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From Scholarship Funds to 2nd Stage Growth...

Penny Lewandowski Second Stage Development and Growth
1373_ 4/10/13 - We're here with keynote speaker, at the ACG Denver's April Luncheon, Penny Lewandowski director of entrepreneurship development for the Edward Lowe Foundation. Lewandowski works with entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) as they develop creative ways to grow their communities by serving second-stage businesses. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of building an entrepreneurial culture, as well as the importance of working with growth companies. She also directs the foundation’s Entrepreneurship Team and manages the technology services for the organization. It's been six months since Lewandowski was in Denver, Larry asked for an update on what's happening with Colorado Companies to Watch. Penny said, "Tomorrow evening we will be at the Governor's Residence with all of the finalists - and I think we have 184 finalists. We had a record number of nominations this year. Colorado is always out front when it comes to nominations. Then on Thursday we're going to be judging those companies, and they go through a pretty intensive process with that. We'll probably make an announcement in the next several weeks after we do the judging."

ACG Denver’s David Sloan Scholarship Program. Set your goal to become an ACG Scholar! Each year the Denver Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) awards one scholarship to a promising 1st or 2ndyear student at each of five area graduate business programs, in the amount of $2,500 annually. The scholarship is renewable for a second year based on both the academic performance and the career ambition of the student. To be eligible for the award, the recipient must be currently enrolled in one of five programs with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better...Listen for much more...
RELATED LINKS: ACG Denver || M&A Channel || ACG Denver's David Sloan Scholarship Program || Colorado Companies to Watch || ACG Photo || KEYWORDS: Penny Lewandowski, Entrepreneurship, Second Stage Companies, Edward Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, ACG Denver, David Sloan Scholarship, University of Denver, bytes=2751741
LISTEN TO: Penny Lewandowski, Director of Entrepreneurship, Edward Lowe Foundation

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Hope is not a method here...

For entrepreneurs it takes passion and planning
1341_ 1/25/13 - Colorado Companies to Watch winner, Applied Trust cofounders Trent Hein and Ned McClain (a new father, Congratulations) join Larry Nelson for a check-in visit. We love to get successful entrepreneurs to weigh in on what they see as the barriers and challenges to becoming an entrepreneur today. The advice is always worth hearing. Trent directs us to a very personal and important step. "You've got the great idea - but you've got to have the plan that says here's how you're getting from point A to point B. Here's how I'm going to manage my staff. Here's how I'm going to get revenue. There was a mindset for a period of time, where if you just hoped it would happen - it would. But hope's not a method here. We've got to have a plan." Trent tells us that for the 12+ years that he and Ned have been working together they plan everything out, in some cases multiple years out." Doing that, Trent says, "It is critical to an entrepreneur's success." Ned and Larry agree, it's a hot time for entrepreneurs in Boulder and Denver right now. But Ned believes you have to find something you're really passionate about. They started Applied Trust just after the dot com boom - it was probably not advisable to start an IT infrastructure - security - performance company then. But, it was something they were passionate about and that passion is what helped them be successful. It's certainly a challenge today, there's a temptation to just find something so they can do a startup. Agreeing heartily, Larry coined the Double P words here... Passion and Planning. Listen for more great advice... COLORADO COMPANIES TO WATCH ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS Colorado Companies to Watch recognizes second- stage companies that are developing valuable products and services and creating quality jobs. They are currently accepting nominations for the 2013 Colorado Companies to Watch award. Companies may apply without being nominated. The nomination deadline is January 28, 2013. To learn more, please click here.
RELATED LINKS: .AppliedTrust || The Barking Seal Blog || Gala Event || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || PodCast Directory || Gala Event Photos || KEYWORDS: AppliedTrust, Trent Hein, Ned McClain, IT infrastructure, Cloud Services, Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, , bytes=7539882
LISTEN TO: Applied Trust, Trent Hein & Ned McClain, CoFounders

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Get prepared for the good times...

Economic predictions for 2013, 2014 and beyond
1337_ 1/16/13 - This is the fourth year running here as ACG Denver starts the new year out with a look into the future featuring keynote speaker Alan Beaulieu, economist with Institute Trend Research. This is a very popular program at ACG, everyone makes it a point to be here in January. Check back in the w3w3.com Archives and you can listen to Alan's past previews into the coming year. Today Alan points out a lot has happened since we last spoke - "the fiscal cliff, we've got Europe going on... I mean there is no lack of things to ponder."   Alan is talking about what the semi-resolution of the fiscal cliff means for the economy in 2013. Whether Europe is going to implode or not? The answer is not. Whether the Chinese economy is going to sink or expand? It's going to expand. Whether the U.S. economy is going to see more opportunities for businesses in 13? The answer is yes. And the reason for all of that is what we're going to be discussing here at ACG Denver today. But the reality is, this economy is in a real recovery. It's a sustainable recovery and, it's not going to end for another three maybe three-and-a-half quarters." LN: What are some of the other things you'd like to highlight?
Alan, "Well there's a recession coming in 2014. And, we need to start thinking now about how we're going to get ready for that. And I think more importantly, Larry, because that's pretty short cycle, we should realize that 15, 16, 17 - they're really good years coming! - And business leaders should ask themselves, What do I need to do now to get ready to be busy again? Because, we've had a hunker-down, no-spend, watch-the-cash mentality for so long that we're going to walk right into a great recovery and we're going to be ill prepared for it. Being ill prepared for a recovery is as bad as being ill prepared for a recession." Larry recaps for clarity: Fourteen is going to be a little tough and challenging. But then 15, 16 and 17 they're going to be coming back. "Right" said Alan, "You're absolutely right Larry! We're going to be happy! We're not going to be retiring but it'll be a good time in the country." ...listen for more ...
RELATED LINKS: ITR Economics || ACG Denver || RM Corporate Growth Conference || Event Photos || M&A Channel || KEYWORDS: Alan Beaulieu, ITR Economics, Institute for Trend Research, Financial Trends, ACG Denver, Association for Corporate Growth, Trends, Economic Recovery, M&A, Entrepreneurs, Europe, China, Canada, Latin America, BYTES=2926448
LISTEN TO: Alan Beaulieu, Economist, Institute Trend Research

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Nominations Close on Jan. 28th

Submit your winning nominations now...
1335_ 1/15/13 - COLORADO COMPANIES TO WATCH ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS Colorado Companies to Watch recognizes second- stage companies that are developing valuable products and services and creating quality jobs. They are currently accepting nominations for the 2013 Colorado Companies to Watch award. Companies may apply without being nominated. The nomination deadline is January 28, 2013. To learn more, please click here. This program is a perfect example of public/private partnership We're talking to Sam Bailey the Relationship Manager for the Governor's Office of Economic Development and International Trade. That means he primarily works in business retention and expansion, helping existing businesses grow and expand their businesses. Sam is also the new program director for Colorado Companies to Watch, which is now four years into the program with 200 companies highlighted and close to, if not over a thousand finalists. Sam said, "We have really seen a lot of companies and communities come out and support these businesses - highlight them, recognize them - so the program has grown to quite a prestigious honor. This year alone we had a wonderful geographical diversity across the state of Colorado. We had companies from rural and urban communities - communities that we haven't seen on stage before. So this has been a banner year for COCTW. We're looking to continue that through outreach to our community partners across the state. It's important to note this is not a program just for the Front Range. It's for the entire state; we have companies from Durango, Carbondale, Craig, and Holly." Listen for more...
RELATED LINKS: Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || Nomination Link || w3w3.com Blog || Gala Event Photos || KEYWORDS: Sam Bailey, Office of Economic Development and International Trade, OEDIT, Colorado Companies to Watch, COCTW, Nominations, Colorado, Second Stage Companies, Lowe Foundation, > bytes=6226236
LISTEN TO: Sam Bailey, Program Director, COCTW

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A Gift for You ... Go Here
from w3w3® & Larry Nelson

Achieving Your Personal and Professional Goals in 2013
12-10-2012 933_ Don't Let Another Year Go By - The Ultimate Win is Yours
- Larry Nelson has taught this material in seminars in over a dozen countries, from China to Canada, from Norway to Australia, from Germany to Japan as well as throughout the USA. He shares the results of his international research about the Characteristics of an Achiever and then goes on to help you lay out your "personalized blueprint" to personal and professional success. Larry is an internationally published author, has been a consultant to many Fortune 1000 companies and is best known for his train-the-trainer programs. ...listen now a complete step-by-step program including a downloadable manual and resource guide...this is an in-depth strategic planning and goal setting system for achievers.. The links below are valuable and extremely helpful to setting your course for the next year! And they're free. Contact Larry Nelson to Speak at Your Next Event
Related Links: Ultimate Win Resources || Training Trends ||
3-Filters Technology™ || Podcasting Directory || Your Goal || Keywords: Ultimate Win, Your Goal, Training Trends, 3-Filters TechnologyTM, Setting Goals, Larry Nelson; 12/10/12 Chnl: Entrepreneurs

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Entrepreneurs looking for money...

Serial entrepreneur and strategic workforce development
1303_ 10/26/12 - We are speaking with a serial entrepreneur... Of course, we've talked with Melodie Reagan before - so we've asked her to give us a rundown of what she's doing now. She tells us, i2iWorkforce is a strategic workforce development firm. We do recruiting, contract staffing, training and coaching. We have over 20 workshops that are soft skills development. But, we are also moving all of our content online. Crazy Good Marketing is a marketing agency with a twist. We use freelance talent throughout the U.S. And, we do everything from deploying individuals, like someone to help with the website, all the way through to doing turnkey marketing themes that are on-demand for our clients. Melodie deals with entrepreneurs all the time. We asked, what are the biggest challenges facing them today? She replied, "I'm going to sum it up in one word, money. Money is the biggest challenge. I know entrepreneurs that are looking for money to fund their businesses and grow it, and it's hard to get. Even for yourself, if you're getting second mortgages, all the way through private equity and venture capital. Everything about money - so business is about money, and getting other businesses to buy their services - and when they do buy it, they're looking to get more for less. So very simply, money." We also discussed with Melodie what were the greatest opportunities today and asked her, "what advice would you give to a wannabe entrepreneur?" Listen for great insights into today's business environment...
RELATED LINKS: i2i Workforce || Crazy Good Marketing || Moxie Exchange Denver/Boulder || CO Companies to Watch || Podcasting Directory || KEYWORDS: Melodie Reagan, Crazy Good Marketing, Moxie Exchange, i2iWorkforce, Entrepreneurs, Strategic Workforce Development, Staffing, Training Coaching, bytes=5101508
LISTEN TO: Melodie Reagan, Founder, Crazy Good Marketing, i2iWorkforce

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Simple solution to common problem...

Getting funding for innovation can be tricky
1301_ 10/24/12 - Despite the fact that there are few women entrepreneurs and even fewer women entrepreneurs in technology fields, Jennifer and Jean Spencer are finding success doing just that. The mother-daughter team has invented, branded and marketed technology-enhanced winter gloves that work on all touch screen devices. The gloves are called Agloves and have been a major hit in both domestic and international markets. The reason for gloves’ year-in-year-out success? “It’s a simple solution to a very common problem with technology,” said Jennifer Spencer, the company’s vice president of communications. The gloves are knit with real silver thread. Silver is, in fact, the secret ingredient to the gloves functionality, and are also how the company gets its name. 'Ag' is the chemical symbol for silver on the Periodic Table of the Elements. The gloves work well on all touchscreen devices like smartphones, tablets and e-readers. Agloves are winter gloves that work on touchscreen devices. Why? Because normal winter gloves don’t work on our favorite devices like iPhones or Androids. So when it’s cold out you have to take off your gloves and freeze your fingertips just to answer a call or write a text message. Agloves integrates patent-pending technology to deliver the most functional touchscreen gloves on the market. Jennifer also offered some great advice for entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes. "If you believe in yourself and your product move beyond the entrepreneur stage. Growth, collaboration and teamwork with help bring your idea or innovation to a bigger and more impactful state." ...Listen for much more...
RELATED LINKS: Agloves || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || Blog || Gala Event || KEYWORDS: Agloves, Jennifer Spencer, Jean Spencer, Entrepreneurs, Touchscreen, Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Henry Ford, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, bytes=4701103
LISTEN TO: Jennifer Spencer, President, AGloves..

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Out of the box, unique, highly creative...

The world is a very big market these days
1295_ 10/19/12 - Like a bolt of lightning, Larry struck a Colorado Companies to Watch 2012 winner. Here's the background. The traditional lightening rod has been around since Ben Franklin. Forty-one years ago, Lightening Eliminators was founded by Roy Carpenter, an engineer at Rockwell working on a NASA project. NASA's equipment was getting hit by lightening, routinely, creating havoc. They tasked Roy with coming up with the solution. He did! But it was an out of the box, unique, highly creative solution. It's called the 'Charge Transfer System'. Avram Saunders, president and CEO of LEC Global, tells us that fundamentally what it does is provide a zone of protection around the facility so that the lightening does not hit at all. It goes somewhere else, literally. Lightning rods attract lightening and send them into the ground - but that has all kinds of problems associated with it such as electrical surges. If you have a billion dollars invested in a facility which would you prefer? Lightning to go somewhere else or to be attracted to your facility? So, Avram tells us that is how they began 41 years ago - now they are in 69 countries with 3000+ installations around the world. LEC Global works with clients from the beginning to the end of the spectrum of need. To the entrepreneur, Avram says the best piece of advice he can give is FOCUS. You have to be very clear on what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how you're doing it. Avram is a serial entrepreneur having started and run many businesses over the years...listen for more...
RELATED LINKS: Lightning Protection || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || Blog || Gala Event || Business Network of Emergency Resources || KEYWORDS: Avram Saunders, Lightening Eliminators, Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Second Stage Companies, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, bytes=7495578
LISTEN TO: Avram Saunders, President/CEO, Lightening Eliminators

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Voted Supplier of the Century...

A woman-owned company and a third generation family business
 1295_ 10/18/12 - With 60 years in the business there is an enormous number of people to pay tribute to. We can't forget about what our customers have done for us. They've been with us through thick and thin for 60 years. We've had a great group of suppliers and partners with our trade organizations and most importantly the employees of Birko that have helped make it successful, both current and past. We are talking with Kelly Green, owner and Chairman of the Board along with Mark Swanson, CEO of Birko Corp. Colorado Companies to Watch winner, Birko Corp. provides food safety solutions to the beef, poultry, pork, produce and brewery industries including concentrated chemical formulations and specialized equipment. Birko’s chemicals are green, sustainable and environmentally responsible, and our equipment line includes state-of-the-art chemical mixing and dispensing systems, as well as meat processing equipment. Founded in 1953, Birko is woman-owned company and a third generation family business. The company was voted the Supplier of the Century by one of the most respected meat associations in the country, the National Meat Association. Kelly tells us that her grandparents started the company almost 60 years ago - they're coming up on that anniversary - really excited about that. Kelly is third generation owner of the business. We've been practicing food safety solutions since 1953 when her grandparents started the company in their garage. We are really proud that we haven't had to lay any people off during this time...Listen for much more...
RELATED LINKS: Birko Corp. || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || PodCast Directory || Gala Event || KEYWORDS: Kelly Green, Mark Swanson, BIRKO, Safety Solutions, Beef, Poultry, Pork, Produce, Brewery Industries, Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, bytes=6794661
LISTEN TO: Kelly Green & Mark Swanson, Birko

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A standardized approach to IT

IT is complex, there is no standardized model
1293_ 10/10/12 - We're talking with Ben Budraitis, CEO/President of Denver based iTruss Solutions. In addition he is a founding member of the board at Colorado Companies to Watch. iTruss Solutions provides a standardized approach to IT for small and midsized businesses, leveraging the kind of things that large companies do that help them succeed, distilling that down to the small business user so they can enjoy the advantages that large corporations do in their businesses. With Colorado Companies to Watch [COCTW], back in 2009, iTruss Solutions was the first industry partner to join the team and to help bring COCTW to where it is today. Ben said, "Our role was to help engage other industry partners, to get them involved in the program and we got involved in sponsorship and recruiting sponsors." Ben said his first key opportunity was having an introduction by Dave Mead to the ACG Denver board. Stephanie Steffens and Ben joined in that meeting, ACG Denver joined and helped, really, catapult the program in to 2010. Switching gears back to iTruss Solutions, Larry asked, "What is the basic industry problem for small and midsized companies contending with IT challenges?" Ben told us there are two basic problems. First, there is no standardization when it comes to IT and the risks and costs associated with this are not readily recognized by chief executive officers until a crisis happens within the organization. "Taking the latter issue first", Ben said, "we liken IT to an iceberg. And what companies typically see is the tip of the iceberg, but it's that other 85% of the mass, under the water, that will sink the ship. The IT industry is like the automotive industry where Henry Ford Never existed.." .listen for more...
RELATED LINKS: iTruss Solutions || Colorado Companies to Watch || Colorado Companies to Watch Channel || PodCast Directory || Gala Event || Business Network of Emergency Resources || KEYWORDS: Ben Budraitis, iTruss Solutions, IT, Lowe Foundation, Colorado Companies to Watch, Gala Event, COCTW, Dave Mead, Second Stage Companies, Henry Ford, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, bytes=7867980
LISTEN TO: Ben Budraitis, President/CEO iTruss-Solutions

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