Business
Business News from companies in Boulder, Colorado
city of Boulder actually does something to keep business’s around
Dec 24th
City Manager Jane S. Brautigam has approved a flexible rebate application for Boulder-based Spectra Logic for up to $65,000 in rebates. The rebates were authorized for sales and use taxes, and development review and permit related fees.
The flexible rebate program is one of the city’s business incentives, first approved by City Council in September 2006. The rebate incentive covers a wide range of fees, equipment and construction use taxes
“The City of Boulder is pleased that Spectra Logic, a Boulder company for more than 30 years, was able to expand its business in Boulder,” said City Manager Jane S. Brautigam. “The city congratulates Spectra Logic on making sustainability a priority in its building renovation by reusing and recycling to divert almost 30 tons of material from the landfill.”
Spectra Logic is a global leader in innovative tape libraries and disk backup solutions. The company is expanding and recently renovated and moved into an 83,000 square foot building at 6285 Lookout Road in Gunbarrel, occupying a space that had been vacant for several years.
“Spectra Logic staff repurposed all of the existing copper, glass and more than 150 doors and frames when we purchased and redesigned the layout of the new property,” said Nathan Thompson, chief executive officer of Spectra Logic. “We are proud to earn the City of Boulder’s recognition for our sustainability efforts.”
The 2010 flexible rebate program uses social, community, and environmental sustainability guidelines. Companies may choose the guidelines that best fit their company, but they must meet minimum requirements in order to receive the rebate. Spectra Logic has exceeded the minimum community sustainability guidelines. Of note, Spectral Logic has focused on waste reduction by reusing and recycling materials including glass, tile, light fixtures, and hardware in its recent building retrofit. The company will participate in energy efficiency programs such as receiving an energy assessment for its new facility and participating in the 10 for Change Challenge.
City Manager approves business incentive for Covidien
Dec 17th
City Manager Jane S. Brautigam has approved a flexible rebate application for Boulder-based Covidien for up to $75,000 in rebates. The rebates were authorized for sales and use taxes, and development review and permit related fees.
The flexible rebate program is one of the city’s business incentives, first approved by the City Council in September 2006. The rebate incentive covers a wide range of fees, equipment and construction use taxes
“Covidien would like to thank City Manager Jane Brautigam for approving the rebates for our new innovation center,” said Marta Newhart, Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs at Covidien. “The new facility will help to foster Covidien’s culture of innovation, accelerate new product time-to-market and will also be used for enhanced staff training and development.”
Covidien (formerly Valleylab) was founded more than 40 years ago in Boulder with a 26-acre campus that serves as headquarters for two Global Business Units: Energy-based Devices and Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions. With more than 1,500 employees, the company manufactures medical devices and supplies, diagnostic imaging agents and produces devices and instruments that provide industry-leading solutions in electrosurgery, vessel sealing and interventional oncology. In September, the Planning Board approved a Site Review Amendment application for Covidien to build a new 66,000 square foot building and a new parking structure.
“The City of Boulder is proud to have been the home of Covidien for more than 40 years,” said City Manager Jane S. Brautigam. “The city is very pleased that Boulder’s second largest private employer plans to expand its Gunbarrel campus to continue to develop and manufacture its innovative, world class medical devices and healthcare products.”
The 2010 flexible rebate program uses social, community, and environmental sustainability guidelines. Companies may choose the guidelines that best fit their company, but they must meet minimum requirements in order to receive the rebate. Covidien has significantly exceeded the minimum community sustainability guidelines. In addition to meeting the guidelines related to average wage, health insurance, diversity support, and non-profit support, Covidien provides housing assistance for relocating employees who are purchasing a home in Boulder. Covidien makes broad efforts to reduce its impact on the environment, from financial assistance for bus passes to becoming a zero waste facility. Also of note, the proposed new Building 7, has been designed to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification. Funds from the requested rebate will be used for more energy saving features.
A new study names Boulder, Colo., home to the happiest people in the United States.
Nov 22nd
By Susan Page, USA TODAY
Feeling down? You might consider a move to Boulder, Colo.
A massive new study of Americans’ attitudes concludes that the city at the foot of the Rocky Mountains is home to the happiest, healthiest people in the United States. At the bottom of 162 large and medium-sized cities: Huntington, W.Va.
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, based on interviews with more than 353,000 Americans during 2009, asked individuals to assess their jobs, finances, physical health, emotional state of mind and communities.
CHECK THE INDEX: How does your city rank?
STATES: See how yours rates
POLITICS: See how your state leans
“Most of our highest-scoring cities are found out West and most of our lowest-scoring cities are in the South,” says research director Dan Witters. Wealthier communities typically score higher.
Residents of large cities — those with a population of 1 million or more — generally report higher levels of well-being and more optimism about the future than those in small or medium-sized cities. In small cities, at 250,000 or less, people are more likely to feel safe walking alone at night and have enough money for housing.
The study provides a city-by-city portrait of the nation’s mood and a potential tool for policymakers.
Nine of the 10 cities that fare best on “life evaluation,” assessments of life now and expectations in five years, boast a major university, a big military installation or a state Capitol — institutions that presumably provide some insulation from recession.
Overall, the top 10 cities include four in California, two in Utah and one each in Colorado and Hawaii. Of them, only the Holland, Mich., and Washington, D.C., metro areas are located in the Eastern or Central time zones.
Many of the bottom 10 are in economically embattled regions. Three are in the Alleghenies and three in the Rust Belt. Only Shreveport, La., and Modesto, Calif., are west of the Mississippi.
Boulder’s setting, including a greenbelt of public lands around the city, may help explain its top ranking, Mayor Susan Osborne says. “We tend to have lots of opportunities for being outside,” she says. The jobless rate is 5.7%, below the nation’s 9.7%.
In his annual “state of the city” address Saturday, Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe said budget cuts and layoffs were needed for his city to deal with the economic downturn. The city’s jobless rate is 7.8%.
There are some places where people seem naturally upbeat. Baton Rouge is 44th overall, but in “life evaluation,” the Mississippi River city is first.
How does your city rank in well-being?
A city-by-city look at how Americans feel about their jobs, their health, their lives and their futures.
Source: Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which included more than 353,000 landline and cellphone interviews in 2009. Margins of error range from 5 percentage points in the smallest cities to less than 1 point in the largest cities.
What each of the six indexes mean:
Life Evaluation: Personal assessments of one’s present life and life in five years, on a scale of 0 to 10.
Emotional Health: Measures a composite of respondents’ daily experiences, including laughter, happiness, worry, anger and stress.
Work Environment: Measures job satisfaction, ability to use one’s strengths at work, trust and openness in the workplace and whether one’s supervisor treats him or her more like a boss or a partner.
Physical Health: Measures chronic diseases, sick days, physical pain, daily energy and other aspects of physical health.
Healthy Behaviors: Measures smoking, consumption of fruit and vegetables and exercise.
Basic Access: Measures basic needs optimal for a healthy life, such as access to food and medicine, having health insurance and feeling safe while walking at night.
READERS: Were you surprised by your city’s rank/result