Posts tagged business
Bar Car Acres Pet Resort
0Bar Car Acres is named after owners Bart and Carman Beck. And just like their name implies, both Bart and Carman put a large part of themselves into their company. It all began when co-owner Carman Beck visited a grooming shop in eighth grade for career day. From that day on, she was hooked! She opened her grooming business more than 30 years ago and still considers it a joy to go to work. Through the years, the grooming business evolved into a boarding facility when her clientele began requesting care for their pets while they were away.
1234 Weld County Road 34 – 3/4
Berthoud, CO 80513
Phone: (303) 638-1371
Monday-Friday 7:30 AM – Noon, 3 PM – 6 PM
Saturday – 8 AM – Noon
Sunday – Closed
Boulder grabs the gold ring on energy merry-go-round
0SmartRegs/EnergySmart programs win national award for innovation
The City of Boulder’s SmartRegs ordinance and the EnergySmart service were presented with the J. Robert Havlick award for Innovation in Government by the Alliance for Innovation at its annual conference in Kansas City, MO, on April 18.
Innovation Awards are chosen from the 70+ applications received by a multi-member selection committee consisting of city and county managers from across the United States and Alliance staff. The selection committee looks for local governments that have shown a dedication to stretching and improving the boundaries of day-to-day government operations and practices, implementing creative business processes, and improving the civic health of the community.
These programs “won the 2012 J. Robert Havlick Award for Innovation in Local Government for demonstrating a pragmatic and progressive approach for long-lasting energy savings in their community,” said Karen Thoreson, president of the Alliance for Innovation. “The work combined the successful and innovative approach of utilizing a regulatory platform, financial incentives and technical assistance tools for homeowners and renters in order to achieve measurable and meaningful results.”
In September 2010, Boulder City Council adopted three ordinances requiring all of Boulder’s rental housing – approximately half of the city’s housing stock – to meet energy efficiency standards by 2019. The new “SmartRegs” requirements went into effect in January 2011, and are part of the Climate Action Plan’s (CAP) “Reduce Use” strategy area, which was established to promote energy-conserving behavior in homes and businesses throughout Boulder.
To help homeowners, landlords and tenants navigate the new SmartRegs ordinance, the city and Boulder County created a SmartRegs path through EnergySmart. EnergySmart services provide efficiency solutions for homes, whether rental or owner-occupied, commercial businesses, and property owners in all Boulder County communities, resulting in permanent improvements to the existing building stock. The EnergySmart service provides people with an energy assessment, as well as an expert Energy Advisor who recommends upgrades specific to each property, helps with rebate and financing applications, and even helps collect bids from contractors to perform energy upgrades.
Some of the key results in the City of Boulder from 2011’s SmartRegs and EnergySmart efforts include:
- 678 owner-occupied units participated in the EnergySmart services, with 67% completing upgrades.
- 2,081 renter-occupied units participated in the EnergySmart service as a result of the SmartRegs policy, with 33% completing upgrades.
- Owner-occupied units that participated saw an average annual energy savings of 714 kWh of electricity and 226 therms of natural gas (equivalent to $219 per year).
- Renter-occupied units that participated saw an average annual energy savings of 217 kWh of electricity and 72 therms of natural gas (equivalent to $63 per year).
- 1,687 services were provided to 960 individual businesses.
- Commercial property owners and businesses receiving quick installs saw an average annual energy savings of 421 kWh of electricity (equivalent to $52 per year), and 14,930 kWh of electricity for businesses receiving upgrades (equivalent to $1,318 per year).
The results achieved through both EnergySmart and SmartRegs demonstrate an innovative approach to complementing a policy requirement with assistance and funding to ease the burden of compliance.
EnergySmart aims to reach at least 10,000 homes and 3,000 businesses throughout Boulder County by June 2013. It is designed to stimulate local economic growth; increase energy efficiency investment in Colorado; and advance the state’s energy independence through energy upgrades. EnergySmart is a collaborative partnership throughout Boulder County, funded by a $25 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Program, combined with contributions from the City of Boulder’s Climate Action Plan tax and the City of Longmont.
The Alliance for Innovation is an international network of progressive governments and partners committed to transforming local government by accelerating the development and dissemination of innovations. They seek out innovative practices, challenge existing business models, exchange knowledge, and provide products and services that help members perform at their best.
For more information on EnergySmart programs and services, visit www.EnergySmartYes.com, or call 303-544-1000 for residential information and 303-441-1300 for commercial information. More information about the Alliance for Innovation can be found at www.transformgov.org.
Micah True (El Caballo Blanco’s) spirit is finally free
0by Ron Baird
When I first crossed paths in the early ‘80s with the man who eventually became known as Caballo Blanco, I was running down the Mount Sanitas trail and he was running up. We didn’t speak, maybe nodded.He was wearing thin nylon jogging shorts, running shoes and had a water bottle in his hand. He was tanned and lean and had unruly, long, dirty-blond hair.
In those days I was running 4-5 miles at a time and I would later learn that he was running 15-20. He had a nice-looking, tan, young woman with him. Every time I saw him in the passing years he was dressed the same. Forgive me if it gets fuzzy here because he always seemed a little ghost-like: he was there and then gone like he was barely tethered to the earth. Of course his hero and spirit guide was Geronimo of the Bedonkohe Apache tribe, who was thought to be able to appear and disappear at will. And of course, I wasn’t taking notes.
Micah True, who became known as Caballo Blanco for his running fears, as he appeared in Boulder in the 1990s.
In 1989, I had been evicted from a mine cabin in James Canyon—the one with only a wood stove for utilities. The small creek passing by was my source of water and kerosene lamps were my only light. I typed my first news story for the Colorado Daily in that cabin under the ever- weakening illumination of those lamps. Micah was moving out of a small room appendaged onto a house on Magnolia Road that was renting for $110 dollars a month. He asked if I was interested. I said I was and rented it. He said he wanted to get out of the winters and was driving to Guatemala.
After that he visited me often when he came back in the summers and told me of running through the mountains and beaches, where camposinos would wave and yell “Caballo Blanco,” due, I guess, to his base skin color and shoulder length blond hair. Micah was a vegetarian and lived frugally by any standard, sleeping in a truck with a camper parked in a north Boulder industrial area. He bought another truck and made money in the summer with an under-the-table moving business—no liability insurance or regulatory approval. Many of his customers were friends. He told me one time he was driving a load of tightly arranged furniture to Colorado Springs but when he got there, a couch that was packed in the open back of the pickup had disappeared; probably popping out somewhere along I-25. He drove back and forth looking but never found it and ultimately had to pay for a replacement.
Each summer, he made enough money to go back to Guatemala. But there was a lot of violence in Guatemala at that time and in the summer of ’93 he met a group of Tarahumara Indios in the Leadville 100 and followed them back to Copper Canyon in the Mexican State of Chihuahua–a canyon larger, deeper and more complex than the U.S.’s Grand Canyon. The Tarahumara, who rejected assimilation with Spanish culture, had migrated thousands of miles from the south over the centuries before reaching that sanctuary. There were no roads, towns or utilities, and little water through much of the canyon so the Tarahumara were spread throughout the canyon.
The rugged, remote Copper Canyon, where Micah True spent nearly 20 winters running with and living amongst the Tarahumara Indios
So a subculture of runners known as Raramuri sprung up, running hundreds of miles in a few days carrying news to the widely spaced villages, or just for fun, and Micah knew he had found his physical if not his spiritual home. He would spend the nights and eat meals in Tarahumara stone huts for as little as two dollars.
He finally built a small adobe home for himself in the canyon. For several years he returned to the U.S. and Colorado particularly. One summer, while racing in the Hardrock 100 near Telluride, he got lost in a snow storm on one of the three passes the race course covered and had to be hauled out on a burro. When found he was wearing two large garbage bags over his shorts and T shirt. One summer, he took up bicycling to give his feet a rest and somehow crashed coming down Left Hand Canyon–knocking himself out. When found, he argued and lost against the ambulance ride, costing him $1,700. At the hospital, they told him he had severely dislocated his shoulder and it would cost $800 to reset it so he checked himself out of the hospital, walked across the parking lot to the office of a chiropractor/friend who set it right there without any sedation.
A Tarahumara man living in Copper Canyon
Micah was more of a philosophical survivalist than political activist but at the request of a Native American girlfriend he went to a large protest at the Nuclear Test Site in Nevada, where he broke through a gap in the security and headed off running into the desert. Seventeen hours later he gave himself up and they escorted him off the site without filing any charges against him.
By early 2000, his moving business was waning under the threats of regulation and sanctions so Micah began to envision—as a way of making a living–guiding “gringos” into Copper Canyon for running vacations. It started slowly but somehow he hung on and more and more people came down. In 2003 Micah organized the first Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon to aid the Raramuri, and invited world-class ultramarathoners to compete. The prizes were generally large amounts of corn. With that race, Micah become somewhat a legend in the distance running community, and Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run brought Micah and the Tarahumara to the world’s attention. No longer was Micah True such a ghostly figure; connected as he was to the world by a best selling book and the internet. And the Tarahumara, their culture, their style of running and their dispossessed status in Mexico–had become a well-known topic internationally.
Scott Jurek and Raramuri runner Quimare-- two of the fastest ultramarathoners on the planet
Given this new-found notoriety, Micah became much in demand as a speaker. He took only expenses and talked mainly about the Tarahumara. On his seasonal migration back to the U.S. this year he stopped in the Gila National Forest in SW New Mexico on his way to Phoenix and took off on a planned 12-mile run. He never returned and was found dead four days later in a ravine. No cause has been determined for his death as of this writing.
But I think it was just his time. He came to Earth as an unwilling Angel and found his cause with the people of Copper Canyon. He died doing what he loved and left a legacy: The ultramarathoner world has vowed to continue the races in Copper Canyon and keep the light shining on the people there. I think Micah’s work was done and his soul is now free from the bonds of gravity.
April On the Pearl Street Mall in Downtown Boulder
0Taste of Pearl Tickets
From the heart of America’s Foodiest Town: Spend an incredible afternoon exploring Boulder’s first-rate culinary arts scene and celebrating Colorado’s sensational wines while strolling through some of Downtown Boulder’s most remarkable galleries and retail boutiques.
Attendees will have the opportunity to sample cuisine from 15 Boulder restaurants and taste wines from 15 Colorado wineries in 15 specific tasting stops along Pearl Street.
Buy tickets at TasteofPearl.com
April 28 | 3 p.m. | 1300 Block of Pearl Street
Spring officially arrives in downtown Boulder when the beautiful, colorful Tulip Fairy, along with pint-sized fairies and elves, parade around the Pearl Street Mall ‘welcoming the tulips’. Gather at 3:00 p.m. in front of the County Courthouse to enjoy some pre-parade tunes, face-painting, coloring and other children’s activities. The parade will be led by Boulder’s very own Tulip Fairy, stilt-walkers and your tiny tulip fairies and elves. Join us after the parade for a performance of Waking the Bear courtesy of Open Space & Mountain Parks.
We need Tulip volunteers! Email us if your interested.
Mini Pearl Street Stampede This Friday
This Friday | 1300 Pearl St. (moves west) | 7 p.m.
This Friday join us on the bricks for a special Pearl Street Spring Stampede before the Buffs Spring Football Game at CU. Come hear members of CU Marching Band perform starting at 7 p.m.on the 1300 block continuing west along Pearl Street and ending in the former Camera parking lot at 11th and Pearl. GO BUFFS!
Earn $50 for Focus Group Participation
Monday afternoons | 2:30 p.m. | Egg Strategy
Egg Strategy is paying $50 to participate in informal discussions led by a member of the Egg team. This will be a fun opportunity to share your opinions and perspectives with like minded people in the area. The focus groups topics include:
4/16 – Undergraduate and Graduate College Students – The changing reality of life for today’s connected students
4/23 – Small Business Networkers – The benefits, issues and concerns of owning a small business in Colorado today
5/7 – Outdoor Actives – Passion for the great outdoors and leading an active life
5/14 – Outdoor Actives – Passion for the great outdoors and leading an active life
If you are interested in one of the groups listed here, please call or email Westin at 303.546.9311 ext.148
On August 25th, some of the best cyclists in the world will be racing into Boulder, Colorado in Stage 6 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Join them in helping to make this an epic event. Find them on Facebook, or the web at Pro Cycling Challenge to find out more about the race,and sign up at the link below to get involved.
April 17 | 8:30 a.m.| Boulder Public Library’s Canyon Gallery
Join Downtown Boulder, Inc. for our Coffee and Conversations series at our fourth annual Social Media Breakfast.
This year Ground Floor Media will present:
2012: The Year of the Social Media rEvolution
COST: DBI Members are free (limit 4 people per business/organization), Non-Members $20 (cash)/at door. You must pre-register.
Register for the event here
Play “Found Downtown” & Win a $25 Downtown Gift Card!
Think you know Downtown Boulder? Tell us where the photo to the left was taken and your correct guess will be entered in a drawing to win a $25 Downtown Boulder Gift Card. One winner will be chosen at random from the correct answers. One guess per person please.
Email your answer to info@dbi.org by Tuesday, April 17 with Found Downtown in the title. The winner will be notified on Wednesday, April 18. The March 30 (Voodoo Hair) winner was Christine Cooper and March 16 (Lolitas) winner was Linda Mark.
» New Businesses
PastaVino
Contact: Fabio Flagiello
1043 Pearl Street | (303) 955-8791
Paying homage to the traditions of healthy Italian cuisine, our kitchen executes classic dishes to perfection using only the best, organic and fresh ingredients, locally scourced, as well as direct from Italy. To complement the menu, we’ve carefully selected a distinguished variety of wines, including a biodynamic selection, from all of Italy, as well as reputable vineyards from around the world.
Thursday, Apr 12, 2012
Boulder Colorado Pearl St. Mall
Boulder RAWartists presents: MENAGERIE
Expert Talk with Viviane Le Courtois @ Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art
Holly DeHoog (vocal and piano) @ Cuvee
Jonah Lehrer — “Imagine” @ Boulder Book Store
Opening: New Exhibit with CU’s College of Architecture and Planning @ Dairy Center For The Arts
Q’s Food and Wine Series: Seven of Hearts Wine Dinner
Seven of Hearts and Luminous Hills Wine Dinner @ Q’s Restaurant
Sunrise Half Mala for the Wellness Initiative @ Om Time
Friday, Apr 13, 2012
Boulder Symphony/Matt Leder Jazz Sextet “Katrina, Katrina” @ First Presbyterian Church
Claytastic Kids Night Out @ Color Me Mine
Coffee and Pastry Tour
Downtown Dining Tour
Murder Mystery Dinner at the Hotel Boulderado @ Hotel Boulderado
Richard Grossinger — “2013: Raising the Earth to…” @ Boulder Book Store
Stephen Thurston (piano with bass) @ Cuvee
The Travelin’ McCourys ft. Keller Williams @ Boulder Theater
Saturday, Apr 14, 2012
2012 NPC Axis Labs NORTHERN COLORADO Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure, Bikini and Physique Championships @ Boulder Theater
Adam Bodine (piano) @ Cuvee
Boulder County Farmers’ Markets @ Boulder County Farmers’ Market
Source Downtown Boulder
Boulder Chamber Awards dinner March 15 2012 New video and story
0The Virginia Patterson Businessperson of the Year
The recipient of this award has consistently contributed business expertise and experiences to connect the Boulder business world to city, charitable, or other public-spirited causes and is a leader in making Boulder a better place to do business.
Brad Feld
Foundry Group
Brad has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for over twenty years. Prior to co-founding Foundry Group, he co-founded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures, a company that helped launch and operate software companies. Brad is also a co-founder of TechStars.
Brad currently serves on the board of directors of BigDoor Media, Cheezburger Networks, Fitbit, Gnip, MakerBot Oblong, Orbotix, and Standing Cloud for Foundry Group. Previously, Brad served as chief technology officer of AmeriData Technologies. AmeriData acquired Feld Technologies, a firm he founded in 1987 that specialized in custom software applications. Brad had grown Feld Technologies into one of Boston’s leading software consulting firms prior to the acquisition. He also directed the diversification into software consulting at AmeriData, a $1.5 billion publicly-traded company which was acquired by GE Capital in 1995.
In addition to his investing efforts, Brad has been active with several non-profit organizations and currently is chair of the National Center for Women & Information Technology, co-chair of Startup Colorado, and on the board of Startup Weekend. Brad is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship and writes the widely read blogs Feld Thoughts and Ask the VC.
Key Contributor of the Year
This award recognizes an individual who has made a positive impact on the community through leadership and a significant contribution of time, talent and expertise. Bob Noun
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Robert J. Noun formerly directed the government affairs, media relations, communications and community outreach activities for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) located in Golden, CO. He was the chief spokesman for NREL, the nation’s principal research center for renewable fuels and electricity. Mr. Noun has been involved with renewable energy for over 30 years. During his career he has made significant contributions to the advancement of renewable energy technologies.
Noun managed the NREL Wind Energy Research Program. He is the author of 24 technical publications on the subjects of renewable energy law and regulation, wind energy development, and renewable energy in developing countries. From 2010-2012 Noun served as Chair of CO-LABS, the confederation of national labs and research universities in Colorado doing federally sponsored science and technology innovation.
Noun has received numerous awards and recognition, including the 2005 Van Morris Award recognizing his leadership in the growth and development of NREL, the 2002 Pioneer Award for Contributions to the Development of Renewable Energy from the World Renewable Energy Network in London, and the 1996 Gold Medallion Award for the Advancement of Renewable Energy, presented by His Highness, the Emir of Bahrain. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law and has been a guest lecturer in the Iowa State University Science and Technology Lecture Series. In 1973 he was awarded the Reginald Hebersmith Fellow in Law from Howard University.
Community Sustainability Leader
This award recognizes an organization that demonstrates success at managing an integrated triple bottom line – economic success, commitment to social equity and concern for environmental footprint.
Boulder Community Hospital
Boulder Community Hospital is a coordinated network of facilities and skilled personnel providing an expansive range of medical services to people and businesses in Boulder and Broomfield Counties.
As a locally owned and operated non-profit hospital system, Boulder Community is dedicated to meeting the constantly evolving health care needs of local citizens. Boulder Community is known across Colorado for its clinical excellence in heart care, neurosurgery, stroke care, orthopedics and cancer care. Some 600 physicians in 54 medical specialties have privileges at BCH.
Best Place to Work
Awarded to a company that demonstrates proficiency in leadership, communication, respect and alignment.
Gnip
Gnip is a local social media data startup that believes that no single company alone can realize the full potential of social media data. It works to align itself with others to more effectively harness and channel the power of this information. From its corporate values to the accomplishments of its employees, the company embodies the qualities of leadership, communication, respect, and alignment. Well-regarded by their professional colleagues, company executives regularly deliver keynote addresses to national and international audiences, just as Gnip’s software engineers share their knowledge with the local community. Committed to diversity, the company is a member of the National Center for Women & Information Technology’s Entrepreneurial Alliance program, an effort to increase the participation of women in technological innovation. In these ways, Gnip both provides leadership to the industry and shares its collective expertise in the area of social media data.
Gnip is a company built on respect, and all of its corporate policies are aligned with its values. The company is an employer that seeks out the brightest lights in the field and then supports their continued growth. The respect, trust, and support invested by Gnip in its employees, along with its spirit of collaboration and innovation, have earned it this year’s Chamber award for Boulder’s best place to work.
Boulder 2140 Young Business Person of the Year
This award recognizes a member under the age of forty who has an impact on his/her organization, demonstrated significant contribution of time or talent to the Boulder area and shows potential for future leadership.
Lee Shainis
Intercambio: Uniting Communities
Lee is co-founder of Intercambio and author of “What Every Immigrant Needs to Know“, a publication that is being used by 35,000 people from 350 organizations nationwide. Lee has helped Intercambio spread its model to 12 states, raise $4,000,000, train 3,500 volunteer teachers, and provide English classes to 8,000 immigrant adults since its inception in 2001. Lee’s prior experience includes the development of a volunteer program at a psychiatric treatment center, supervising of an afterschool program, mentoring developmentally challenged individuals and facilitating writing workshops for prison inmates.
Lee also has an impressive collection of interesting outfits, he loves choreographing crazy shows, and since 2008 he has been volunteering twice a week to teach multicultural dance exercise classes to encourage fun and health.
Members of Distinction
John Regur Dutch Creek Financial
John is founder and Principal of Dutch Creek Financial Services, a financial planning and investment advisory practice. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, after serving overseas with the US Army, his career in financial risk management started with the Travelers Insurance Companies. With a subsequent 25 year career with the Marsh McLennan Companies which included several US and international postings, he moved to Boulder, opening Dutch Creek in 2002, the year he joined the Chamber.
Conference on World Affairs online problems : Twitter let down Grays attend
0A search for Conference on world Affairs lands lookers on dead link for most of the day. The schedule was not there and was only recently put up. That foul-up had to render the first day useless.
The first day of the conference was nearly void of CU students once again. Most of the attendees were grays in their 40s, 50s and 
60s. This again brings into question: is the conference relevant?
The All a Twitter panel discussion in the UMC was attended not by Boulders Twitter SM startup crowd but by mostly older people who were not exactly tweeps. This session was not what one would have expected. It was not start-up Boulder week, not Ignite Boulder and it wasn’t Twitter.
The panelists were an interesting mix too: Mark Frauenfelder Ross Haenfler Andy Ihnatko Sanho Tree . Sociology professor Ross Haenfler said he stopped tweeting and compared it to drug addiction and himself to a recovering addict. He then went on to say that most people on twitter waste enormous amounts of their life on social media. Not a glowing endorsement of TWitter or SM.
Boing Boing founder and Boulderite Ross Haenfler was certainly the biggest web superstar to attend the panel. Though Boing Boing significance and contribution was lost on the audience, it was also lost on the conference. He seemed concerned about the significance of multiple uses of tweets.
Andy Ihnako Chicago Sun times Geek reporter also talked about how twitter wraps around your mind and has the potential to enslave.
Sanho Tree is a leftist Fellow and social activist. He talked about social activism on Twitter.
The tone of this session was politically leftist with continuous barbs thrown at conservatives who use twitter. So much for CU chancellors new policy of fair and balanced. All of the panelists criticized main stream media for not covering the news. None of them could explain the business side of Twitter. They also seemed oblivious to the fact that Television and News papers lost their foothold to online advertisers such as Google and Facebook
The one saving grace of this panel was to point out just what a waste of a persons life Twitter can be. They couldn’t stress how addictive Twitter and Facebook are and impossible to manage. This was a surprise, but not to the gray attendees. Seemed they seen it all before in a younger life. And the young? They were nowhere to be seen. One would have thought the room would have been packed with 18 to 34 year olds. Maybe they were studying or at work. Maybe this panel should have been held at night in a bar or coffee house.
Rebates, rebates, more rebates and…. jobs
0City manager approves business incentive for Biodesix
City Manager Jane S. Brautigam has approved a flexible rebate application for Biodesix for up to $60,000 in rebates. The rebates were authorized for sales and use taxes, and permit-related fees.
“The city is very pleased that Biodesix is moving its headquarters to Boulder and that the flexible rebate program will assist the company with its planned growth,” Brautigam said. “The city is committed to fostering a successful biotechnology industry in Boulder and welcomes Biodesix as a part of that community.”
A rapidly growing biotechnology company, Biodesix is focused on the development of diagnostic products for personalized medicine that inform treatment decisions and improve patient care. The company’s first product, VeriStrat, enables more informed decision-making for advanced lung and breast cancer patients by identifying patients who are likely to have good or poor outcomes after treatment with specific drugs.
In order to take advantage of Boulder’s growing biotechnology industry and proximity to its employees, Biodesix recently moved from Broomfield to a new facility at 2970 Wilderness Place. The company currently has 33 employees at its Boulder office and plans to add up to 40 more by the end of 2013. The rebate will help Biodesix as it continues its fast-paced growth and expansion in Boulder.
“We are delighted to have our corporate headquarters here in Boulder,” commented David Brunel, chief executive officer of Biodesix. “The city’s commitment to attracting and retaining technology-based companies is admirable, and we are proud to be among the growing biotech community here.”
The flexible rebate program uses social, community and environmental sustainability guidelines. Companies choose the guidelines that best fit their circumstances, but must meet minimum requirements in order to receive the rebate. Biodesix has met the necessary requirements. Of note, Biodesix’s new facility has shower and changing facilities, and secure bike parking for its employees. In addition, the company is implementing a zero waste program, will participate in the 10 for Change Challenge and requested EnergySmart training.
Biodesix’ flexible rebate application is one of six submitted to the city in late 2011. One 2011 application is pending. The city’s approved 2012 budget includes $350,000 in funding for 2012 flexible tax and fee rebates for primary employers.
The flexible rebate program is one of the city’s business incentives, covering a wide range of fees, equipment and construction use taxes. Under this program, the city manager may consider a specific incentive package for tax and fee rebates to meet a company’s specific needs. The company is then eligible for the rebate after it has made its investment and paid the taxes or fees to the city.
“Casa de Mi Padre” Worth a Couple of Chuckles
0“A Couple of Chuckles”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Casa de Mi Padre is Will Ferrell’s latest comedy, and the first thing you notice is that the title is in Spanish.
The second thing you notice about the “House of My Father” is that the entire movie is in Spanish, but with English subtitles for the benefit of those of us who aren’t fluent in Spanish.
Well, not the entire movie, because there are a couple of American characters in the story, which takes place in modern-day Mexico, and they speak what the Mexican characters call “American.”
Ferrell plays Armando, the son of a rancher, and at the beginning of the movie, Armando and his two buddies, Esteban and Manuel, are moving some of the father’s cattle to a new pasture, and Armando says, “I hope nothing bad happens on the way home.”
Then they witness an execution that was caused by the nasty drug business that is going on in the country and which will have ramifications later on in the story.
When the three rancheros get home, Armando’s brother Raul shows up with his fiancee, Sonia Lopez. Raul is the son that his father always loved, and if we hadn’t already figured it out, we learn that Armando is not smart, and his father always tells him that.
Armando also has a secret that we learn when he and Sonia go out riding together and they arrive at the Pond of Seven Tears, where Armando’s mother died when Armando was a little boy.
Armando and Sonia take a liking to each other, and Sonia tells Armando that his brother Raul is in the drug business, but Raul doesn’t sell drugs to their fellow Mexicans, only to Americans.
Unfortunately, Raul is trying to do business in the territory of the most infamous drug dealer, Onza, who also has a close connection with Sonia.
Well, you can see a showdown coming up, can’t you? As well as a Mexican standoff and a final shoot-out that is all the funnier because the participants are drinking and smoking cigarettes at the same time as they are blasting away at each other.
The movie spoofs telenovelas and B-movies, production values, and anything else that Ferrell could think of while memorizing his lines phonetically.
Casa de Mi Padre has a good ending, of course, and is worth a couple of chuckles.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
CU project greases the wheels of high-tech processes
0Ultracold matter technology from CU and SRI
International licensed to Boulder’s ColdQuanta
ColdQuanta Inc. of Boulder and the University of Colorado have finalized an agreement allowing ColdQuanta to commercialize cutting-edge physics research developed by CU-Boulder and SRI International. The licensed technology centers on Bose-Einstein Condensate, or BEC, a new form of matter created just above absolute zero.
Ultracold matter such as BEC can be used to dramatically increase the performance of devices such as gyroscopes, accelerometers, gravimeters and magnetometers because of its strong interaction with gravity and magnetic fields as compared with laser-based devices. BEC also has potential applications in a wide range of research and commercial settings, ranging from atomic clocks to improved navigation of submarines and spacecraft, and even quantum computing.
“We are delighted that this license agreement has been finalized,” said ColdQuanta CEO Rainer Kunz. “It’s a great example of the university’s strong support for commercializing BEC and cold atom technology born out of CU and SRI International, and will ultimately boost advances in the ultracold applications field.”
“Cold atom research has great potential for fields such as instrumentation and cryptography,” added Chris Lantman, senior director of business development at SRI International of Menlo Park, Calif. “We are pleased that ColdQuanta will commercialize this important technology and look forward to new applications of our physics R&D.”
Initially theorized by Satyendra Bose and Albert Einstein in the 1920s, BEC was achieved for the first time at JILA — a joint institute of CU-Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology — by Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman, who received a Nobel Prize in 2001 for their work. ColdQuanta was founded in 2007 to commercialize work by CU-Boulder physics professor and JILA Fellow Dana Anderson to develop streamlined devices for BEC experiments.
“Startup companies like ColdQuanta play a pivotal part in the transition of an entirely new scientific domain into the realm of practical applications,” said Anderson. “By now we have come full circle, so that they contribute to our scientific progress here at CU as much as our academic research advances their R&D progress.”
“We’re glad to see this forward-looking technology achieve commercial penetration, in addition to the strong academic interest,” added Ted Weverka, a licensing manager at CU. “ColdQuanta is just the adventurous company to make this happen.”
After optioning the technology in 2007, ColdQuanta received a $100,000 Proof of Concept investment from the CU Technology Transfer Office to help bring it to market. Since then, the company has been awarded contracts from the Army, Navy, NASA and the National Science Foundation, which have helped expand its array of products and core competencies beyond ultra-high vacuum, or UHV, design and opto-mechanical and atom chip design, to include UHV processing, systems controls, and diverse glass and silicon bonding expertise. The company sells to research labs and industry nationally and overseas. The company also has partnered with CU-Boulder and SRI International to provide critical UHV components for a major quantum computing project led by the University of Wisconsin.
The CU Technology Transfer Office, or TTO, pursues, protects, packages, and licenses to business the intellectual property generated from research at CU. The TTO provides assistance to faculty, staff and students, as well as to businesses looking to license or invest in CU technology. For more information about technology transfer at CU visit http://www.cu.edu/techtransfer.
ColdQuanta focuses on the development of BEC and cold atom generating devices and systems, allowing them to be accessible to a wide range of research, educational, and industrial institutions. Its products are intended for use in scientific and industrial applications requiring high performance and reliability. ColdQuanta’s products now include the miniMOT range developed for educational institutes and researchers working on cold atoms as well as the RuBECi designed for BEC and ultracold atom labs. The company also provides custom engineering solutions to the cold atom and ultracold atom community. For more information visit http://www.coldquanta.com.
Silicon Valley-based SRI International, a nonprofit research and development organization, performs sponsored R&D for governments, businesses and foundations. SRI brings its innovations to the marketplace through technology licensing, new products, and spinoff ventures. SRI is known for world-changing innovations in computing, health and pharmaceuticals, chemistry and materials, sensing, energy, education, national defense and more. For more information visit http://www.sri.com/.
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CU president Bruce Benson cracks back at news media over salary debacle
0Perception and reality
CU President Bruce Benson
Public universities such as ours are subject to public scrutiny. Even though the state of Colorado provides less than 6 percent of our budget, we have an obligation to be open and accountable to our students, alumni and citizens. The close examination that comes along with that obligation is fair.
Bruce Benson
President
