Change of course creates need and creates opportunity
1437_ 9/16/13 -
Larry is here at the ACG Denver's monthly luncheon and is talking with keynote speaker
Charles Fred the group president of Xerox Hospital Provider Solutions (Breakaway Group). In this role, he leads the organization that serves their hospital and physician clients through a comprehensive portfolio of solutions that help healthcare providers apply, manage and use technology that simplifies caregiver workloads. They help doctors and nurses learn software faster and safely. Biggest opportunity in healthcare is change. "Change, of course creates need, and creates opportunity. As a nation we are woefully out of step with technology today in healthcare. We're behind, so technology companies should be able to be born almost instantly to address some of those needs. Our population is ageing quite quickly. Ten thousand people a day turn 65 in the U.S. and that will continue for the next 18 years! That population is living a lot longer than we ever expected and so there are long term care needs." Fred joined Xerox in 2011, when the company acquired The Breakaway Group. During his first 18 months with Xerox, his organization’s revenue grew by 300 percent, while at the same time expanding his operating profit margin to more than 30 percent. Before The Breakaway Group, Fred was CEO of Omega Performance, culminating in a successful sale to IIR, Inc., in 1998. The publication of his best-selling book, Breakaway, in 2002 initiated a 'movement' from the thousands that have read it. Today, many leading universities use the text...
RELATED LINKS:
Xerox ||
ACG Denver ||
M&A Channel ||
Breakaway at Amazon ||
KEYWORDS: Charles Fred, Xerox, Hospital Provider Solutions, The Breakaway Group,
Healthcare, ACG Denver, Association for Corporate Growth, Breakaway Book > bytes=2807330
LISTEN TO: Charles Fred, President, Breakaway Group, Xerox
For us, it’s all about the data
1420_ 8/12/13 -
ACG Denver had as their keynote luncheon speaker, Eric Roza who has led Datalogix since its recapitalization in October 2009. He was previously a divisional general manager with Asurion, one of the world’s most successful private companies. In prior roles, he launched a series of innovative digital products, including an integrated media center awarded “Best Product” at the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show. Roza began his career as a consultant with Bain & Company, and has degrees from University of Michigan and Stanford Graduate School of Business. Eric is a tireless advocate for the role of health & fitness in the workplace, and owns CrossFit Sanitas, the leading fitness facility and community in Boulder, Colorado. Eric said, "We got our start in the offline, transactional-data world. So we know better than anyone the power this information has in delivering meaningful results for marketers: the ability to target, to measure, and to optimize performance. As a company, we made it our mission to leverage the power of purchase-based audience targeting to drive measurable online and offline sales. As a result, we’re able to bring real targeting and accountability into the digital space like never before. Our data includes almost every U.S. household and more than $1 trillion in consumer transactions. Nobody is better positioned to deliver the right message to the right audience across channels."
RELATED LINKS:
Datalogix Home ||
ACG Denver ||
M&A Channel ||
CrossFit Sanitas ||
Blog ||
Podcasting Directory ||
ACG Denver / Eric Roza Event Photos ||
KEYWORDS: Eric Roza, Datalogix, Transactional-Data World, Innovative Digital
Products, Integrated Media Center, ACG Denver, Association for Corporate Growth > bytes=2414448
LISTEN TO: Eric Roza, CEO, Datalogix
1409_ 7/22/13 - It is surprising to some just how many businesses are looking at global expansion. That can be a jolting, shocking and expensive experience with huge penalties if not done properly. We talked with Todd Roebken, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle here in Denver. Their company roots go back to the 1800s in England and now is close to a $4 Billion dollar company, with 45,000 employees across the world. Todd and his group focus on helping companies find homes for their businesses, whether that's office or industrial manufacturing. Todd said, "We come in and through our process, leverage the marketplace and help companies get the best value out of that real estate with the most flexibility. And, we work with companies from early stage all the way through to large Fortune 100 companies here in Colorado. We do stuff for companies all over the world, whether it's a sales office in China or a manufacturing plant in China or something in India or south Colorado. We have resources, we have owned offices in all those markets and we come in and act as a single point of contact with the CFO, real estate director, CEO, whoever is overseeing that function and act as their real estate department." For Colorado companies looking at global expansion ...Listen for more details... RELATED LINKS: View Todd's LinkedIn Profile || Jones Lang LaSalle || ACG Denver || M&A Channel || KEYWORDS: Todd Roebken, Jones Lang LaSalle, ACG Denver, Global Expansion, Commercial Real Estate, Association for Corporate Growth, M&A, Entrepreneurs, RMCGC > bytes=3044313 LISTEN TO: Todd Roebken, Top Dog, Jones Lang LaSalle
Penny Lewandowski Second Stage Development and Growth
1373_ 4/8/13 -
We're here with keynote speaker, at the ACG Denver's April Luncheon, Penny Lewandowski director of entrepreneurship development for the Edward Lowe Foundation. Lewandowski works with entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) as they develop creative ways to grow their communities by serving second-stage businesses. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of building an entrepreneurial culture, as well as the importance of working with growth companies. She also directs the foundation’s Entrepreneurship Team and manages the technology services for the organization. It's been six months since Lewandowski was in Denver, Larry asked for an update on what's happening with Colorado Companies to Watch. Penny said, "Tomorrow evening we will be at the Governor's Residence with all of the finalists - and I think we have 184 finalists. We had a record number of nominations this year. Colorado is always out front when it comes to nominations. Then on Thursday we're going to be judging those companies, and they go through a pretty intensive process with that. We'll probably make an announcement in the next several weeks after we do the judging."
ACG Denver’s David Sloan Scholarship Program. Set your goal to become an ACG Scholar! Each year the Denver Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) awards one scholarship to a promising 1st or 2ndyear student at each of five area graduate business programs, in the amount of $2,500 annually. The scholarship is renewable for a second year based on both the academic performance and the career ambition of the student. To be eligible for the award, the recipient must be currently enrolled in one of five programs with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better...Listen for much more...
RELATED LINKS:
ACG Denver ||
M&A Channel ||
ACG Denver's David Sloan Scholarship Program ||
Colorado Companies to Watch ||
ACG Photo ||
KEYWORDS: Penny Lewandowski, Entrepreneurship, Second Stage Companies, Edward Lowe
Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, ACG Denver, David Sloan Scholarship, University of Denver, bytes=2751741
LISTEN TO: Penny Lewandowski, Director of Entrepreneurship, Edward Lowe Foundation
Economic predictions for 2013, 2014 and beyond 1337_ 1/14/13 - This is the fourth year running here as ACG Denver starts the new year out with a look into the future featuring keynote speaker Alan Beaulieu, economist with Institute Trend Research. This is a very popular program at ACG, everyone makes it a point to be here in January. Check back in the w3w3.com Archives and you can listen to Alan's past previews into the coming year. Today Alan points out a lot has happened since we last spoke - "the fiscal cliff, we've got Europe going on... I mean there is no lack of things to ponder." Today Alan is talking about what the semi-resolution of the fiscal cliff means for the economy in 2013. Whether Europe is going to implode or not? The answer is not. Whether the Chinese economy is going to sink or expand? It's going to expand. Whether the U.S. economy is going to see more opportunities for businesses in 13? The answer is yes. And the reason for all of that is what we're going to be discussing here at ACG Denver today. But the reality is, this economy is in a real recovery. It's a sustainable recovery and, it's not going to end for another three maybe three-and-a-half quarters." LN: What are some of the other things you'd like to highlight?
Alan, "Well there's a recession coming in 2014. And, we need to start thinking now about how we're going to get ready for that. And I think more importantly, Larry, because that's pretty short cycle, we should realize that 15, 16, 17 - they're really good years coming! - And business leaders should ask themselves, What do I need to do now to get ready to be busy again? Because, we've had a hunker-down, no-spend, watch-the-cash mentality for so long that we're going to walk right into a great recovery and we're going to be ill prepared for it. Being ill prepared for a recovery is as bad as being ill prepared for a recession." Larry recaps for clarity: Fourteen is going to be a little tough and challenging. But then 15, 16 and 17 they're going to be coming back. "Right" said Alan, "You're absolutely right Larry! We're going to be happy! We're not going to be retiring but it'll be a good time in the country."
...listen for more ... RELATED LINKS: ITR Economics || ACG Denver || RM Corporate Growth Conference || Event Photos || M&A Channel || KEYWORDS: Alan Beaulieu, ITR Economics, Institute for Trend Research, Financial Trends, ACG Denver, Association for Corporate Growth, Trends, Economic Recovery, M&A, Entrepreneurs, Europe, China, Canada, Latin America,
BYTES=2926448 LISTEN TO: Alan Beaulieu, Economist, Institute Trend Research
Here’s what the US economy will look like in 2012 1144_ 1/16/12 - We're here at the ACG Denver opening luncheon for 2012 speaking with the returning keynote speaker Alan Beaulieu of ITR that's the Institute for Trend Research. When we interviewed Alan last year he told us that we would go through a mild recovery in 2011; slow job growth; housing market going nowhere in a hurry. We'll muddle along, but look a lot better than many other nations - so the dollar should be fine. Being right on is one thing, but Alan appreciated Larry's recall because, "as a forecaster, it's really nice when someone remembers - you don't get that a lot." Naturally Larry asked for some predictions and Alan is happy to do that, but he'll stay away from politics - see he really is a smart man. For the economy Alan tells us he thinks 2012 is actually going to be a little better than 2011. Businesses should continue to prosper, hiring will continue. It's not going to be great guns but it's still going to be moving forward. People who had really good revenues in 2011, good profits are going to have a little more so in 2012. More people will have their jobs, the housing market will begin to solidify even more so. Towards the end of the year a little rise will go on in housing starts. We've gone through the darkest part and now we're in a recovery that's going to last into 2013. Larry asked his signature challenge and opportunities question. Alan said, "Very interesting question. Challenges will come from overseas. Businesses that are tied to Europe, tied to China, I think, will be facing some pressures ...Inflationary problems from China and a lack of sales going into Europe. So others that are U.S. centric are really going to ignore a lot of that and firms that have their own cash flow and not dependent on outside financing from commercial banking are also going to find it's a better year. Because problems in Europe can bleed over into the U.S. commercial banking market and that would be a problem for heavily dependent firms, firms that need that equity outside of themselves. Opportunities will come... Related Links: Institute for Trend Research || ITR Blog || ACG Denver || M&A Channel || Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference || Event Photos || Keywords: Alan Beaulieu, Institute for Trend Research, ACG Denver, Association for
Corporate Growth, Trends, Economic Recovery, M&A, Entrepreneurs, Europe, China, Canada, Latin America, > Bytes: 4765051 LISTEN to Alan Beaulieu, Institute for Trend Research
Social Entrepreneurism focused on women Connie Duckworth appearing December 4th, Annual Social Enterprice Event - Hosted by CIMCO and ACG Denver! Details Here 1295_ 10/15/12 - Social entrepreneur Connie Duckworth founded ARZU, (which means “hope” in Dari), in 2004, to empower destitute women weavers in rural Afghanistan. Connie serves pro bono as Chairman and CEO. Starting with 30 weavers, ARZU has transformed into a learning laboratory for holistic grassroots economic development —today employing some 700 women, providing access to education and basic healthcare, seeding multiple micro-business start-ups, building community centers, pre-schools and parks, and creating award-winning fair-labor rugs—all in a country ranked as “the world’s worst place to be a woman.” Ms. Duckworth retired in 2001 as a Partner and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs, the first woman to be named a sales and trading partner in the firm’s history. She tells us she really wanted to rebalance how she spent her time. So she envisioned 1/3 business activities, 1/3 philanthropic activities and 1/3 family oriented activities. ARZU became the focus of her philanthropy. ARZU is an example of a 'for benefit corporation'. It uses private sector practices to create jobs in very remote rural villages in Afghanistan, and produces export quality products. Because of her business lens, Connie sees a social business as the way to empower people through employment. It seemed like a natural fit as Connie's passion has always been women's rights. To Connie, the shortest path is through economic advancement. The women in Afghanistan are truly among the most disadvantaged women in the world. Connie Duckworth is the Keynote Speaker at the CIMCO Annual Social Enterprise event at ACG Denver! Listen for more... RELATED LINKS: ARZU Studio Hope || CIMCO || Community Reach || Social Entrepreneurship || M&A Channel || ACG Denver || ACG Denver / CIMCO Annual Social Enterprise Event || Photos CU Boulder || ACG Denver/CIMCO Social Enterprise Event 2012 || KEYWORDS: Connie Duckworth, ARZU, Studio Hope, Social Entrepreneurship, Afghanistan,
Women, Philanthropy, CIMCO, Community Reach, ACG Denver, bytes=5276215 LISTEN TO: Connie Duckworth, Founder/CEO, AZRU
Enhancing customer loyalty, corporate culture and profitability
1475_ 12/9/13 -
Colorado leaders discussed how social responsibility can enhance customer loyalty, corporate culture and profitability. At the ACG 7th Annual Business & Social Enterprise event the keynote speaker was Peter Swinburn is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Molson Coors Brewing Company. Chris Pelley’s definition of social entrepreneurs is, 1.) It’s people who are going to use creative thinking in solving any problem. 2.) The notion of using real business principals and business drivers for the best results is also an important issue. 3.) Sustainability." Swinburn has been in the global beer industry for more than 30 years and has held various senior roles in marketing, retail management and sales. Swinburn joined Molson Coors in 2002 during the Coors Brewers, Ltd. acquisition in the U.K. Prior to his current role, Swinburn was President and Chief Executive Officer of Coors Brewing Company, the U.S. subsidiary of Molson Coors Brewing Company, a role he took in October 2007. From 2005 to 2007, Swinburn was CEO of Coors Brewers Limited, another ...listen for much more...
RELATED LINKS:
Molson Coors ||
Community Reach ||
Social Entrepreneurship Channel ||
ACG Denver Channel ||
CIMCO Private Wealth ||
KEYWORDS: Peter Swinburn, Molson Coors, Annual Business & Social Enterprise, ACG,
Coors Brewing, Social Responsibility, Sustainability, Customer Loyalty, Corporate Culture, Profitability, > bytes=9750468
LISTEN TO: Peter Swinburn, CEO, Molson Coors
Networking Rules of Engagement, the do's and don'ts 1422_ 8/19/13 - Larry spoke with Howard Potter, the self-described recovering attorney and CPA who is here to talk about his favorite subject, networking. We're discussing his Networking Rules of Engagement, and then we'll talk about the 8th Annual Investment & Finance Cross-Networking Event on September 26th, 2013, hosted by Mr. Potter and sponsored by ACG Denver, w3w3.com and many others. Last year over 400 people attended this event and it has been sold out each of the last four years. The format is appreciated by all - there are no speakers, just a lot of time to network and make or renew your contacts. We asked him to talk about his networking best practices. Networking should be about 'How can I help you?' You walk into a meeting, the first thing you want to think is, 'What can I do to help these people in the room?' First, try to arrive a minimum of 15 minutes early. Those first minutes are the most important. You can get the ground work going, canvass the room, get a feeling for what's going on. I would also suggest, try to leave 15 minutes late, at the end of the networking time is some of the most valuable time that you spend. After the networking session is over you have to take the cards you've collected, make notes on the cards to remind yourself later of who you met. Talking about business cards - Never, Never, Never be without your business card. Howard goes so far to say if you are fishing or hunting - have a business card with you. The business card should be a card on which you can write and take notes so the people who meet you and you meet - you can make notes about who these people are and what their background is. Listen for more and be ready to take notes... RELATED LINKS: Howard Potter || Investment & Finance Cross-Networking Event || M&A Channel || ACG Denver Home w3w3.com Blog || KEYWORDS: Howard Potter, Investment & Finance Cross-Networking, ACG Denver, Networking
Rules of Engagement, Business Cards, Brand Yourself, bytes=4350853 LISTEN TO: Howard Potter, Cross Networking Event
Private Equity Invests over $25 billion in Colorado Companies
1411_ 7/29/13 - Only companies in Texas and California received more money from private-equity investments than Colorado did last year, according to a recent report by the Private Equity Growth Capital Council. The Washington, D.C.-based group said 67 Colorado companies received $26.8 billion last year. The report, which gives a state-by-state breakdown of where private-equity investment companies put their money, said those firms invested $347 billion in 2,083 U.S. companies. For more information about the report, click here. RELATED LINKS: Full Report - Denver Business Journal || ACG Denver || M&A Channel || PDF Download of the Report ||
KEYWORDS: ACG Denver, Denver Business Journal, Private Equity Growth, information technology, financial services, energy and business services. 6th Congressional District, Rep. Mike Coffman, Association for Corporate Growth, Keynote speaker, John Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, M&A, Entrepreneurs, RMCGC, DBJ Article/ACG Denver Reprint
Mergers & acquisitions and organic growth
1397_ 6/17/13 -
Larry corralled Todd Roebken, the current president of ACG Denver. This past month they conducted their annual Leadership Planning Meeting, very exciting - the networking was spectacular, with all kinds of people who want to do and get involved, and it makes you proud to be part of it. "This is where you can hear about the different committees we have at ACG Denver - figure out where you can add value and where you can get value from being involved in this organization. If you're wondering why ACG, there are a lot of reasons." Todd tells us, "There are 500+/- members, 30% of those members are at C-level participation - Colorado middle market companies growing here in Colorado. It's really all the players, the movers and the shakers, in growth or M&A here in Colorado." One of the things Todd loves about ACG is that it is not industry specific. He said, "We have companies from all over the range, manufacturing companies, oil and gas, technology companies - all different kinds of companies trying to grow and that need resources to help them grow." ACG Denver has 50+ events every year that revolve around organic growth and M&A, so there are all kinds of opportunities for people to get involved as well as come to these events and network. Of these events, Larry loves the monthly luncheon meetings - he always attends and asked Todd to tell us about the other events. "We have a whole track for C-level execs, the Corporate Breakfast series. We do some social events on the corporate side, some CEO dinners. We have the DealMaker’s Forum, we also have the Leadership 20 program which is inspiring the middle market service companies - managers and up and coming leaders in those companies. And it's an MBA Leadership track that's condensed into a six week program, we put that on. We do a lot with schools to help them and we have the David Sloan Scholarship program for the Executive MBA and MBA program. The list just goes on and on, it's an exciting organization. We really have the community of service providers, we have the C-levels and their teams, intermediaries, the M&A gurus in town, the investment bankers - it is just the place to be if you want to help companies to grow."...Listen, there's much more...
RELATED LINKS:
Jones Lang LaSalle Denver ||
Todd Roebken, Managing Director ||
ACG Denver ||
M&A Channel ||
Podcasting Directory ||
KEYWORDS: Todd Roebken, Jones Lang LaSalle, ACG Denver, Middle Market Companies, M&A,
DealMaker’s Forum, David Sloan Scholarship Program, Leadership Planning Meeting, bytes=5892705
LISTEN TO: Todd Roebken, President, ACG Denver and Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle
John Mackey Culture, Strategy and Conscious Capitalism 1368_ 3/25/13 - Larry and Patricia Nelson are here at the ACG Denver's 11th Annual, Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference 2013 speaking with John Mackey, CEO and Cofounder of WholeFoods and co-author of Conscious Capitalism.
At this year's conference we heard a lot of speakers talking about strategy - we asked John Mackey to give us his take on strategy. He responded, "My theory is that you have to first find your purpose for the business, why you exist. After that you have to ask, How do I create value for our customers? Ultimately it is value creation for the customers that leads the business to flourish. Then we ask the strategy questions. What strategy do we implement that allows us to follow purpose and allow us to create value for our customers and other stakeholders?READ MORE RELATED LINKS: Conscious Capitalism || ACG Denver || RM Corporate Growth Conference || M&A Channel || Amazon || KEYWORDS: ACG Denver, Rocky Mtn Corporate Growth Conference, John Mackey, WholeFoods Market, Association for Corporate Growth, Keynote speaker, John Mackey, Conscious Capitalism, M&A, Entrepreneurs, RMCGC, BYTES=10372809 LISTEN TO: John Mackey CoFounder/CEO, WholeFoods Markets, Author, Conscious Capitalism
Heroes talking about the actions of other heroes 1336_ 1/14/13 - HP Chris Pelley has been on the board of ACG Denver for the past eight years and they've been kind enough to help Chris and CIMCO Private Wealth, sponsor the whole notion around Social Enterprise, this year was our sixth annual event. Bud Ahearn helped with that two day event featuring Connie Duckworth, CEO of ARZU Carpets, held Monday, at CU, CSU, and DU Women's College Tuesday morning and then the ACG 6th Annual lunch. General Joseph A 'Bud' Ahearn has worked with Chris for six years to help promote the notion around social enterprise. Bud said, "To start let me tell you about the sponsor of the program, Chris Pelley. Actually his mission in life is to transform private wealth into community wealth, to global wealth. We see that at work in his day-to-day actions and constant sponsorship of social entrepreneurship. One must have the prerequisites in place with wealth that then this notion of making it multiply is the humanity that brings us together. Connie Duckworth, the former managing partner of Goldman Sachs was here. She's taken on a powerful leadership role for women in the U.S. to deploy to the developing world, which makes up 99% of our globe, to get out and show women of the world how to create real value for their families, communities and their country. Connie is an authentic leader who grew up in a very tough, male dominated financial world. Connie is slight in stature but extremely strong in character." Bud tells us that Connie is committed to a sense of service to her family, her community and to women. This isn't a dream but an experiential hands-on the creation and fulfillment of hope for women. Today she's got 700 women in Afghanistan out of huddled masses and out weaving today and leveraging a remarkable brand of Afghani carpet making. Listen for more about this fascinating interview.... RELATED LINKS: ARZU Studio Hope || Community Reach Channel || CH2M HILL || CIMCO || Peace Cord Bracelets || Social Entrepreneurs || Photos CU Boulder || ACG DEnver/CIMCO Social Enterprise Event 2012 || KEYWORDS: Bud Ahearn, Chris Pelley, Connie Duckworth, ARZU, Studio Hope, Social Entrepreneurship, Afghanistan, Women, Philanthropy, CIMCO, Capital Investment Management Company, Two-Star General, Air Force, Community Reach, Hero, BYTES=9595823 LISTEN TO: Chris Pelley, CIMCO Private Wealth & Bud Ahearn, Local Hero
work in his day-to-day actions and constant sponsorship of social entrepreneurship. One must have the prerequisites in place with wealth that then this notion of making it multiply is the humanity that brings us together. Connie Duckworth, the former managing partner of Goldman Sachs was here. She's taken on a powerful leadership role for women in the U.S. to deploy to the developing world, which makes up 99% of our globe, to get out and show women of the world how to create real value for their families, communities and their country. Connie is an authentic leader who grew up in a very tough, male dominated financial world. Connie is slight in stature but extremely strong in character." Bud tells us that Connie is committed to a sense of service to her family, her community and to women. This isn't a dream but an experiential hands-on the creation and fulfillment of hope for women. Today she's got 700 women in Afghanistan out of huddled masses and out weaving today and leveraging a remarkable brand of Afghani carpet making. Listen for more about this fascinating interview....
