, measuring metrics such as compensation and benefits, health and wellness programs, parent-friendly flex time and leave policies, professional development and internal promotion, corporate culture, profit sharing and ownership opportunities. Locally, Broomfield-based Application Experts, a software company that helps alternative asset fund managers and institutional investors achieve strong performance, was honored in the Small Businesses category for companies with 10 to 49 employees. In the Midsize Businesses category for companies with 50 or more employees, Boulder-based software development firm Rally Software Development Corp. was honored along with Boulder-based solar installation developer Namaste Solar.

Project Self-Sufficiency was designated as an Accredited Charity Seal Holder by Better Business Bureau Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming’s Center for Nonprofit Excellence. PS-S met all 20 BBB standards for charity accountability.

A new NerdWallet.com study ranks Boulder No. 1 in the country for economic growth from 2009 to 2013, thanks in large part to a steep rise in median wages over that period. The NerdWallet study analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data for more than 500 of the largest American cities. Three criteria weighed in: growth in the working age population; employment growth; and median income growth.

McKee Medical Center’s cardiac rehabilitation program was recertified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. The hospital in Loveland was recognized for its commitment to improving the quality of life by enhancing standards of care.

Money magazine ranked Boulder 23rd on its list of the top 50 small cities in which to live, although Fort Collins, a former fixture of the rankings, was absent. The rankings included cities with populations between 50,000 and 300,000, using data from Onboard Informatics and factoring in things like median family income, home prices and job growth.

EKS&H LLLP was named by Great Place to Work as one of the best medium workplaces in the United States on its annual 2014 Best Small & Medium Workplaces List, published in Fortune magazine. Ranked 14th, this is the sixth consecutive year EKS&H has received this honor.

IBMC College was designated a Military Friendly School by Victory Media, which is awarded to the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools in the nation that are doing the most to embrace military students and dedicate resources to ensure their success in the classroom and after graduation. IBMC, locally owned and operated by The Laub Co. Inc. since 1991, operates campuses in Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Cheyenne.

Marda Barthuli, a more than 40-year employee of Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, received the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal for outstanding contributions to a NASA mission. She was recognized for helping resolve a spacecraft anomaly and for the execution of engineering processes and configuration management for NASA’s CloudSat mission. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. is a division of Broomfield-based >Ball Corp.  (NYSE: BLL).

The Creative Alliance in Lafayette won an American Graphic Design Award from Graphic Design USA Magazine for a video it produced for its client Carbon Cycle Energy.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Bill Barrett Corp. (NYSE: BBG) announced agreements to sell its assets in Wyoming and northwest Colorado and buy additional acreage in the Wattenberg field in Northern Colorado. The Denver-based oil and natural-gas producer said the transactions include an acreage exchange in which the company acquires nearly 7,900 net acres and 390 barrels of oil equivalent per day of net production in the Wattenberg field in exchange for the company’s acreage in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. Bill Barrett valued the transactions at $757 million. The deals will reduce Bill Barrett’s $1.1 billion net debt to about $450 million.

Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust has added to its portfolio of shopping centers in Colorado, closing on the sale of more than half of Front Range Village in Fort Collins. Ramco-Gershenson (NYSE: RPT), paid $128.3 million to Alabama-based Bayer Properties LLC and institutional investors for 460,000 square feet of the 811,371-square-foot mixed-use shopping center at the northeast corner of Harmony and Zeigler roads. Ramco-Gershenson will manage the entire shopping center.

Denver-based CIC Bancshares Inc., the owner of Centennial Bank, has reached an agreement to acquire five Mutual of Omaha Bank branches along the Front Range including one in Nederland. Mutual of Omaha Bank branches in Idaho Springs, Evergreen, Conifer, Golden and Nederland will become Centennial Bank branches, pending regulatory approval and the satisfaction of certain other conditions, according to a joint statement.

Denver-based Matrix Group Inc. purchased the Midtown Commons shopping center at 2721 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins from Everitt Industries Inc. for $11.6 million earlier this month, according to public records. The 98,764-square-foot shopping center sits on 8.4 acres and is 96.3 percent leased; the three largest tenants are Jo-Ann Fabrics, Dollar Tree and Arc Thrift Store.

WhiteWave Foods Co. agreed to acquire Eugene, Ore.-based So Delicious Dairy Free from its shareholders, led by Wasserstein & Co., for approximately $195 million in cash. Broomfield-based WhiteWave (NYSE:WWAV) intends to fund the acquisition through cash balances and available credit, according to a company statement. The deal is expected to close in the next few months.

Encana Oil Gas USA Inc. purchased the Firestone headquarters building of Flatiron Constructors for $7.8 million, and CVA LLC purchased Flatiron’s 22-acre industrial yard and other adjacent facilities on the property on the east side of Interstate 25 for an undisclosed amount. Flatiron is preparing to relocate its corporate headquarters to north of Denver. Denver-based Encana Oil Gas USA operates as the U.S. headquarters for Calgary, Alberta-based Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) (TSX: ECA), an oil and gas exploration company with operations in Weld County.

California-based Fairfield Residential Co. LLC acquired the Peakview Apartments in Lafayette for $25.5 million, according to public records. The complex, at 601 Merlin Drive off South Boulder Road, has been renamed Ardenne. Bottom of Form

Fairfield bought the complex through its entity Fairfield PeakView LLC from PCCP FPA Peakview LLC.

Kansas-based Sunflower Financial Inc. and Denver-based First Western Financial Inc. plan to merge. The new company will have approximately $2.5 billion in bank assets and $5.5 billion in trust and investment assets under management. A name for the merged company has not yet been determined, and the company most likely will maintain offices in Denver and Salina, Kan. In Colorado, Sunflower has locations in Longmont, Denver, Monte Vista, Pueblo, Canon City and Greenwood Village, while First Western has locations in Fort Collins, Boulder and Denver.

MOVES

The Apex Movement parkour gym in Loveland closed its doors Sept. 28 and moved to Fort Collins. Movement Ascent LLC, doing business as Apex Movement Fort Collins, recently leased 2,354 square feet of warehouse space at 2649 E. Mulberry St., where it plans to reopen Oct. 5.

MOVES / NAME CHANGES

Countryside Asset Management Corp. changed its name to Haven Property Management and Advisors, and moved its Gunbarrel location to 1000 S. McCaslin Blvd. in Superior.

NAME CHANGES

Clear Channel announced Sept. 17 it is now iHeartMedia to reflect its transformation into a multi-platform media company. The new name will cover its 859 radio stations, its six-year-old iHeartMedia digital streaming service including the iHeartRadio app and website, live music events and related companies. Local residents can receive up to 15 iHeartMedia-owned stations during normal conditions. Stations in the Denver cluster include 50,000-watt news-talk-sports outlet KOA-AM 850, talk KHOW-AM 630 and KKZN-AM 760, alternative-rock KTCL-FM 93.3, top-40 rhythmic KPTT-FM 95.7, album-rock KBCO-FM 97.3, classic-rock KRFX-FM 103.5 and active-rock KBPI-FM 106.7. Its Northern Colorado cluster includes news-talk KCOL-AM 600, classic country KIIX-AM 1410, top-40 KSME-FM 96.1, country KXBG-FM 97.9 and KOLZ-FM 100.7, and classic-rock KPAW-FM 107.9, as well as KPAW-HD, a low-power alternative-rock station at 94.9 FM.

OPENINGS

Cheyenne, Wyo.-based Sierra Trading Post will open a store of more than 18,000 square feet in The Square at 3500 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins on Oct. 9, offering up to 70 percent discounts on their apparel, footwear, outdoor and fitness gear. The new store plans to hire approximately 70 full- and part-time employees, and is continuing to hire.

Amana Yoga Studio opened Sept. 6 in the space at Broadway and Pearl streets in downtown Boulder that had been occupied by Om Time Yoga. Its grand opening was held Sept. 27.

The Group, Inc. Real Estate opened its sixth Northern Colorado location at 121 E. Mountain Ave. in Old Town Fort Collins. Group Realtors who have moved to the new location, dubbed The Source, include: Kelly McBartlett, Scott Beasley, Paul Schnaitter, Joy Willett, James Mitchell and Nancy Walker.

PRODUCT UPDATE

Fort Collins-based Information Point Technologies, a network, web design, application development and SEO company serving clients in Northern Colorado and nationally, redesigned upgraded and relaunched the website for Poudre Property Services, a property management and maintenance company.

Boulder-based Lumos Solar introduced a SmartPark solar electrovoltaic charging station, featuring the new GSX Glass-Glass Frameless Module System.

Boulder-based Head Rush Technologies will intrudice “FlightLine: Step Up and Take Flight” in early 2015. The commercial free-fall ride will be mountable between approximately 60 to 90 feet.

SERVICES

Information and Real Estate Services LLC of Colorado has added a software program to its multiple listing service that allows member agents to schedule and manage home-showing appointments online. Financial terms of the deal between Loveland-based IRES and software integrator Centralized Showing Service Inc. in Overland Park, Kan., were not disclosed. IRES was formed in 1996 as the regional multiple listing for Northern Colorado by Realtor boards and associations in Boulder, Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Loveland/Berthoud. IRES also is the MLS provider for Realtor boards in Estes Park, and Morgan and Logan counties. It also shares listing data with the Denver metro area and Colorado Springs.

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