About us
Welcome to BizWest.com, where you’ll find breaking business news updated throughout the day, as well as in-depth features that also will appear in our monthly print edition. BizWest provides comprehensive business news, analysis, features and data on Boulder, Broomfield, Larimer and Weld counties, plus Brighton and Westminster.
Two daily email newsletters highlight the most-critical news of the day, with other newsletters covering the nonprofit sector and women in business. And our new BizWest Sunday newsletter includes in-depth analysis of a major news story or trend.
Look to us for coverage of the region’s key industries, including aerospace, agribusiness, banking, bioscience, brewing, cannabis, clean tech, energy, health care, hospitality & tourism, natural & organic, outdoor industry, real estate & construction, technology and many more.
Our goal is to provide comprehensive coverage of business news in our region, with in-depth analysis of the economy, industries and trends.
And our data products include ranked lists of companies within major industries and comprehensive directories. (Check out the DataBank link for more information.)
Our history
BizWest Media LLC was formed in 2010 to bring together several related publications under one umbrella, which was completed in February 2011. But the company’s history goes back much further, to the founding of the Boulder County Business Report in 1982 and the Northern Colorado Business Report in 1995. Those two publications were merged to form BizWest in March 2014, creating a regional business-news powerhouse, covering a dynamic region of the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado, with a population exceeding 1 million people. A third publication, The Wyoming Business Report, was sold in 2015.
BizWest Media LLC is co-owned and operated by Jeff Nuttall and Christopher Wood. (Yes, we’re locally owned!)
Jeff Nuttall
Publisher
Prior to founding NCBR, Jeff worked for eight years at The Denver Business Journal, including two years as associate sales manager. He previously worked as an account executive for Cowles Media, which owned the suburban Sentinel chain of newspapers in the Denver area. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1982, with a bachelor’s degree in finance and a minor in marketing. He was consistently top sales person at The Denver Business Journal and was recognized among the top five account executives for the American City Business Journals chain.
Christopher Wood
Publisher/Editor
Chris co-founded NCBR in 1995 and WBR in 2000. Prior to founding NCBR, he worked for five years as a reporter, real-estate editor and managing editor of The Denver Business Journal. He also was reporter and assistant editor of BCBR, from 1988 to 1990. He is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and graduated with honors from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1988. He has won numerous journalistic awards over the years, including being named Colorado Small Business Journalist of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2001.
What we value
BizWest’s editorial team seeks to inform our readers of important business news, while providing perspective on why particular stories matter. What does a particular news event mean for the community, the industry, the region or residents?
We want to get the news first, but we want to get it right. We will promptly correct mistakes, and we’ll tell you when we get it wrong. We also value context. If you believe that a certain news item deserves further explanation, drop us a line at news@bizwest.com.
We value tips. Please contact anyone on our editorial team with a story idea.
We value engagement. We conduct “Meet the Newsroom” events regularly (before COVID, at least) in communities throughout our region. These informal gatherings (usually with beer) provide a chance to meet our reporters and editors to learn about what types of stories we’re looking for, who covers what and much more. We conduct monthly Editorial Boards in Boulder, Broomfield, Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Loveland. These meetings include community stakeholders who both critique our coverage and provide insights about news and trends within their communities. We also conduct monthly CEO Roundtables in both the Boulder region and Northern Colorado, with executives joining in a discussion about trends, challenges and opportunities within their sectors, moderated by Editor and Publisher Chris Wood.
We value the people behind the story. Every business is made up of owners, employees and customers. We love to write about the people who are executing strategies to help their businesses grow.
Our revenue model
BizWest enjoys multiple revenue streams (essential for any media company). We sell media advertising in numerous print and digital products, with sponsorships of our website and newsletters. We sell event sponsorships. We sell subscriptions, including online. While much of our content is behind a paywall, many articles are available free to read, including news briefs and coverage of nonprofits, natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. We also receive revenue from a licensing agreement that allows our content to be republished in regional daily and weekly publications owned by Prairie Mountain Media.
Our events
BizWest produces many business-oriented events, including awards programs and conferences. Our awards programs celebrate entrepreneurs, innovators, women, fast-growing private companies, young professionals and much more. Our conferences and contextual events educate and inform attendees about trends in the economy and key industries. Check out our Events tab for more information.
Our team
Editorial
Lucas High
Managing Editor
A Maryland native, Lucas has worked at news agencies from Wyoming to South Carolina before putting roots down in Colorado. He loves sports (Go Ravens and O’s!), a good book and a cold beer. From cannabis to banking to startups and everything in between, Lucas has his finger on the pulse of the Northern Colorado and Boulder Valley business beat. Got a story idea? Give him a shout!
Dallas Heltzell
Reporter
Dallas has been with BizWest since 2012 and in Colorado since 1979, having worked at the Longmont Times-Call, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post and Public News Service. A proud Missouri native and Mizzou J-school grad, Dallas started as a sports and outdoor columnist at the St. Charles (Mo.) Banner-News, then went to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before fleeing the heat and humidity for the Rockies. He’s a proud Cardinal and Missouri Tiger fan and Longmonter who loves the outdoors, good restaurants, our Northern Colorado mountain communities, his big backyard and living in a region that’s the country’s most exciting place to be a business reporter.
Sharon Dunn
Reporter
Sharon Dunn is a veteran reporter from Greeley, having spent 25 years at the Greeley Tribune covering a wide variety of beats, including business, banking, real estate and oil and gas. She took time off in 2018 to work in public relations before realizing six years later that business reporting was in her blood. She has won numerous writing awards through the years, including a Colorado Press Association award for Best of Show in 2009 for her coverage of the New Frontier Bank failure. She also was a runner-up for the national Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting in 2001 for her coverage of a crooked developer in Weld County. She has a master’s degree in communications management from the University of Denver and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Metropolitan State College of Denver. If you see an orange kayak floating lazily on a high-mountain reservoir in the summer, it may just be her.
Sandy Powell
Researcher
Sandy’s LinkedIn profile will tell you that she’s skilled in advertising and marketing, but that’s just the beginning of the story. She has spent decades working in Northern Colorado media, including 19 years at the Fort Collins Coloradoan and 18 years (and counting) at BizWest. “The best part of my job is forming alliances with organizations and companies to mutually benefit them and BizWest,” Sandy says on LinkedIn. A Fort Collins native, Sandy always has a story to tell about the city, and its people. (And she loves horses, too.)
Advertising
Natalie Petersen
Associate Publisher
Natalie Petersen comes to BizWest with over 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing. Her time at The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Business Journal armed her with a nose for results and a reputation for her client-first focus. After overseeing operations for an LA-based marketing agency for many years, Natalie began her own boutique firm and began serving small businesses and start-ups. She returned to her home state to raise her son in 2015 and enjoys a blessed life as a part of our beautiful Northern Colorado community.
Sara Duffert
Senior Account Executive
Sara Duffert joined BizWest in August 2018 and has had a powerful impact on the organization — and her clients. As senior account executive, Sara ranks not only as a top seller for BizWest’s offerings, but also as a supreme advocate for her customers. She excels at exploring her clients’ marketing needs, and identifying which BizWest print, digital or event offerings might be appropriate. She began her career as an advertising sales executive at The Des Moines Register, with later stints at the Fort Collins Coloradoan, and other media and publishing groups.
Tommy Wood
Account Executive
Tommy likes to scale new heights — not only in his professional career as a reporter for BizWest but also when he scales one of Colorado’s 58 14ers. He’s already conquered about a dozen of those legendary peaks, and his goal is to scale every one. At BizWest, Tommy serves as the Breaking Ground reporter, covering new real estate developments in the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado, along with covering public companies and other beats. For downtime, when he’s not climbing mountains, you can bet that he’s playing a video game, reading a history book or playing with his dog, Sunny.
Erika Sjölund
Account Executive
Erika channels her high energy, adept problem-solving abilities, and outstanding communication skills into her position at BizWest, where she engages with clients in the Boulder Valley area. With a wealth of experience in consultative sales, event coordination, digital media, and client relations, she possesses the expertise to cultivate meaningful connections with key decision-makers and influencers in the region. Erika’s commitment to finding solutions and her meticulous attention to detail render her an invaluable asset to her team. A graduate of Colorado State University, she currently resides in Littleton.
Accounting
Diane Crispin
Controller
Diane spends a lot of time watching NFL and NHL games, but don’t expect to find her rooting for the Denver Broncos or Colorado Avalanche. As a native of the Pittsburgh area, she’s a diehard Steelers and Penguins fan. She also spent 35 years in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, studying accounting at Florida State College at Jacksonville and pre-med at the University of North Florida. She also worked for JPMorgan Chase (mortgage banking) in Jacksonville. She joined BizWest in January 2017. She has two adult kids (Lee and Lindsey) and one grandson (Tyler), and spends her spare time with family and friends (not to mention her two dogs — Ben and Alli — and a cat, Chubz).
Creative Services
Bernie Simon
Production Manager
Bernie Simon is the Production Manager for BizWest: he has been with BizWest since 2005. Prior to BizWest he has worked for Excelsior Software in Greeley, Quark Inc. in Denver, Digital Express in the Denver Tech Center and FedEx Office (Kinko’s) in Northern Colorado and Wyoming. Bernie enjoys time with family and friends, and swimming with manatees in Florida.
Audience Development
Bruce Dennis
Audience Development Director
Bruce Dennis is the Audience Development Director for BizWest and has been with the company since 2019. Bruce runs the circulation department, and is also responsible for marketing our products, services and events throughout the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado. Bruce has over sixteen years of experience in sales and marketing, including over twelve years at the Greeley Tribune. Bruce graduated from Colorado State University in 2005, and currently lives in Greeley with his wife, Lacy, and two sons, Ethan and Jaxon. Bruce enjoys spending time with his family, going to concerts, coaching his son’s sports teams and is a big fan of Colorado sports, especially the Denver Broncos.