Briefcase – Dec. 12, 2014

CLOSINGS

D’Vine Bistro, 160 W. Oak St. in Fort Collins, was closed and seized Dec. 2 by the Colorado Department of Revenue for unpaid taxes and wages.

Three specialty shops owned by Jax Mercantile – the Gourmet Cheese Pantry Shoppe, Cottage Home and Hearth & Design Gallery – will close by the end of January at the Lafayette Marketplace on South Boulder Road in Lafayette.

The Perkins restaurant and bakery locations at 310 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins and 2297 Greeley Mall in Greeley abruptly closed Nov. 30. Franchise owner Eric Spanier sold the business to Jim Rahfaldt of CyHawk Hospitality in Sioux Falls, S.D., who also assumed ownership and management of Spanier’s restaurants in Loveland and Longmont. Those stores remain open.

The board of directors of the Loveland Sculpture Invitational determined that August’s event was its last showing. Loveland Sculpture Group, the governing body of LSI, will remain an active nonprofit, but the Invitational will not continue. 

CONTRACTS

Through a partnership with University of Colorado Health, Associates in Family Medicine and Miramont Lifestyle Fitness, Fort Collins-based Columbine Health Systems will give all its employees and dependents who are enrolled in the system’s health plan access to complimentary care at two walk-in health clinics beginning Jan. 1. They also will be able to take advantage of a full menu of free lifestyle health services that aim to help them live healthier lives.

Banner Network Colorado reached an agreement to offer medical care to consumers in Weld and Larimer counties who are insured through Humana Inc.’s (NYSE: HUM) health maintenance organization plans. The new network gives Humana members access to Banner’s 300 primary-care doctors and specialists, as well as its local hospitals. Banner operates North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, McKee Medical Center in Loveland and Banner Fort Collins Medical Center, which opens in April, as well as Banner clinics. The agreement is to take effect Jan. 1.

Broomfield-based global telecommunications provider Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) will assist the “NORAD Tracks Santa” program during the holiday season by providing voice services to Peterson Air Force Base and North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs. NORAD hosts an annual mission to track Santa Claus as he journeys across the globe to deliver presents on Dec. 24. The popular program is centered on a live operations center manned by 1,250 volunteer Santa Trackers who answer emails at noradtrackssanta@outlook.com and about 117,000 phone calls at 877-446-6723 annually from children asking Santa’s whereabouts. Level 3’s voice services provide secure and redundant support for the high volume of communications.

Fort Collins-based Heath Construction was selected by Home Instead Senior Care to construct its new 7,000-square-foot administrative and training facility on Boardwalk Drive in Fort Collins.

EARNINGS

Semiconductor maker Avago Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: AVGO) reported a net profit of $263 million, or $1.16 per diluted share, for its fiscal year that ended Nov. 2. That compared with a profit of $552 million, or $2.19 per share, last year. The decreased profit came despite annual revenue climbing from $2.5 billion last year to $4.3 billion this year. The company had a cash balance of $1.6 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. Fourth-quarter revenue leaped from $783 million last year to $1.6 billion this year. Net profit for the quarter was $135 million, down from $172 million a year ago but a major improvement over its third quarter loss of $164 million. Avago has headquarters in Singapore and San Jose, Calif., but its largest campus is in Fort Collins.

Rally Software Development Corp. (NYSE: RALY) posted record revenue but still incurred a loss for the third quarter of its fiscal year 2015 that ended Oct. 31. The Boulder-based software developer reported revenue of $22 million, an increase of 17 percent compared with the same period a year ago. It recorded a loss of $7.4 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with a loss of $5.8 million, or 24 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.

KUDOS

Boulder-based FreeWave Technologies Inc., a provider of secure Machine to Machine and Internet of Things wireless networking solutions, won a bronze medal in the “Most Innovative Company” category for medium-sized businesses by Best in Biz Awards 2014.

Windsor-based High Hops Brewery is one of 24 U.S. breweries that got to serve its brews to members of Congress on Dec. 10 in the Rayburn building next to the U.S. Capitol in Washington. The reception was held by the Craft Brewers Association.

Fort Collins-based design-build firm The Neenan Co. won ENR Mountain States’ Best Green Project Award for its development of the Powerhouse Energy Campus at Colorado State University. The publication also recognized Powerhouse as one of the top three projects in the region.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

California-based real estate developer Cress Capital LLC purchased the 27-acre Ironwood Business Park in Greeley, where it plans to build six more industrial buildings. Cress managing partner Art Smith said his company paid E.E. Kinder Co. LLC nearly $5 million for the property. The site, located at the southwest corner of East 16th Street and First Avenue, includes three separate parcels.

Itasca, Ill.-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG) acquired Insurance Associates Inc. in Boulder and Estes Park. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1919, Insurance Associates provides retail property/casualty and risk-management insurance services for commercial- and personal-lines clients throughout the West.

Loveland Commercial is under contract to purchase the 29th Street Plaza, at 29th Street and U.S. Highway 287 in Loveland, from Brinkman Partners for an undisclosed sum. Loveland Commercial partner Nathan Klein said the property is one of multiple properties the company is pursuing as part of a 1031 tax-deferred exchange in the wake of selling the Thompson Valley Town Center in southwest Loveland.

Kidrobot, which makes limited-edition art toys, apparel and lifestyle accessories, will remain headquartered in Boulder after its recent acquisition by the National Entertainment Collectibles Association. The two companies announced the deal recently, noting that NECA subsidiary KR Purchase LLC made the purchase. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

NECA, which also makes licensed toys and collectibles, is based in New Jersey.

MOVES

Anthem Branding, a Boulder-based design and advertising agency, moved into a new building at 2617 Broadway.

OPENINGS

Fatafeat, a Mediterranean restaurant, opened Dec. 3 at 1401 W. Elizabeth St. in the Campus West area of Fort Collins.

A new Boulder couple launched CompassionateFare, a vegan-ingredient delivery service, with the hope of making the vegan diet a little more approachable for newcomers. Jakub Kostecki, who founded the company with his wife Martyna this summer, said the plan is to take pre-orders in December and start shipping ingredient boxes in January.

Xpanxion, an Atlanta-based software-services firm, opened an office in Fort Collins, where the company expects to someday employ at least 100 information-technology professionals. The company’s office at 1015 W. Horsetooth Road opened in late November with about 10 employees. Xpanxion provides custom software development and quality-assurance services for enterprise-level clients.

Loveland CreatorSpace will celebrate the grand opening of its new facility at 320 Railroad Ave. in Loveland from 6 to 9 p.m. Jan. 9 during downtown Loveland’s 2nd Friday Night on the Town. The nonprofit community “makerspace” workshop provides access to workspace, high-tech fabrication tools such as 3D printers, and classes and events for tinkerers, entrepreneurs and young makers.

A new office at 2765 Dagny Way, Suite 200, in Lafayette is the second Colorado location of Denver-based Security Pursuit, which provides cyber security services.

PRODUCT UPDATE

Madre Cacao, a Fort Collins-based importer and wholesaler of chocolate products, began distributing Cacao Body Butter, processed from cacao beans in Ecuador and shipped to Colorado for packaging.

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