They contribute about 86% of the employment in the state
1227_ 6/18/12 -
We're talking with David Tolson, Managing Director at Capital Value Advisors investment banking firm, and they're involvement with a community project that we think is very special. Larry said, "Give us an overview of Capital Value Advisors." Dave said, "We are an investment bank which is basically a fancy term for our focus on valuations, mergers and acquisitions, both buy side and sell side representation, as well as capital raises. And we really focus on mid market, privately held businesses, anywhere between $5-$50 Million in terms of revenue." We are all really excited about the annual Colorado Companies to Watch event coming up this week, Friday, June 22, 2012. Capital Value Advisors is the presenting sponsor. David tells us they became involved about three years ago, they attended the very first Gala. It was right in the darkest depths of the economic recession. What they saw was amazing and very compelling. And that was a lot of second stage companies with great ideas, that were growing very rapidly, that were adding employees. It was such a stark contrast to what you were hearing in the news at the time, not only regionally and locally but also nationally. We looked at this and said these are the types of companies we need to support not only as a company, but quite frankly as a community need to support. Because these companies while they represent only about 8% of the overall companies in Colorado, they contribute about 36% of the total employment in the state of Colorado. So it's a wonderful place for experienced people to go and develop their business and continue to grow their business. Colorado Companies to Watch focuses on and celebrates second stage companies and really the alums who have been past winners and this year's current winners are part of a community that includes sponsors like Capital Value Advisors, community partners, media relations partners like w3w3®, as well as a host of other government and community resources that are working towards the success and trying to help these second stage companies continue to grow and prosper." Tickets are still available to attend the gala...we'll see you there...
Related Links:
Capital Value Advisors ||
Colorado Companies to Watch ||
Edward Lowe Foundation ||
YE (Your Economy) ||
Colorado Companies to Watch Channel ||
PodCast Directory ||
COCTW Gala 2010 ||
Keywords: David Tolson, Capital Value Advisors, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies
to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, bytes=4462448
LISTEN TO: David Tolson, Managing Director, Capital Value Advisors
Helping existing businesses grow and expand
1180_ 3/19/12 -
We're talking to a very popular guy, he works for the Governor's Office of Economic Development and International Trade as a relationship manager. That means he primarily works in business retention and expansion, helping existing businesses grow and expand their businesses, but also working to keep businesses here in the State of Colorado. In addition to this, Sam Bailey is also the program director for Colorado Companies to Watch. Sam says they're really the sales team for the State of Colorado, selling Colorado, promoting and really making this a great place not just to live and play, but also to conduct business. Larry asked, "Sam you run into and see all different kinds of businesses not only with CCTW, but obviously with OEDIT. With all the things we've been through in the last couple of years, can you give us a handle on the challenges businesses might be facing this coming year?" Sam pointed out, "One of the big issues that we're seeing is access to capital. Companies want to grow, but they are really looking for that backing to help them grow, grants, small business loans, venture capital. Banks are still at that point where they're still evaluating the risks, are not lending as much as they used to. So companies are really struggling to find that liquidity or access to capital to help expand, make capital investments in their company, acquire new equipment - So that's one issue that we've seen. Another issue is workforce, and that's throughout the state. Issue that there is a skills mismatch. We've got jobs here in the state, but having a trained, skilled workforce to fill those jobs is hard. So we're working with local institutions, higher education, community colleges, other industry associations to identify how can we be better at training our workers here in the state of Colorado so they can fill those positions with workers here in the state. Sam described the focus of Colorado Companies to Watch. "We're focused on second stage companies. In Colorado these are privately held, headquartered in Colorado, have between six to 99 employees, and have revenues between $750k to $50M. These are full startup companies, so they're really set to take off. The reason we focus on these companies is they make up roughly 8% of Colorado's economy, yet they account for almost 35% of all the jobs created." There's more...
Related Links:
Colorado Companies to Watch ||
Colorado Companies to Watch Channel ||
PodCast Directory ||
Gala Event || Colorado OEDIT ||
Keywords: Sam Bailey, Colorado Companies to Watch, Office of Economic Development and
International Trade, Edward Lowe Foundation, COCTW, Nominate, Second Stage Companies - bytes=5377779 LISTEN TO: Sam Bailey, Program Director, Colorado Companies To Watch
It is time to change the 100 year old power grid 1154_ 1/30/12 - Larry had a chance to interview Peter Gregory, Founder and CTO, Green Energy Corp which is a winner of the 50 Colorado Companies to Watch 2011 series. Larry said, "I understand Green Energy Corp addresses the many challenges that face the electric utilities and power grid today. What are some of those challenges?" Peter replied, "Basically – It’s OLD and it needs to be NEW. The power grid was designed over 100 years ago by Thomas Edison and it hasn’t changed much since. Its built around big central power plants and big transmission systems. That has served us very well over the years, but is not adequate for today’s needs and certainly not for the needs of the future. We have to support renewable technologies - like wind and solar, we have to deal with electric vehicles and an abundance of distributed small scale power generation systems as opposed to large central power plants - and in addition to all that we have to support greater customer control of their own energy usage that’s made possible by smart meters. The biggest challenge here is not the installation of all this new hardware – solar panels are going up, wind mills are going up, meters are being deployed by the millions, electric vehicles are being built - and so forth. The real challenge is the software infrastructure that’s needed to support that hardware – it doesn’t exist today and it’s a limiting factor in building the grid of the future. Its being worked on – its called the Smart Grid – and Green Energy Corp is a leading player in the implementation of the Smart Grid." What does his company do to address those challenges? "We address the challenges of the Smart Grid with our product … It’s called the GreenBus. It’s a software system that provides a foundation for the Smart Grid. In common vernacular – we’re creating a plug-n-play environment for the grid where the Green Bus is the grid operating system … and new and old systems that need to connect to the grid can plug in and ride on the Green Bus. This is very different than how it works today. Today it’s a quagmire... Peter's mantra, "Do Well and Do Good." There's much more... Related Links: Green Energy Corp || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || PodCast Directory || Gala Event || Keywords: Peter Gregory, Green Energy Corp, GreenBus, Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies
to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade - bytes=7460470 Listen To: Peter J. Gregory, Founder and CTO, Green Energy Corp
Residential energy efficiency and conservation service 1095_ 10/17/11 - We're talking with another winner of the 50 Colorado Companies to Watch 2011 program, Steve Byer, CEO of Energy Logic. Energy Logic is a residential energy efficiency and conservation services company which covers a lot of ground. They work with a really broad spectrum of clients from individual home owners all the way up to large utility companies. That includes doing things like energy audits of single homes to running programs for the utilities. They work with lots of home builders and they train people into the industry through one of their divisions. As well they have another division developing software for the industry.Steve deals with a wide variety of businesses and people, Larry wondered from Steve's point of view, in light of what we've been through, what advice would he give to business owners and leaders today? Steve said he was lucky to do a speaker thing at UNC every semester or so and one of the things that he tells the students there, every time, "The thing that I needed to learn most was to understand my books. That may not be the most exciting thing, but understanding our numbers and our books has been vital to our being able to weather the storms of this economy. Being able to understand the metrics and the numbers has been very critical for me." Energy Logic has been in business since 2006, it is the product of a merger between Steve and his wife's company and their business partner Robby Schwarz's company. This month Energy Logic has three new, major initiatives. The first is a software that EnergyLogic is part of a team on, their part being technical support, customer service, sales and marketing. The software called 'Optimizer' is an energy analysis/energy auditing software. The second initiative is an evolutionary step in a sense (from their Energy Professional Services Division) they are launching the Energy Logic Academy. Here they've pooled their intelligence (from their training division along with their experience in the field and experience with the various sectors) into an eLearning environment. The third initiative...Listen for more... Related Links: Energy Logic || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || Top 50 Companies to Watch || Gala Event || Keywords: Steve Byer, Energy Logic, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch,
Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Energy Efficiency, Optimizer
bytes=7328394 Listen to: Steve Byer, CEO, Energy Logic - CCTW
Penny Lewandowski cites Colorado Companies to Watch
1028_ 6/6/11 -
We are talking with Penny Lewandowski, Director, Entrepreneurship & Development, Edward Lowe Foundation about a very interesting event we have coming up on June 23rd, here in Denver. Pat and I along with lots of celebrities and well known business people will be looking for you at the Colorado Companies to Watch Gala and Award Celebration. There are plenty of good reasons for you to be there and that's why we've cornered Penny, to give us a little background about this program and why it's so important to all of us. Companies to Watch is really centered around recognizing second stage companies. "Those are companies between 6 and 99 employees with $750K to $50 Million in revenue. And these are companies that have both the intention and capacity to grow. We pay a lot of attention to them because they are huge job creators, so they are making a big difference in their communities in a lot of different ways. There are a lot of communities and regions and states that have these amazing companies, but too often they don't know who they are, they don't recognize them. Companies to Watch was created to support these companies that tend to fly below the radar screen. The Edward Lowe Foundation has worked a lot with communities and entrepreneurial support organizations and helping them understand these businesses and figuring out how to serve them. The Foundation's focus is a result of research showing second stage companies are the greatest job creators, attracting money to their area - if you have a wide range of solid, successful second stage companies in your area, money follows talent. Colorado Companies to Watch really reflects the culture and the nature of Colorado. It really lifts up the entrepreneurial spirit that is so strong in the state"...listen for more...
Related Links:
Colorado Companies to Watch ||
Colorado Companies to Watch Channel ||
Top 50 Companies to Watch ||
Gala Event ||
Keywords: Penny Lewandowski, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch,
Gala Event, Second Stage Companies, Get Involved - 6/6/11 bytes=6522987 LISTEN to: Penny Lewandowski, Edward Lowe Foundation
853_ 6/7/10 -
Backbone of our job growth
"We like to get involved in a few activities, but we get deeply involved, and especially in activities where we can really make a difference," said David Mead. David formed the Mead Consulting Group in 1981, in addition to that he is past president, chairman and still a board member of the Association for Corporate Growth Denver. "We're talking about this program called 'Colorado Companies to Watch', you're a platinum sponsor and really involved." Dave said, "We like to get involved in a few activities, but we get deeply involved, and especially in activities where we can really make a difference. Colorado Companies to Watch is kind of the answer to something I've been passionate about for well over 30 years and that is, helping Colorado companies grow. In 2008 in the State of Colorado, the companies that comprised the 'Colorado Companies to Watch', which are basically companies from about $750,000 to $50 million in revenue... So the number of companies were 14% of the total number of companies in the state, yet those companies added 40% of the total job growth. This is a very important segment of Colorado's economy and it's one that often is overlooked in the desire to go after large corporations. They get a lot of press, but it's really these niche companies that are the backbone of Colorado and certainly the backbone of our job growth. Larry and Pat will be at their Gala Event on June 18th and are expecting close to 800 people. After the gala, there are a number of events throughout the year for these companies so they can continue to build awareness, continue with education, and they can continue to build the relationships that will be necessary for them to move to the next level.
Related Links:
Colorado Companies to Watch ||
Gala Event ||
Mead Consulting Group ||
M&A Channel ||
ACG Denver || CCTW Channel/w3w3.com ||
Dave Mead Blog ||
Keywords: David Mead, Colorado Companies to Watch, Mead Consulting Group, Edward Lowe
Foundation, Mid-sized Companies, CCTW - 6/7/10 Chnl: Colorado Companies to Watch bytes: 3895382 Listen to:
Dave Mead - Mead Consulting Group
Colorado's Top 50
Companies to Watch 2011 Fueling the Economic Fire
Check out the 50 Selected Colorado Companies to Watch at ColoradoBIZ online - and Join w3w3® Media Network for one-on-one interviews throughout the coming year - Congratulations!
Colorado companies that are making a big impact
1225_ 6/18/12 -
The Edward Lowe Foundation and the Companies to Watch Program were started by Edward Lowe in Michigan. His claim to fame was that he invented Kitty Litter. With that he made his fortune and then decided he wanted to put part of that fortune back into an organization that would help make the life of an entrepreneur a little easier than what he had. So that was the genesis on which the foundation was started. Penny Lewandowski tells us "What they do is work with communities and help them understand what we call their second stage growth businesses. We help them understand those businesses and their special needs as they grow their companies, what kind of programs can be put around those companies -[ the foundation has developed a significant number of those programs] - and Companies to Watch is one of those." Larry said, "The second stage companies that you work with have such a tremendous impact on the state of Colorado." Penny replied, "You're right and I've got some numbers for you. We have a database called 'Your-Economy-dot-org'. Existing, expanding companies contribute most to U.S. job creation. In fact, from 1990 to 2008, existing companies generated 71 percent more new jobs than startups." We're talking with Penny Lewandowski, Director, Entrepreneurship & Development, Edward Lowe Foundation, about a very interesting event we have coming up on June 23rd, here in Denver. Pat and I along with lots of celebrities and well known business people will be looking for you at the Colorado Companies to Watch Gala and Award Celebration. There are plenty of good reasons for you to be there and that's why we've cornered Penny, to give us a little background about this program and why it's so important to all of us. Companies to Watch is really centered around recognizing second stage companies. "Those are companies between 6 and 99 employees with $750K to $50 Million in revenue. And these are companies that have both the intention and capacity to grow. We pay a lot of attention to them because they are huge job creators, so they are making a big difference in their communities in a lot of different ways." There's much more and we are looking forward to seeing you there on June 23rd.
Related Links:
Colorado Companies to Watch ||
YE (Your Economy) ||
Edward Lowe Foundation ||
YE (Your Economy) ||
Colorado Companies to Watch Channel ||
PodCast Directory ||
Gala Event 2011 ||
Keywords: Penny Lewandowski, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala
Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, bytes=4359212 LISTEN TO: Penny Lewandowski, Edward Lowe Foundation
Recognition program that recognizes second stage companies
1119_ 12/5/11 -
Colorado Companies to Watch is a business recognition program that recognizes second stage companies in every geographic area in Colorado and every industry across the State of Colorado. Stephanie Steffens tells us, it is very diverse. The important thing is that COCTW is out there looking for companies that are beyond startup but not yet mature. They have somewhere between six and 100 employees - $750K to $50M in annual revenue and they're experiencing growth. They're not just surviving; they are growing, creating jobs and fueling the economic fire of Colorado. On the first week of December every year, Nominations are Officially Opened. It's really easy to nominate a company by going to the COCTW website, click on the link, and provide minimal information about the company you're nominating and why you want to nominate them. From here, the company is sent an email telling them they've been nominated by you (unless you want to remain anonymous) - That it is an honor to be nominated, Who nominated them and asked to fill out an application. So as a nominee you're not asked to have any private information about the company, just a top person's name, email address and why you want to nominate them. Often overlooked is the payoff or benefit to the nominator. Think about this, what better thing can you do for a client or someone you would like to have as a client; for a family member or friends to say, 'Hey, I think your company is so amazing and incredible that you deserve to be recognized in this great program.’ And, it's not only a fantastic program for Colorado but a national program that acknowledges and provides visibility to some of the best companies in Colorado. Even if they don't win or even if the company chooses not to fill out the application (which we hope wouldn't happen) - that's kudos in your cap because you told them you think they're important and valuable and they matter to you. Now they know that. The program as a whole is a benefit to the state and to the local communities those companies are in. When you nominate and bring attention to the companies in your community (or the companies in your industry) you're helping to fuel the economic fire by bringing attention to your community and as a group to Colorado as to how economically vital we are; That this is a place companies want to do business in. We want to start businesses here, grow businesses here and keep businesses here and we want other businesses to come here.
Related Links:
Colorado Companies to Watch ||
Colorado Companies to Watch Channel ||
Top 50 Companies to Watch ||
Gala Event ||
Keywords: Stephanie Steffens, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, COCTW,
Nominate, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade - bytes=5240688
LISTEN TO: Stephanie Steffens, Program Director, Colorado Companies to Watch
Providing innovative and cutting edge technologically 1182_ 3/19/12 - And yet another COCTW winner. In and amongst the selection criteria to become a Colorado Company to Watch is community involvement and philanthropy. With that in mind, we introduce you to this week's Company to Watch, Garmat USA, represented by Debbie Teter. Debbie is Marketing Director for Garmat USA, a Colorado based manufacturer of paint spray booths and equipment. In her role Debbie wears many hats from in-house agency to event management. In addition to her role with Garmat USA, she also serves as VP of Operations on the Colorado AMA (American Marketing Association) and also as board chair on S.W.A.G. (South Westminster Arts Group) a community based arts initiative. Debbie holds a B.S. in Marketing from Metropolitan State College located in Denver Colorado. Garmat® USA's mission is to provide innovative and cutting edge technologically advanced products that enhance your facility's productivity and profitability, while providing an environmentally safe atmosphere for the refinish technician. When asked what advice she would offer an entrepreneur in today's market, Debbie said, "Go work hard". She further explains that she's never worked for a company with more dedicated individuals than Garmat. While they're salaried, they put in long hours, much longer days because they just believe the customer needs to get what they want. While they work through a distribution network, and often they are the ones dealing with the end user to make sure that everything they need in place is there. The phone are open for them to call anytime to check on their order or just check on how something works, etc. Debbie tells us they have booths that have been in the market for over 24 years - and there is a young lady in the office, if you need a part, she can still tell you the part number for that booth that's 24 years old, and she doesn't have to look it up. She knows where the booths are and can tell you the specifics on any of those booths. She amazes us and the clients too. All Garmat® USA cabins and mechanical units are designed and manufactured at our Englewood, Colorado facility. Each unit is built for the client's specific application... Related Links: Garmat USA || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || w3w3 Blog || Gala Event || Keywords: Garmat USA, Debbie Teter, Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala Event,
COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade - bytes=5667425 LISTEN TO: Debbie Teter, Marketing Director, Garmat USA
Creator of open source mobile testing programs
1159_ 2/13/12 -
You'll likely recognize this next Colorado Companies to Watch 2011-12 winner as we featured them on w3w3.com about six months ago. We're here again, with Stu Stern, CEO of Gorilla Logic and the creator of a couple of open source mobile testing programs. Stu tells us Gorilla Logic has two lines of business, the primary line of business is enterprise app development for web and mobile for large and small companies around the U.S. and our other line of business is around testing tools. They make some of the most widely used testing tools for mobile testing for android and IOS. They are open source, completely free and very, very popular. When Larry interviewed Stu six months ago, they'd just gone through a bunch of expansion, new development, upgrading and so much else. Surprise, surprise, there's more... They've just moved to Boulder, down on Pearl Street, Stu said, "which is something of a hotbed of local technology companies. It's nice to have lots of company, a thriving community, lots of collaboration among the various firms down here." With the space, they've built out quite an attractive design studio where customers can come in and work with Stu and his team to design web mobile applications. Additionally they've opened an office in New York City as well as an office in Bangalore, India where they're doing general enterprise application development and that is their testing center where they provide testing services for Gorilla Logic customers. (Debra Langer gave us a heads up.) They expanded their service offering QaaS, that is Quality as a Service, so in addition to the tools themselves, Gorilla Logic is now offering to use the tools on behalf of their customers, to automate testing of their systems, their mobile applications. And down in India they have telephone engineers that develop the tests and then run the tests on a continuous QA Cloud. So they're not only developing the tests but will run and manage that suite of tests on an ongoing basis - so it's a turnkey quality assurance for mobile testing. The w3w3 listener's may remember the FoneMoney App - Stu tells us they're just releasing FoneMonkey6 which is being renamed MonkeyTalk... they're setting the stage for testing more than just phones, and it is a major evolution of the product...there's much more, listen now...
Related Links:
Gorilla Logic ||
FlexMonkey ||
FoneMonkey ||
CO Companies to Watch Channel ||
CO Companies to Watch Home ||
Keywords: Stu Stern, Gorilla Logic, FlexMonkey, FoneMonkey, Open Source, Rich Internet
Applications, Source Code, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Quality as a Service, Cloud - bytes=5023768 LISTEN TO: Stu Stern, CEO, Gorilla Logic
Critical components of a winning second stage company
1111_ 11/21/11 -
Talk about an important, wonderful organization that is Colorado Companies to Watch and Stephanie Steffens, the program director, COCTW is part of a national program, the National Company Select Program was founded and hosted by the Edward Lowe Foundation out of Michigan. The first State to do a company select program was Michigan, eight years ago. Colorado was the fourth state in the nation to create a statewide program. Local economic developers came to Stephanie who was at the time the business retention coordinator for the Office of Economic Development and International Trade, and said we need a program like this, let's create it. So Colorado Companies to Watch was created in partnership with the Edward Lowe Foundation, local economic development groups - cities, counties, trade associations and businesses to recognize second stage companies across Colorado. And, to bring attention to the fact that these companies that are beyond startup but not yet mature, are creating a larger percentage of jobs for the percentage of companies than any other segment of our economy. Typically they fly under the radar, people don't even know they're there - but they are creating jobs and fueling the economic fire of Colorado... which is why we made that the tag line for the program. They need to be acknowledged and thanked but more importantly we need to give them the visibility that will help their businesses grow, and help them to continue to be successful and create jobs in Colorado. Being statewide makes this program unique and they work hard to make sure they get companies from all over the state, and every industry. Truly unique about COCTW is the focus on second stage companies. A second stage company is beyond startup but they don't have everything figured out yet. They obviously know what they're doing or they wouldn't have gotten beyond startup. They have between $750K and $50 Million in annual revenue; At least six employees including the owners, but no more than 100 ; and Demonstrate they are not only surviving but growing and dealing with challenges that make them more innovative and standout above companies like them...Listen for more...
Related Links:
Colorado Companies to Watch ||
Colorado Companies to Watch Channel ||
PodCast Directory ||
Gala Event ||
w3w3 Blog ||
Keywords: Keywords: Stephanie Steffens, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, bytes=4777590 LISTEN to Stephanie Steffens, Program Director, Colorado Companies to Watch
Find a way to align yourself to the current circumstances 1091_ 10/10/11 - We first interviewed Kevin Price, CEO and President of AccuCode, back in the early 2000s. He's built a winning team and a great organization, gone through all sorts of challenges and has really done super well. Their catch phrase is 'Technology at the speed of business' and they have won the prestigious honor of Colorado Companies to Watch award for 2011. Kevin said, "We're pretty diversified" with seven different business units, three SaaS products and two different managed service business units. And they are [still] one of the largest value added resellers and integrators of industrial mobile computing and automated data collection technology in North America. Larry recalled Kevin was a leader in the early RFID development environment. Kevin said when he got started, "Bar code scanners were $2,000 a piece and now, they go for about $50 to $75. And/but now we ship them by the pallet full instead of two at a time." AccuCode supports small and really huge organizations, Larry asked Kevin, "What do you see today as some of the biggest challenges organizations are facing today?" Kevin's reply, "At the moment, I think, the misconduct of our government and the associated fiscal irresponsibility that goes along with it, that represents the biggest risk to every business in the U.S. right now. I don't know how quickly that will get resolved, but it is what it is.We actually love recessions. During recessions, resources get cheap; as I like to tell our employees, it's really easy to ignore inefficiency when you're growing and profitable. But when you're shrinking - losing money, efficiency becomes paramount and people become receptive to change. We at AccuCode are change agents. Our job is to go in and drive efficiency through application of technology and so these are fairly favorable times for us. Cloud computing and mobility are going to impact every industry, every vertical on the planet over the next decade." Kevin goes onto offering more timely advice...listen for more... Related Links: AccuCode || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || PodCast Directory || Gala Event || Keywords: Kevin Price, AccuCode, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch,
Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, RFID, Bar Code Scanners, SaaS,
Cloud - bytes=6061560 Listen to: Kevin Price, CEO/President, AccuCode
Rick Ninneman: Helping businesses succeed in Colorado 1036_ 6/20/11 - Supporting businesses and the business community here in Colorado, means a great deal to w3w3®. We are fortunate to have Rick Ninneman, the Executive VP-Colorado, for M3 Insurance Solutions for Business, and the Presenting Sponsor as well as a major supporter for the Colorado Companies to Watch program and Gala coming up this week, June 23rd. Rick reminds us that the Colorado Companies to Watch is not just an awards event. "It is in fact, a year round program with an incredible group of alumnae and sponsors that want to help businesses succeed in Colorado." Rick works with so many organizations and companies, we wondered what he felt were the biggest challenges for businesses today. Rick said, "Staying focused on what you do best. You know what makes a company special is its passion and keeping your passion about your hedgehog principle is the thing that makes you different than your competition, I think can get challenging, with so many opportunities that can be presented to a company. I think also, staying active on all the various networking, communication, social networking technologies and all the opportunities to make sure that the message you intend to get out is indeed what is presented to the market place. Be strategic, plan your work, then work your plan." Listen for more as Rick also offers more advice to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Join Stephanie Steffens, Penny Lewandowski, Rick Ninneman, ColoradoBIZ, Nine News, and (Larry and Pat) w3w3.com on 6/23/11...we'll be looking for you... Related Links: Colorado Companies to Watch || M3 Insurance Solutions for Business || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || ColoradoBIZ || Top 50 Companies to Watch || Gala Event || Keywords: Rick Ninneman, M3 Insurance, Stephanie Steffens, Penny Lewandowski, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade,
6/20/11 bytes=5505256
LISTEN TO: Rick Ninneman, Exec. VP, M3 Insurance
Evaluating catastrophic medical claims is a very complex process
1087_ 10/3/11 -
We're talking with another winner today, that's a Colorado Companies to Watch winner, Larry Gray, CEO of the Assist Group. Larry has a fascinating background - he's been the CEO of three successful startups, COO of a $500 million publicly traded company, president and CEO of a $2 Billion traded company and the list goes on. The Assist Group reviews and resolves catastrophic medical claims for a number of markets in the reinsurance area. So, reinsurance companies, health plans, managing general underwriters and large self insured employers. These claims get over $200,000 to $300,000, they go into the reinsurance layer and that's where the Assist Group takes over, above that layer. Evaluating catastrophic medical claims is a much more complex process than just running them through a technological coding audit. They actually have nurses, clinical specialists and coding experts take the claim apart, look at it from all the angles and then they report back to the clients on what they've found. the goal is to find trends, educate the market and then provide this good data coming back. One thing to note is catastrophic claims have tripled since 2005! Claims around the million dollar mark are growing and growing rapidly. Most of that is due to implants, drugs and technological invention and the aging of the population. Larry said as employers get larger and larger, they think of themselves as entities that can take some risk and have some clout in terms of dealing with physician groups and hospitals, and writing their own contracts. Many of them are trying to establish a good direction before we either become or get away from more federal intervention in terms of the healthcare world. Larry offers observations, important opinions and great advice as well as dealing effectively in our current economic environment going forward. You will want to hear the entire interview, so listen now!
Related Links:
The Assist Group ||
Colorado Companies to Watch || ||
Colorado Companies to Watch Channel ||
Top 50 Companies to Watch ||
Keywords:Larry Gray, Assist Group, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch,
Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Insurance, Catastrophic Medical
Claims, Reinsurance - bytes=7649805
Listen to: Larry Gray, CEO, Assist Group
50 Colorado Companies to Watch
on w3w3® Media Network
Meet the Winners 2011-2012
Sam Bailey, Program Director, COCTW 12/19/2012 Penny Lewandowski, Director, Entrepreneurship & Development, Edward Lowe Foundation Stephanie Steffens, COCTW 11/21/2011 David Tolson, Capital Value Advisors, Presenting Sponsor 2012-2013
The secret weapon is good old fashioned customer service 1171_ 3/5/12 - It is a pleasure to introduce you to another Colorado Companies to Watch winner, Greg Greenwood, President and CEO of comCables. They are a manufacturer and distributor of cables and connectors for Ethernet and fiber optic networks, low voltage, surveillance and security systems. Structural cabling products are really the 'information highway' connecting all the IP systems. They also have a distribution division which is low voltage systems, so fire alarms systems, security surveillance, call access... They started their business, inside another business in April of 1999. comCables has been an asset to the Colorado community and continues to build its brand and product line expertise. With 5 locations to foster its national presence and a location in Cabo San Lucas, B.C.S., Mexico, comCables continues to grow and expand in its current market place. Larry asked, "Greg you run into all kinds of businesses and individuals and you're very active in the community... What are some of the challenges entrepreneurs will experience in the coming year?" With experience on his side, Greg replied, "What we see in our industry is the big are getting bigger, and the smaller need to be more nimble and focused. I would suggest to figure out what your really focused on and stay there, be really good to your customers. Opportunities? With larger companies getting bigger and unstable markets, we've found the secret weapon is good old fashioned customer service. Not just that you're handling a customer well, but you're creating an experience with the customer that they're not getting somewhere else. For us it's the keystone of our business. We are serving them and empowering them with the knowledge and the products that we provide, and I think that is a long term strategy for any business."Greg and comCables is very active in the community adopting the Sun Valley Youth Center [the poorest zip code in all of Colorado] there is a very special need for the families there. "We've taken our clothes, our resources and our customers, and engaged all of our relationships in the support of that community there. Since 2011, we offer a scholarship to an inner city college student." He believes that income creates an ability for impact and so our obligation and responsibility to the community is not just to take from it, but to provide back to it. There's much more entrepreneurial advice...listen... Related Links: comCables || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || Sun Valley Youth Center || Gala Event || Keywords: Greg Greenwood, comCables, Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala
Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Sun Valley Youth Center -
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LISTEN TO: Greg Greenwood, President/CEO comCables
Reinvented the company, tore it all down and built it up again
1140_ 1/9/2012 -
We are back with another winner, that is Colorado Companies to Watch winner, Aspenware Internet Solutions CEO, President and owner, Josh Swihart. Aspenware builds custom software. Aspen Leaf Software was founded in 2001 offering a content management and commerce system. It ran into trouble late 2008. The economy faltered. Client's budgets were slashed. Sales of the product went dry. However, the troubled economy provided a unique opportunity to recruit the region’s top talent. Josh Swihart joined the company as its new CEO with a charter to help the company change course. He reinvented the company, tore it all down and built it up again. Aspen Leaf Software became Aspenware. Prior to Aspenware, Josh was the vice president of corporate marketing for K2, a global software company based in Redmond, Washington. Before K2, Josh served as a global practice manager for EMC Corporation, a practice director for the Interlink Group which included long-term assignments in India and San Francisco to establish branch offices, and was a co-founder of 3t Systems. Josh was a finalist for Colorado Technical Association's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010. In spite of a significant recession and without incurring debt or outside funding, Aspenware established a new brand, defined its focus and pulled together a team of highly skilled people to form the foundation of its business. Aspenware has a terrific reputation and momentum. Aspenware's clients include notable Colorado companies like Vail Resorts, helping them build their award-winning EpicMix, and New Belgium Brewing. In addition to its work for clients, Aspenware has created an innovation engine to develop leaders and intellectual property. As a result, Aspenware will spin off two new companies in 2012. Listen for more...
Related Links:
Aspenware ||
Colorado Companies to Watch ||
Colorado Companies to Watch Channel ||
Top 50 Companies to Watch ||
Gala Event ||Home ||
Keywords: Josh Swihart, Aspenware, Internet Solutions, Stephanie Steffens, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade
bytes=7656074 LISTEN to Josh Swihart, Owner, President & CEO, Aspenware - COCTW 2011-12
Innovation - much less of an art and more of a science 1108_ 11/14/11 - Well we have another Colorado Companies to Watch Winner, we're with Matt Larson, CEO of Confio Software. Confio provides software that monitors two key pieces of the IT infrastructure inside of companies, data bases and the workflow environment. Data bases hold most of the companies important information and they are constantly changing and growing. The Confio data base monitoring software looks at how those data bases are performing in a new way that reveals hidden and significant problems. Confio also has software that monitors the virtual environment. Just one-and-a-half years ago Confio recognized this was going to be a major shift in the IT infrastructure and there were going to be very significant problems that needed to be solved. In the past applications would get their own individual server to run on inside of a data center. But most of the time those servers would just sit idle and that was a waste of money. Now applications are put into a virtual server that shares the physical server with lots of other virtual servers. The net effect of that is the underlying hardware is now working most of the time. So Confio's software monitors the virtual environment to make sure it's working correctly and if not how to fix it. Larry asked Matt what he felt the challenges are facing leaders today. Matt said, "I think a challenge that hasn't been nearly this significant in the past is uncertainty." The health bill is a great example, what's going to happen and regardless of which way it goes, what are the costs going to be. What will happen if Greece goes bankrupt, Italy and for that matter what happens if the U.S. can't figure out its own long term debt. These are questions that experts have a difficult time predicting what's going to happen, much less business leaders. As a result of that there is less hiring, less spending, less opportunity. When asked about opportunities for business, Matt said, "Innovation - it's become much less of an art and more of a science. The result of that is companies have a lower failure rate for new products and services than they've had in the past." Matt suggests companies should take the time to learn about these new best practices and implement them and that would be a pretty big opportunity for them...Listen for much more... Related Links: Confio Software || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || PodCast Directory || Gala Event || Keywords: Matt Larson, Confio Software, Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala
Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade - bytes=5957488 LISTEN to: Matt Larson, Confio Software, Inc.
Raising capital is not taught in many places 1067_ 8/22/11 - Colorado Companies to Watch 2011 Award winner Jon Fox-Rubin, President and CEO, Fiberforge is lightweighting your world... from backpacks, skateboards and kayaks to helicopters. Jon is an MIT alum whom we first met back in 2003 at a StartUp BaseCamp where John Hickenlooper and Jon Nordmark were speaking. Fiberforge has developed a technology that makes ultra lightweight structural parts [lighter than advanced lightweight metals like aluminum or titanium] more affordable than any other process. They're focused on carbon fiber, glass fiber and specialty fibers that they process into finished parts. The technology comes out of the mind set of stamping materials, steel and aluminum that have been stamped and forming dies for years. Fiberforge has taken that mentality and are stamping thermoplastic composites up to 8' x 8' in size, into a structural part and then those parts are joined together into a system. So we actually sell parts and component systems to a variety of customers. Glass fiber components like backpack frame adjusters, helmets, skateboards, window frames for aircraft. Carbon fiber is even lighter than steel and aluminum - our biggest application there is actually a cargo load floor for a helicopter (as tough as titanium yet at the cost of aluminum), extremely durable, strong and lightweight. When asked about challenges companies face today, Jon replied, “Access to capital. And raising capital isn't taught in many places, so you really have to find experts that know how to raise capital. Don't be afraid to get involved in the process yourself. The other piece is really managing your human resources in a way that they really feel empowered! Create a team that fills the gaps. You really want to find and hire people that are smarter and better than you and don't be afraid to hire people that are older than you are. Listen for more insights this COCTW winner has to say... Related Links: FiberForge || Colorado Companies to Watch || || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || Top 50 Companies to Watch || Gala Event || StartUp BaseCamp 2003 || Keywords: Jon Fox-Rubin, FiberForge, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Ultra Lightweight Structural Parts,
8/22/11 Bytes: 9130634 LISTEN to Jon Fox-Rubin, President & CEO, FiberForge
Vision, People, Growth, Rewarding - Entrepreneurs 1064_ 8/15/11 - We are talking with a winner of the Colorado Companies to Watch program, and that's very exciting, but he's got an interesting background where both of his parents were entrepreneurs, he started out in the basement of his grandparents and he's got a successful, fantastic business today. We're talking with Jeremiah Owen, President, Vivax Pro Painting. Jeremiah started his company in 2004 and Larry wanted to know what had been the biggest catalyst for the company's growth. First thoughts were, having a clear vision of where they wanted to go and grabbing all the right people along the way. Jeremiah says they have an awesome team and everyone is committed to their own personal growth, but working as a team to help accomplish the goals we've set out each week, each month and each year. So the people are the main thing. Still, Larry wanted more on how they've grown so successfully, there is a lot of competition out there, in the painting industry. "The main thing", said Jeremiah, "is focusing on customer service. Painting is a very low tech industry; it doesn't take much to call yourself a painter. So we've really focused on running it like a business, setting very specific goals and working all the time to do exactly what we say we're going to do, focusing on referrals and letting our work speak for itself." We asked Owen about future growth, and how he was planning to continue this consistent rate of growth - how would they be expanding? Well, they're planning on expanding in the areas where they already do work. For instance they started out working in Highlands Ranch and each year they've done more and more work, because of 'word of mouth'. They went from door-to-door and word of mouth and expanded into doing community work. Jeremiah really likes teaching and coaching entrepreneurship. So again that's one of the things that helped them to grow. Everyone within the company acts like an entrepreneur, they're accountable for what they accomplish and they're rewarded for what they accomplish. And we like to spread that through the community - through the youth - by working with DECA which is a marketing organization for high school students... and then doing some of our own stuff where we work with children and teach them entrepreneurial skills...there's more about this winning company... Related Links: Vivax Pro Painting || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || Top 50 Companies to Watch || Gala Event || Keywords: Jeremiah Owen, Vivax Pro Painting, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado
Companies to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, DECA,
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Listen to: Jeremiah Owen, President, Vivax Pro Painting
1227_ 6/18/12 -
We're talking with David Tolson, Managing Director at Capital Value Advisors investment banking firm, and they're involvement with a community project that we think is very special. Larry said, "Give us an overview of Capital Value Advisors." Dave said, "We are an investment bank which is basically a fancy term for our focus on valuations, mergers and acquisitions, both buy side and sell side representation, as well as capital raises. And we really focus on mid market, privately held businesses, anywhere between $5-$50 Million in terms of revenue." We are all really excited about the annual Colorado Companies to Watch event coming up this week, Friday, June 22, 2012. Capital Value Advisors is the presenting sponsor. David tells us they became involved about three years ago, they attended the very first Gala. It was right in the darkest depths of the economic recession. What they saw was amazing and very compelling. And that was a lot of second stage companies with great ideas, that were growing very rapidly, that were adding employees. It was such a stark contrast to what you were hearing in the news at the time, not only regionally and locally but also nationally. We looked at this and said these are the types of companies we need to support not only as a company, but quite frankly as a community need to support. Because these companies while they represent only about 8% of the overall companies in Colorado, they contribute about 36% of the total employment in the state of Colorado. So it's a wonderful place for experienced people to go and develop their business and continue to grow their business. Colorado Companies to Watch focuses on and celebrates second stage companies and really the alums who have been past winners and this year's current winners are part of a community that includes sponsors like Capital Value Advisors, community partners, media relations partners like w3w3®, as well as a host of other government and community resources that are working towards the success and trying to help these second stage companies continue to grow and prosper." Tickets are still available to attend the gala...we'll see you there...
Residential energy efficiency and conservation service 
853_ 6/7/10 -
Backbone of our job growth 
