Middle market M&A dealmakers and business leaders
1090_ 10/10/11 - The Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Denver, the premier community for middle market M&A dealmakers and business leaders, is proud to announce that Todd Roebken, Managing Director with Jones Lang LaSalle, has been selected as President of the Denver chapter. Mr. Roebken’s two-year term began September 1, 2011. At the October ACG Denver meeting, we cornered Todd, Dave Mead [past president], and [immediate past president] Kathleen Quinn Votaw. We asked for an overview of their companies and what they do. Dave Mead is president of the Mead Consulting Group a lower/middle market consulting and advisory services firm helping companies with strategic execution, profitability and cash flow and adding value for exit. They are celebrating their 30th year in business this year. They have 42 senior consultants focused on Colorado headquartered companies. Kathleen Quinn Votaw is the CEO of TalenTrust, a unique recruitment firm that helps companies get to their next level of growth by attracting the right people. For the past eight years, Todd has been an active member of ACG Denver. He said, “ACG Denver is the region’s foremost organization for companies seeking to grow organically or through M&A. Even during the downturn, ACG Denver grew in membership, which is a testament to the people in this organization who are dedicated to helping area businesses grow. I look forward to the next two years, which is when I believe we will see some aggressive growth in this region.” . Founded in 1954, the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) is a global association for professionals involved in corporate growth, corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions. Today ACG stands at more than 12,000 members from corporations, private equity, finance, and professional service firms representing Fortune 500, Fortune 1000, FTSE 100, and mid-market companies in 53 chapters in North America and Europe. ACG-Denver was awarded Chapter of the Year in 2007...Hear them in their own words......
Related Links: ACG Denver || Mead Consulting Group || TalenTrust || Jones Lang LaSalle US || M&A Channel || Keywords: Keywords: Todd Roebken, Kathleen Quinn Votaw, Dave Mead, ACG Denver, Mead Consulting Group, Talentrust, Jones Lang LaSalle, M&A, Denver, Association for Corporate Growth - bytes=6076607
Listen to: Todd Roebken, Kathleen Q Votaw, Dave Mead

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We have to respect both ends of the spectrum
1093_ 10/10/11 - She is well known to the w3w3® Colorado audience as past president of ACG Denver, but Kathleen Quinn Votaw is also the CEO of TalenTrust, a unique, local recruitment firm - Kathleen has 25 years in this space. At TalenTrust, they help small and mid sized companies attract the very best people so they can grow their companies to the next level, using a very unique methodology that is not out there in the recruitment universe. At w3w3.com, we regularly receive the TalenTrust Newsletter and the last issue was a great reminder for those firms looking to hire new employees, as well as the rest of us. The Newsletter talked about ‘respect’. Kathleen said, "Sometimes, not intentionally, there is a lack of respect in the candidate process. Candidates are also looking for the right culture to join, so respect during the candidate process is key. Then once you actually hire someone, treating your team with dignity and respect is of the utmost importance." Kathleen points out that they're fortunate to deal with the clients, the firms needing to acquire talent, and then they have another whole group - business people that we serve and those are our candidates. We asked Kathleen what prompted her to write about this subject. She offered an example of a company that approached the recruiting process in an arrogant manner. You know, 'who are you and what value will you add to the company?' and didn't provide any opportunity for the candidate to understand what value the company would bring to them. Kathleen said, "As we continue to change as a culture, we have to respect both ends of the spectrum, the employer and the potential employee. When you're building those relationships you must know that all relationships begin and end with respect." You can find more articles on the TalenTrust web site that focus on hiring for character first and competency second. Check this out...
Related Links: TalenTrust || ACG Denver || ACG Denver Channel || Mastering Change || Keywords: Kathleen Quinn Votaw, TalenTrust, Respect, ACG Denver, Recruitment Firm, Candidate, Character, Competency - bytes=3661639
Listen to: Kathleen Quinn Votaw, TalenTrust

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People are concerned with the healthcare legislation, but
1059_ 8/08/11 - At the ACG Denver August luncheon, we spoke with the keynote speaker, Chris Smith, President of Cochlear Americas, based here in Denver. Chris tells us that while he would never label any business or industry as 'recession proof', he would recommend healthcare as a solid industry to look into. Cochlear manufactures and distributes across the world, an implantable brain stimulator for people who are either born deaf or go deaf later in life. Instead of a hearing aid, which amplifies sound, this is a technology that is an implantable device that allows you to restore hearing. Larry asked Chris what he felt were the biggest challenges facing companies today. Chris said, "I think, at least when looking at our business it is finding great people." Identifying the right people, for character and culture is number one because at the end of the day, the people you hire, they are the team and they're going to build the business." Turning the table, Larry asked what was the biggest opportunity. Chris went with people, "I think there are amazing people out there today. Especially if you look at what's going on with unemployment across this country. I think there's a lot of wonderful people that are available to go in and make an incredible impact in organizations. We've always said, that the best people with the best strategies win." As an aside, Chris points out that, "Healthcare has its challenges. People are concerned with the healthcare legislation, but at the same time, this is a country that has always provided healthcare to its population." Chris believes with where technology is going, and the innovations are going, the length and quality of life is going to be extended. Advice for entrepreneurs looking at healthcare, "Hire for character, then competency. Make sure from a character and culture perspective that there is a right fit with the organization. People make mistakes along the way, more for this is the job I want as opposed to this is the company or the culture I want." Second piece of advice is...listen for more...
Related Links: Cochlear Americas || ACG Denver || M&A Channel || Podcasting Directory || Keywords: Chris Smith, Cochlear Americas, ACG Denver, Hearing, Healthcare, Entrepreneurs, People, Character, Culture, Biggest Opportunity 8/08/11 Bytes: 4696505
LISTEN to Chris Smith, President, Cochlear

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Gov Hickenlooper: Fixing the red tape for the state
1020_ 5/23/11 - Those who attempt the impossible have very little competition. Gov. John Hickenlooper, was the Day 1 keynote speaker at the 2011 ACG Corporate Growth Conference. In this video segment No. 3, he discusses red tap and how the state is going to deal with it. The governor said, "What are specific examples of red tape? We're willing, we'll make a commitment, you show us the red tape and we'll fix it. If you're spending too much time doing paperwork, if you're getting tied up in bureaucracy that's not benefiting the public safety or the public sector and it's taking time away from your business, we'll fix it. But just help us - write it down. By the time this is through we will have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of gaggles of examples of red tape, culled from all over the state. Those 64 county discussions will help and we'll merge then into 14 regional economic development plan or description of what their vision is. And, you know, How important is public education? We want to be defined as pro business. Colorado should be a state where any entrepreneur, on the east coast or the west coast, if they're sick of the big city, why with technology and the Internet, you can do business almost anywhere, Why not Colorado? But if we want to attract them we've got to have good school districts, we've got to have good universities and colleges - we've got to have those elements that become part of a successful entrepreneurial endeavor." He goes onto explain the details and talk about some very experienced professionals that are part of the team...watch and listen for more..
Related Links: VIDEO link || ACG Conference Details || ACG Denver Home || M&A Channel || City of Denver Channel || Colorado State Web Portal || Keywords: John Hickenlooper, Governor, Colorado, ACG, ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference, Ed Tauer, Mayor of Aurora, Tim Wolf, Molsen, Miller, Kristin Russell, SUN Microsystems 5/23/11
Watch Governor Hickenlooper - VIDEO

Gov. Hickenlooper, at the ACG Corporate Growth Conference
1009_ 5/2/11 - When in the restaurant business, Governor John Hickenlooper recalls hearing nearly everyone around him complain about their politicians, local and federal "...senators, state legislators, council members, governors, mayors. I came to this recognition at a certain point “This is the United States of America, right? The government is us. And, we were moving to a place where people were becoming so anti-government, they became almost anti-investment in the community. I think that if people could see the landscape of international economies now, and it's not just China and India... and Brazil, in the next several years probably will be the 5th largest economy in the world. That landscape is moving so rapidly now, the rate of change has accelerated and I don't think we have the luxury of partisan politics and apathy, and downright antagonism to government - and ultimately this is America, the government is us. That's how I was goaded into running for Mayor in the first place. We ran a positive campaign, I wanted to pull people together, I was elected. We haven't had a recession this difficult since the Great Depression. Many of the jobs we lost, as the economy recovers, those jobs are not coming back. We're going to see more and more people that were trained for a career, planned for a lifetime in this occupation - and they don't have a job anymore. I relate to that directly. Part of what we're trying to look out at as the State Government is, what are those elements A.) How do we get the economy back on track and B.) How do we make sure that we're retraining people throughout the State of Colorado to be ready for those new jobs as they become available." This is the first, in a series of video vignettes, taken from the Governor's keynote address. Stay tuned for more ...VIDEO
Related Links: VIDEO Gov. Hickenlooper || ACG Conference Details || ACG Denver Home || M&A Channel || Colorado State Web Portal || Keywords: John Hickenlooper, Governor, Colorado, ACG, ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference, Recession, Economy, Politicians - 5/2/11 bytes=205167854
Video, Watch: Governor John Hickenlooper, ACG 9th Corporate Growth Conference

Hickenlooper: Changing the Culture of an Entire State
1012_ 5/9/11 - Gov. John Hickenlooper, was the Day 1 keynote speaker at the 2011 ACG Corporate Growth Conference. In this video segment he has some hard-hitting words about the Colorado culture as it relates to business. "The Colorado culture is 'not in my backyard’, we're not really pro business and in a recession like this you see, in a very sharp contrast, how much that can catch up to you. Right now, in Texas, I can guarantee you there is no such culture. In Texas every single person, if you're a Texan, if you're in elementary school, high school, college or in business - at any level - everybody is pro business, and everybody is pro Texas. Part of what we have to do in this country is make sure that the entire country begins to get that same kind of attitude of trust. I think it's important for us to compete on the international economic stage. So, how to make it happen in Colorado? I think there are three major components of how you begin to change the culture of a state that way. Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric said, "The most important thing that I've learned since becoming CEO is context. How your company fits into the world and how you respond to it." Now he's talking strictly from a corporate perspective, but I think the same thing is true, the context, when you're trying to change the attitude, the perspective of an entire state. I don't mean a few leaders, I mean the people who get paid $10 an hour working in a convenience store or building widgets. How do we get everybody to be more pro business? Part of that, if we're going to be pro business we have to hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards... If we're going to encourage natural gas drilling... we have almost more than any other state in America. If you take Utah Colorado and Wyoming, we have roughly 3/4s of the total natural gas in the country, and it burns significantly cleaner than gasoline in vehicles, it's a third cheaper than gasoline in vehicles and it prevents us from sending billions of dollars to foreign shores. Now, I'm all for drilling for natural gas, but if we're going to do that we better make sure that there are no spills, people aren't putting fills into our surface waters, that we hold ourselves to the highest environmental standards, we must commit ourselves to respecting and protecting our land and water; that those legacy elements that attract so many people here. If we don't have that contextual recognition. We have to define the very high ethical standards, environmental standards if we're going to get people to be pro business. If we don't have that contextual recognition we're going to be bumping our heads against a wall the whole way through. We started and are half-way through what we call the bottom-up economic development planning process - that's not bottoms-up. I don't think any other states have tried this. But we went out to all 64 counties in Colorado and said we want each county to go out and have as many discussion as you can - What do you want your economy to look like in 20, 40 years? And, how are you going to get there? What are your strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities? And not just economic development professionals, but also the Rotary Club members, the school teachers and police officers, the mechanic at the garage..." For more, WATCH the VIDEO...

Related Links: Part 1 VIDEO Gov @ ACG || ACG Conference Detail || ACG Denver Home || M&A Channel || Colorado State Web Portal || Keywords: John Hickenlooper, Governor, Colorado, Texas, ACG, ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference, Jeff Immelt, General Electric, Recession, Economy, Natural Gas - 5/9/11 bytes=199952604 Watch: Gov.John Hickenlooper

The number one tool for leaders and CEO's
1018_ 5/23/11 - We are fortunate to have Sherry Law founder of Evergreen Communications, a recognized national expert on the subject of high impact internal and external communications. Sherry describes communication as an infrastructure for everything that goes on within an organization. She points out, "That's relating to everything from culture, brand, productivity and performance" - Maybe a short list, but it's all encompassing. Larry said, "When I think of communications, I think of the whole organization, but you focus on CEO communications. Could you describe that?" Sherry replied, "I do because everything about an organization has to do with the CEO. Communication is a key competency for leadership and it's the key to the culture of the organization, and its productivity and its performance. I don't think people really think of communication in that way, but it has that level of importance of infrastructure."
    "I know you are a regular contributor to the ColoradoBIZ Magazine and one article in particular caught my attention. It was titled 'I Struggle to Find Any Truth in Your Lies'. Can we get into that?" Sherry's reply... "Since I always have CEO communication on my mind, [it seems like] I was jumping to CEO communications because they often don't tell the truth. It's for a lot of different reasons that they don't tell the truth. A lot of times they're trying to protect their employees from bad news, they're afraid they can't handle it. Sort of like a parent with a small child. In actuality employees can handle bad news. What they can't handle is not getting any news at all. Sometimes it's protecting an ego, sometimes it's protecting a brand. Sometimes it's just someone who is uncomfortable communicating. CEO's are people, like anybody else, and sometimes they just aren't very comfortable saying what they think." Sherry shares a ton of information...be ready to take notes...
Related Links: Evergreen Communications || COBIZ Article || ACG Denver Home || Podcasting Directory || Keywords: Sherry Law, Evergreen Communications, ACG Denver, CEO communications, Entrepreneurs, Leadership, ColoradoBIZ Magazine, Internal Communications, External Communications - 5/23/11 bytes=8528773
LISTEN to Sherry Law, Founder, Evergreen Communications

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Rebuilding a company one person at a time
965_ 2/7/11 - "When you think about the economy, fortunately for the supermarket industry, people still have to eat. Until that changes, we're going to have some semblance of order. In some cases there's advantage to be taken." We're here at the Association for Corporate Growth luncheon and Sam Martin, President & CEO, Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (A&P) is our keynote speaker. Sam's wife Carina attended, she runs a non-profit here in Denver, the name is 'A Precious Child', and she is dedicated to helping children in the Denver Metro Area and throughout the Colorado market, with basic essentials. Last year alone she helped over 26,000 kids. Larry asked, "Sam what advice would you give to executive types running large and medium size companies over this coming year?" Sam replied, "Company culture is important to look at early on and always, so that you don't allow your culture to erode, or change in a dark way and start to take your company down from a results standpoint. It is amazing to me how many companies lose sight of the impact their culture has on the bottom line results. That culture in A&P's example starts back in 1859. One hundred-fifty-one years ago, the culture of the company was one of accountability, trust, a huge focus on discipline and growing the people. They grew the people enough to make a company that had 16,000 stores across the country by the 1930s. If you think about that kind of culture and then you reflect on today on a company that's actually in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, along the way that culture eroded and it brought the results of the company down." Sam feels that the culture is one of the essential pieces in building a team. He said, "If a person doesn't fit into the culture of your organization, and align with your core values, it doesn't matter their skill sets, they're not going to be successful in your organization." It's an important part of recruiting and putting management and leadership in place is to make sure the culture is preserved and the mission of the company, the core values that we stand for are aligned with...listen now
Related Links: Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) || A Precious Child || ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference || ACG Denver || M&A Channel || Keywords: Sam Martin, A&P, ACG, ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference, Carina Martin, A Precious Child, Company Culture, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company > 2/7/11 bytes=4183252
LISTEN to Sam Martin, President & CEO, A&P

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Business trends for the next 12 months
953_ 1/18/11 - Larry's first question, "What do you see for the next 12 months?, business trend-wise..." Keynote speaker at the ACG Denver business luncheon, Alan Beaulieu provided a fast summation that went like this..."Mild recovery, Slow job growth, Housing market going nowhere in a hurry. We're going to muddle along, but we'll look better than a lot of nations, so the dollar should be fine." Chet Marino and ACG Denver brought Alan Beaulieu, President of the Economist Institute Trend Research, back for an expert's view of the year ahead. He covered a variety of topics including local and national trends as well as some fun topics like taxes, interest rates and a general outlook for the US economy and the stock market. Larry asked, "What do you see financially, for those trying to raise money, mergers, what are some of the challenges and choices?" Alan replied, "The good news is the banking industry is beginning to loosen up and they're lowering their credit standards some, they have plenty of cash. The big inhibitor to lending right now, believe it or not, is the federal government. The regulators are saying no, no, no, and the banks are looking for reasons to say yes. As the Christopher Dodd/Barney Frank legislation settles down and regulations are written, the idea is that banks will figure it out, regulators will figure it out, money will start flowing again and that should make for a very healthy 2012. We'll get through 2011 and probably have a great 2012. It's nice... companies are growing again, companies are hiring again, and so we're going to enter into a more relaxed, as far as stress levels go, but I do want your listeners to know this..." There's much more, listen now...
Related Links: Institute for Trend Research || ACG Denver || M&A Channel || Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference || Keywords: Alan Beaulieu, Institute for Trend Research, ACG Denver, Association for Corporate Growth, Trends, Economic Recovery, M&A, Entrepreneurs > 1/18/11 bytes=4597867
LISTEN to Alan Beaulieu, Economist Institute Trend Research

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752_ Managing Beyond the Recovery: New Realities, New Rules and New Values
"What we're seeing is that there will be a reset, what some executives call a reset with this economy. And at some point we are going to see a new normal. Some major economists think that what we will see, going forward over the next several years, a lower growth US economy with higher levels of unemployment, a weaker dollar, higher taxes, bigger government spend and I think also some concern about whether we will have a higher rate of inflation going forward," said Grant Ruesch. Grant is the Operational Co-Chair of the ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference for 2010 and he also serves as chair of the content committee. The theme is a very important element for us and we began thinking about right after finishing last year's conference. We came up with the theme called "Managing Beyond the Recovery: New Realities, New Rules and New Values." Grant went onto point out, "It is a very important time as we recover from the most serious recession since World War II, with the kind of structural imbalances that we have to really figure out what it's going to be like going forward. Right now the signals are mixed - there are signs we are beginning to lift out of the deep recession but there are also some troubling remnants of the economic contraction that indicate a slow recovery in terms of job creation and the resumption of consumer spending which drives economic activity. These indicators include: a distressed commercial real-estate market; high unemployment; stalled consumer spending; lack of business confidence to support new capital investment; lack of investor confidence; a political and policy environment that is very difficult to discern." The answers and the experts will be at the 2010 ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference on March 17 & 18, 2010. We'll be there...Managing Beyond the Recovery: New Realities, New Rules and New Values... Learn more...
Related Links: ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference || ACG Denver || M&A Channel || 3/11/09 Photos || 3/12/09 Photos || Keywords: ACG, ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference, Grant Ruesch, Managing Beyond the Recovery: New Realities, New Rules and New Values > Channel: ACG 9605262 bytes 12/7/09 LISTEN

It is more than doing well, by doing good
1123_ 12/12/11 - Kim Jordan, CEO, New Belgium Brewing Company shares the storey of her journey and that of hundreds of team members in becoming a profitable and socially responsible enterprise. Chris Pelley has been encouraging a greater understanding of social enterprise within the Colorado business community for almost seven years. In collaboration with ACG, he was very pleased to announce this year’s 5th Annual Business/Social Entrepreneurship event with keynote speaker, Kim Jordan, CEO and Co-Founder of New Belgium Brewing. Blending business acumen and social needs is something that Ms. Jordan has mastered quite successfully. She’ll share how aligning with social enterprise attracts the best and brightest talent, improves retention and ultimately enhances employee morale. There’s nothing better than having your employees boast with pride in their company’s purpose in the world to help improve your bottom line! Social enterprise is more than merely, "doing well, by doing good." Watch and listen to her message.
Related Links: New Belgium Brewing Home || CIMCO || Community Reach || Social Entrepreneurship || M&A Channel || ACG Denver || Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference || Keywords: Kim Jordan, New Belgium Brewing, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Entreprise, Association for Corporate Growth, Denver, ACG, Chris Pelley, CIMCO, Community Reach -
Watch: Kim Jordan, CEO/CoFounder, New Belgium Brewing Co.

Leadership advice that is needed today
1103_ 11/7/11 - Get ready to take some notes. The ACG Denver monthly keynote was John Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of CereScan Corp. He offers a great deal of advice for building and running a successful company; from funding to teams and so much more. This is a live recording of his talk. Here's a little background. John A. Kelley, Jr. has been a director of Polycom since March 2000. Mr. Kelley has served as the Chief Executive Officer of CereScan Corp., a provider of high-definition functional brain imaging, since July 2009 and as Chairman of the board of directors of CereScan since February 2009. John also served as the Chief Executive Officer of McDATA Corp., since August 2002 and as its President since August 2001 and Chief Operating Officer from August 2001 to August 2002. Mr. Kelley has more than 30 years of telecommunications experience. Mr. Kelley re-built the management team, introduced multiple products simultaneously on a global basis, acquired and integrated both private and public companies. He served as an Executive Vice President of Networks of Qwest Communications International Inc., (Qwest) from July 2000 to January 2001. Prior to the acquisition of U S WEST by Qwest, he served as Executive Vice President for U S WEST from April 1995 to June 2000. He served as President of Wholesale Markets for U S West from May 1998 to July 2000. From March 1995 to April 1998, Mr. Kelley served as Vice President and General Manager of Large Business and Government Accounts and President of Federal Services for U S West. Prior to joining U S West, Mr. Kelley served as Area President for Mead Corporation's Zellerbach Southwest Business Unit from 1991 to 1995, and has served senior positions at Xerox and NBI. Mr. Kelley serves as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of INROADS of Colorado. He has been the Chairman of McDATA Corp. since February 2004. He serves as the National Vice-Chairman for INROADS. He has been Director of Circadence Corporation since November 2009. He has been a Director of Aztek Networks since August 2008. He has been a Director of Polycom since March 2000. John has done so much for the business community and the community of the whole. He talks about many business issues including ethics...this is a live recording of his keynote address...
Related Links: CereScan Imaging || ACG Denver Home || ACG Denver Channel || Polycom || In the News || Keywords: John Kelley, CereScan Imaging, ACG Denver, Polycom, McData, Functional Brain Imaging, US West, Qwest, Telecommunications, Zellerbach, Circadence, Inroads - bytes=32132182
Listen to: John kelley, CEO CereScan

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Captive insurance companies as a financial strategy
1106_ 11/7/11 - Retirement didn't work well for our guest, and for the past 8-10 years he's been very active on the ACG Denver Board as well as the FEI Board which is Financial Executives International a global organization for chief financial officers. We're talking with Howard Potter, the self described 'recovering lawyer and CPA’. Going back many years he was in the tax department of Touche Deloitte, then he had his own law firm for about 27 years, in the mid 90s he retired, I wonder if that counts as his first failure (failed retirement, that is). The real story for today, starts with Howard's fascination with 'captive insurance companies'. He's followed this financial strategy for many years and finally the IRS came out with what they refer to as 'safe harbor rules' providing some guidelines how these financial strategies and these insurance companies should be setup and also established. We first heard Howard talk about this at an HRO event in Denver. So in 2002 Howard got involved. Currently he has an affiliation with Artex Risk Solutions, a subsidiary of Arthur J Gallagher & Co. out of Chicago. They do not sell any insurance, they structure, form and manage captive insurance companies. The concept very briefly is that Howard's firm reviews middle market companies looking for uninsured risks. If they can find enough of these risks, qualify them and can support a premium on those risks, there are some real advantages to forming a micro captive insurance company. The risks Howard is talking about are typically of low frequency and uninsured. For example the first place they look is the current policies - at the deductibles and exclusions. The other risks are low frequency, product recall, product liability, environmental, some in terrorism, cyber risk - any type of risk that has a low frequency. Those are the natural risks to put into your own captive insurance company. What they're doing is optimizing the risk coverage for a company by keeping your existing coverage, but also having your own insurance company that insures the low frequency risks. Between these two insurance companies you gain some real advantages...Listen for more details...
Related Links: S T Consulting || Howard Potter || ACG Denver Channel || Holme Roberts & Owen || Mastering Change Book || Keywords: Howard Potter, S T Consulting, Captive Insurance Companies, Association of Corporate Growth, Denver, ACG, FEI, Financial Executives International, Artex Risk Solutions, Arthur J Gallagher - bytes=5465550
LISTEN to Howard Potter, S T Consulting

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Social media is a huge opportunity for marketing
1081_ 9/19/11 - Would you like to be able to predict the success and challenges of your industry? We interviewed Steve Knopper an year and half ago, and he was spot on. Steve Knopper has a good deal of experience in the world of music writing for Rolling Stone and author of Appetite for Self Destruction. He is here at the ACG Denver, September Luncheon as the keynote speaker and we pulled him aside for a closer look. Quick to point out that what he does for Rolling Stone is cover the music business. He is uniquely qualified to speak to what the music business did wrong; what Steve has learned and how people in other industries can learn to deal with their challenges. One of the things the music business did wrong was not see the strategic inflection points coming - and those are basically a fork in the road. When new technology - transforming technology comes along like the Internet, like Napster in the music industry's case; MP3s you know, things that basically allow people to steal music for free - the music industry didn't react well to that. Part of that was understandable, but they should have seen an opportunity to sell music online much earlier than they did. They could have really dealt with that market in a more effective way rather than ceding their business to Apple and the iTunes Music Store. "So" said Steve, "that's one of the challenges I see, with the Internet basically disrupting almost every company, maybe with the exception of food companies. I think companies have to look at the music industry as an example, and say we need to jump on this more quickly and not get stuck in the hole that the music industry dug for itself." With all of that, the Internet and Social Media, Larry asked, "Are there opportunities for the music industry?" Absolutely, Steve believes that social media is a huge opportunity for marketing. Music companies are using Facebook and Twitter to a great degree. But there also are some new developments. One is YouTube which has actually become a much more effective way that record labels, artists and song writers, and publishers can make money off of the ads they sell on YouTube....listen for more...
Related Links: Steve Knopper Home || ACG Denver || M&A Channel || Mastering Change || Keywords: Steve Knopper, Appetite for Self-Destruction: The spectacular crash of the record industry in the digital age, Change, bytes=3675013
LISTEN TO: Steve Knopper, Author, Writer, Rolling Stone

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Governor John Hickenlooper: You Are Deputized
1035_ 6/20/11 - This is the fourth and final excerpt from Governor Hickenlooper's keynote address to the ACG Denver 2011 Corporate Growth Conference. The Governor ends by deputizing you, enrolling your help to make Colorado a strong, healthy state capable of attracting new businesses and entrepreneurs here. We rejoin the governor here... He certainly has challenges and he has plans for this great state... "When you've got a 65,000 person workforce, how do you get to them all? Well, one place at a time. We talk about three E's. Effective, Efficient and Elegant. Government should be Effective in the sense if we say we're going to do something, it should matter and when we say we're going to do something - we should do it. We should be efficient in the sense that when we do something and we do it effectively we get it done, we do it at the lowest possible cost. And it should be elegant. Elegant in the sense that both sides of the transaction should be raised up. Both the citizen receiving the service or the benefit and the state worker who is providing it. Which often doesn't happen. When is the last time you went into renew your driver's license... that's the opposite of elegant - we're going to change that! It doesn't take more money to do things right..." Watch and listen for more ...Remember, You Are Deputized...
Related Links: VIDEO link Part 1 || ACG Conference Details || ACG Denver Home || M&A Channel || Colorado State Web Portal || Podcasting Directory || Keywords: John Hickenlooper, Governor, Colorado, ACG, ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference, Entrepreneurs, Bono/U2, U2, Bono, Pro Business, Pro Community, You Are Deputized, 6/20/11 WATCH: Gov. John Hickenlooper

Steve Forbes: Colorado and the national economy
1033_ 6/20/11 - No he is not going to run for president. Steve Forbes, Chairman of Forbes Media and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine was the Day 2 keynote speaker at the 2011 ACG Corporate Growth Conference. After his address and book signing Larry attended a very open press conference with Mr. Forbes. Larry asked, "During your speech you talked about the national economy, what do you see as Colorado's strengths and where you see growth here in our state?" While he was nice enough to say, "Good to see you again, Lord Nelson." he went onto reply, "Colorado has an enormous advantage as we get our economy back on track in the next few years, and that is quality of life. One of the things technology enables you to do is literally put the world at your fingertips. Geography doesn't much matter anymore. So Colorado needs to preserve what it has but I think you're going to see more in the way of technology, you have a business friendly environment. You get a little bit of it now in aviation and aeronautics, you see it in finance. A note of caution in the area of energy, Colorado has a huge future but there will be turbulence in the industry ...Watch and listen for much more...
Related Links: Forbes || Book by Steve Forbes || ACG: Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference || M&A Channel || ACG Denver Home || Keywords: Steve Forbes, ACG, Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference, ACG Denver, Capitalism, Natural Gas, National Economy, Entrepreneurs, 6/20/11 WATCH Steve Forbes, Chairman, Forbes Media

Financing in a Tight Money Environment
1022_ 5/31/11 - The slow economic recovery makes it challenging for companies to raise financing and continue organic growth, or pursue attractive strategic opportunities. Chris Wilson moderated the ACG-Denver Corporate Growth Conference session 'Financing in a Tight Money Environment'. . This panel discussed creative and new ways companies are raising and structuring financing solutions in this tight money environment. Chris is the founder and principle of Fortitude MB. "We put Fortitude together three and a-half years ago to help companies in special situations. Generally speaking we're looking at raising capital situations of ten million dollars or more, and have some capacity to do that." Listen for more details about the company. Larry asked, "What do you think are the biggest opportunities for companies today?" Chris replied, "That is a great question and frankly that is the area where we are very busy right now. we're seeing companies that are able to take advantage of this market opportunity either by buying competitors or finding ways to improve profitability, or take advantage of the depressed market by taking market share or praying on companies that are weaker... So I think for strong companies that are well run, there is a tremendous opportunity to improve their market position and be even stronger as we continue to grow out of this economic environment that we are currently in." When asked, "What advice would you give to business leaders today in this environment?" Chris said, "Be open and honest! Be open and honest with your employees on where you stand, where things are. And also with your financial partners and your advisors. You heard today, transparency is an important key. You have to be in touch with your risks, and the people that work with you and for you - be open and honest." ...listen, there's much more
Related Links: Fortitude MB || ACG: Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference || M&A Channel || ACG Denver Home || ACG Conference Photos || Keywords: Chris Wilson, Fortitude MB, ACG, Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference, ACG Denver, Corporate Capital, Strategic Capital, 5/31/11 bytes=4346674
LISTEN to Chris Wilson, Principal, Fortitude MB

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Steve Forbes: Colorado and the national economy
998_ 4/25/11 - While he is not going to run for president, Steve has some very strong beliefs. Steve Forbes, Chairman of Forbes Media and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine was the Day 2 keynote speaker at the 2011 ACG Corporate Growth Conference. After his address and book signing Larry attended a very open press conference with Mr. Forbes. Larry asked, "During your speech you talked about the national economy, what do you see as Colorado's strengths and where you see growth here in our state?" While he was nice enough to say, "Good to see you again, Lord Nelson." he went onto reply, "Colorado has an enormous advantage as we get our economy back on track in the next few years, and that is quality of life. One of the things technology enables you to do is literally put the world at your fingertips. Geography doesn't much matter anymore. So Colorado needs to preserve what it has but I think you're going to see more in the way of technology, you have a business friendly environment. You get a little bit of it now in aviation and aeronautics, you see it in finance. A note of caution in the area of energy, Colorado has a huge future but there will be turbulence in the industry. I think the amount of natural gas will help cushion any fluctuations when the dollar is stabilized again. The good news is the U.S. is going to be a major exporter of natural gas in the next decade. We are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas and the nice thing is you're going to see more and more utilities using natural gas to generate electricity." Larry asked, "Do you think the government, state or local, or business should be responsible for attracting more business to Colorado?" Mr. Forbes replied, "The key thing to remember in attracting business is to put yourself on the other side, and say, 'what would stand in the way of someone moving a business here'? People are looking for a very friendly environment. By contrast California's been very hostile to business which is why a lot of businesses have moved out of California. So put yourself on the other side. What are all the steps to get permits? Are there a lot of things that drag the process out? Try to streamline them so people know if they want to do something here it can be done with dispatch. They can focus on getting it done instead of how many months, how many years, as it does in other parts of the country, before you can get moving." Listen for much more...
Related Links: Forbes || Book by Steve Forbes || ACG: Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference || M&A Channel || ACG Denver Home || Keywords: Steve Forbes, ACG, Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference, ACG Denver, Capitalism, Natural Gas, National Economy - 5/9/11 bytes=11060770 LISTEN TO: Steve Forbes, CEO Forbes Media

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Sold it to Yahoo almost one year ago
1007_ 5/2/11 - The ACG Corporate Growth Conference Opening session,'CASE STUDY - Associated Content's sale to Yahoo!', with Luke Beatty, VP, Yahoo!; Founder, Associated Content. was engaging,and high energy - w3w3.com's Larry Nelson caught the man whose story was strong enough to open this great conference. And we really mean caught here, as Luke was flying out the door to get back to his office in Denver. He had a brief few moments for this interview. Luke Beatty is Vice President & General Manager of Yahoo! Contributor Network / Associated Content. Contributor Network, an evolution of the Associated Content platform enabling people to publish their creative content on Yahoo!’s media properties. Associated Content – which Luke founded in 2005 and was acquired by Yahoo! in 2010 is known as the Web’s first crowd sourced media platform. Larry asked, "What are the toughest challenges for companies with the environment we've just gone through?" Luke replied, "The biggest challenge is, you know every business has the challenges of growth. I think the biggest challenge is that growth is almost a requisite that it be sort of global and I think that is a huge challenge. To be tasked with the opportunity to grow your company globally is.. There are a lot of things now that make it easy to grow globally, but there's a lot of blocking and tackling that needs to be done in order to do that. And so I think that's hard. No matter who you're talking to, there is no way to snap your fingers and make your company global." "Now what do you think are the biggest opportunities for companies now?" Luke pointed out, " Broadly, I think the biggest opportunities are engagement opportunities. I feel like companies now have, beyond brick and mortar experiences, have the opportunity to reach so many people. And again, that may be the global concept, but the opportunity is reach. Like your Internet Talk Radio show, compare what it is now to what it would have been 20 years ago. You could touch anybody in the world today. I think reach is the opportunity for businesses, but it is hugely challenged." Luke went onto give more advice for entrepreneurs ...Listen now...
Related Links: ACG: Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference || Associated Content (Yahoo) || M&A Channel || ACG Denver Home || Keywords: Luke Beatty, Yahoo, Associated Content, ACG, Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference, ACG Denver, Media Properties 5/2/11 bytes=3277952 LISTEN to Luke Beatty, VP, Yahoo!

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$40 million business from 2 to 225 employees
984_ 3/14/11 - We're at the ACG Denver Luncheon conference and were able to corner the keynote speaker with the help of Chet Marino who lines up all these folks. But this is a guy Larry interviewed three years ago. By way of introduction,Chet said, "We have a really neat story of a successful startup and also an acquisition that went well. So David Brown has a great story to tell about founding a company and all the things that go with that as well as a successful integration. I think you'll benefit from hearing his story." Larry asked, "What are some of the challenges you've had to go through in the past few years and I'd also like to ask about the future?" David replied, "So we've been in business for 17 years, we've grown tremendously. We started literally as two guys in a garage. Well maybe not in a garage, but other than that, it was just two guys trying to rub sticks together to start a business. And over the years we've grown into a $40 million business with about 225 employees here in Colorado and part of something larger in terms of the broader ZOLL. We've done that by bringing good products to customers with real world solutions that help save lives and had excellent growth over the years and are hoping to continue that upward trajectory for many years to come. You know I like to say you don't get growth without growing pains. And certainly when we were small and everyone understood the business very deeply; it was much easier to have people work on several things. As we've grown we find ourselves with silos and the feeling that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. So it's an ongoing process." One of Larry's favorite questions, "What is some advice you have for entrepreneurs today for the future?" David replied, "Well don't give up! I work a lot with entrepreneurs as part of my affiliation with the TechStars program, I certainly consider myself very entrepreneurial, even in this organization of our size now. You know, obviously in the early days we were very cash strapped, very small and ran into challenges, as all entrepreneurs will. I think the thing that makes the difference between those that succeed and those that don't, are those that are willing to take on the challenges head-on and find a way, one way or another to climb that wall and get over to the other side."...listen now ...
Related Links: ZOLL Data Systems || ACG Denver Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference || ACG Denver || M&A Channel || Keywords: David Brown, ZOLL Data Systems, Pinpoint Technologies, ACG Denver, Rocky Mountain Capital Growth Conference, TechStars, Entrepreneurs, Technology > 3/14/11 Bytes: 4173221 LISTEN to David Brown, President and Founder, ZOLL Data Systems

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848_ 5/24/10 - Integrating roles, values, culture and brand
There is so much talk about branding, and yet so many don't really understand what branding really entails. Larry talked with Kathleen Quinn Votaw, after an ACG planning meeting. Kathleen is President of the Association of Corporate Growth (ACG) Denver and CEO and Founder of TalenTrust. In a recent Talent Trust newsletter, 'the people side of branding' was profiled. Kathleen said, "We talk a lot about branding in corporate America, but many times people don't think of branding when it comes to yourself, or the employees that work for you - The employees that work for you are actually the living brand. If they don't have the same values as the company, then you're going to have a disconnect between your overall company and the brand of your employees.' Then they discussed how to get people involved and how to get them to represent your brand effectively. "First and foremost, the company needs to be clear on their brand, and then the directors of the company need to be clear on the brand. What we find within corporate structures, emerging companies and middle market companies is there is a very big disconnect between what the leadership team thinks their brand is and what the employees think their brand is. We call it "Big Culture / Little Culture" (another article written by TalenTrust). We really help companies focus on identifying the values of their company and interviewing for those values. So if you have an existing team you really have to understand what their values are and how they align with your overall brand. If you think of your brand, your brand is your values, right? It's what you value and what you're going to bring to the market place above all else." There's more...
Related Links: TalenTrust || Living Your Brand || ACG Denver Home || ACG Denver Events || M&A Channel || Keywords: Kathleen Quinn Votaw, TalenTrust, Association of Corporate Growth Denver, ACG, Branding, Values, People, Living Your Brand 5/24/10 Chnl: ACG bytes: 5370256 Listen to: Kathleen Quinn Votaw, CEO/Founder, Talent Trust

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March 17-18, 2010
ACG Denver - Photo Album Links
Corporate Growth Conference

Howard Behar, It Isn't About the Coffee 3/18/10

Capital Conncections 3/18/10

ACG - RMCGC Networking - 3/18/10