Special Section BNov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005www.ncbr.com

George Hall:Former Greeley mayor,business leader winsBravo! Award forLifetime Achievement

More inside onwinners, finalistsfrom across region

George Hall demonstratesspirit of entrepreneurship

2B The Northern Colorado Business Report Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005

George Hall ranks as one of the class actsof Northern Colorado entrepreneurs: abusiness leader — and risk-taker — whonever neglects to give back to Greeley, WeldCounty and Northern Colorado overall.

His accomplishments in the building ofHall-Irwin Corp. and Bestway ConcreteInc. — which have grown to employ morethan 500 workers — truly reflect whatBravo! Entrepreneur is all about: honoringthose individuals who go above and beyondin the formation and running of their busi-nesses.

Hall emerged as a clear favorite of ourAwards Committee for the 2005 Bravo!Entrepreneur Lifetime Achievement Award.(We should note that the Awards Commit-tee was supplemented for the first time thisyear by past recipients of the Bravo! Entre-preneur awards.

You’ll read about Hall’s accomplish-ments — and those of our other Bravo!winners — in this special section.

Before you move on, however, let usremind you of some important detailsabout this program. Bravo! Entrepreneuris, of course, a Northern Colorado BusinessReport program conducted in partnershipwith the Fort Collins Area Chamber ofCommerce, the Greeley/Weld Chamber ofCommerce, the Loveland Chamber ofCommerce, the Greeley-Weld EconomicDevelopment Action Partnership Inc. andthe Northern Colorado Economic Devel-opment Corp.

Presidents of these organizationsappointed business leaders to the AwardsCommittee, which this year sifted throughmore than 130 total nominees — anotherrecord.

This year’s Awards Committee includedRene Clements, The Clements Co., FortCollins; Tim Dow, The Dow Law Firm, FortCollins; Bob Hessler, retired banker, Gree-ley; Lucille Mantelli, Kodak Colorado Divi-sion, Windsor; Kelly Peters, Loveland Cen-ter for Business Development, Loveland;Ron Schneider, Bank One, Loveland; andLynn Settje, the Greeley Stampede.

Winners of Bravo! Entrepreneur awardsare chosen from Fort Collins, Greeley,Loveland and Outlying Communities.Additionally, an Emerging EntrepreneurAward, a Lifetime Achievement Award anda Regional Spirit Awards are also presented.

Here’s a rundown of all Bravo! Entrepre-neur winners for 2005:

n Emerging Entrepreneur Award: Pauland Nenita Pellegrino, founder ofNitaCrisp.

n Bravo! Entrepreneur, Fort Collins:Lori Schlotter, CEO of Colorado Cus-tomWare.

n Bravo! Entrepreneur, Greeley: MarkKendall, founder of Kendall Printing Co.

n Bravo! Entrepreneur, Loveland: JerryDonnan, founder of Factual Data Corp.,now Kroll Factual Data Inc.

n Bravo! Entrepreneur, Outlying Com-munities: Tom Baur and Garry Gorsuch,Meadowlark Optics Inc., Frederick.

n Regional Spirit Award: New BelgiumBrewing Co., Fort Collins.

n Lifetime Achievement Awards: GeorgeHall, founder of Hall-Irwin Corp. and Best-way Concrete Inc.

As always, we at The Northern ColoradoBusiness Report need to thank our manypartners, including those chambers of com-

merce and economic-development agen-cies noted above. Thanks to MediaTechProductions, Caldera Creative Services,Kenny’s Steak House, Mountain Media,Colorado Biz Products, Simply Chocolateand to our own Jim Rath, who does such amarvelous job organizing our events.

Lastly, thanks to our many sponsors,including platinum sponsors Bank ofChoice, Hall-Irwin Inc. and Ehrhardt,Keefe, Steiner and Hottman. Our receptionsponsor was Banner Health; our dinnersponsor was McWhinney Enterprises; andour awards sponsor was Kodak ColoradoDivision. Gold sponsors included FrontRange Real Estate Consultants Inc. andPalmer Flowers.

We also are indebted to our many tablesponsors.

Finally, we hope you enjoy this specialsection on Bravo! Entrepreneur 2005. We’llsee you next year!

Reception Sponsor

Dinner Sponsor

Gold Sponsors

Corporate Table Sponsors

Agilent Technologies, Cache Bank, Cochran Freund & Young, Colorado CustomWare, Connecting Point, Front Range Internet Inc., Kennedy & Coe LLC, Kroll Factual Data, Optibrand, Realtec, The Group Inc.,

Union Colony Bank, Wells Fargo-Greeley

Video Display: MediaTech ProductionsAudio/Visual Coordinator: MediaTech Productions

Flowers: Palmer FlowersEvent Coordinator: James Rath

Event Decor: Caldera Creative ServicesMedia Sponsor: KUNC & KFKA

Entertainment: Starkey Productions

Platinum Sponsors

Printing Sponsor

NCBR tuxedos provided by

Awards Sponsor

Bravo! Steering CommitteeJ.J. Johnston, NCEDC; David May, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce; Gaye Stockman, Loveland Chamber of Commerce;

Larry Burkhardt, Greeley/Weld EDAP; Sarah MacQuiddy, Greeley Chamber of Commerce

Bravo! Judging CommitteeTim Dow, The Dow Law Firm LLC; Rene Clements, The Clements Co.; Bob Hessler, Wells Fargo; Ron Schneider, Bank One; Kelly Peters, Loveland Center for Business Development; Lucille Mantelli, Kodak Colorado Division; Maury Dobbie, MediaTech Productions;

Bruce Golden, Optibrand Ltd.; Ralph Switzer, Optibrand Ltd.; David Neenan, The Neenan Co.; Bill Ward, Front Range Internet Inc.; Sally Warde,Northern Colorado Paper; Mark Burke, Burke Cleaners/Mister Neat's Formalwear; Tom Gray, Gray Oil Co.; Reed Brannon, Longs Peak Council of

the Boy Scouts of America; Lynn Settje, Greeley Stampede; Steve Stiesmeyer, Hewlett-Packard Co.

Christopher WoodCo-publisher

The Northern Colorado Business ReportThe Wyoming Business Report

Jeff NuttallCo-publisher

The Northern Colorado Business ReportThe Wyoming Business Report

Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005 The Northern Colorado Business Report 3B

Kodak

A proud citizen of the Northern Colorado

Community Since 1969

Congratulations

Entrepreneur Winners

to The 2005 BRAVO!

Congratulations

to The 2005 BRAVO!

Entrepreneur Winners

By Tom Hackerthacker@ncbr.com

His eye always on some target or other,George Hall has scarcely missed a marksince his arrival in Greeley in 1958.

He set about building the region’s mostdiversified construction business, and didwith Hall-Irwin Corp. He sought the Gree-ley mayor’s office, and held it for longerthan any other person in the city’s history.

Along the way, countless clay pigeons onthe old Island Grove skeet range and pheas-ants flushed from eastern Colorado fieldskept Hall’s eye sharp.

And while the title “Mr. Greeley” isappropriately attached to Joe Tennessen —the broadcasting legend-turned-bank exec-utive — Hall could just as easily wear themantle.

“You have to describe George as the rolemodel for anyone in the community whoaspires to leadership, whether it’s in busi-ness or politics,” said longtime friendHarold Evans, the current chairman of theGreeley Water Board. “I’ve come to appreci-ate how humble he is, as well. That’s a qual-ity that doesn’t often go hand-in-hand withthe kind of success he’s had.”

Hall is so modest, so hesitant to talkabout the record that earns him the 2005

Bravo! Lifetime Achievement Award, thatfriends become the most reliable sources forthe story of what he has done for his com-munity.

He’s a giver, all of them say in one way oranother.

“There are a lot of people in Greeley who

Building Greeley with innovation and involvementSharp-eyed George Hallfinds mark in business,politics, friends, family

See HALL, 12B

Courtesy of Hall-Irwin Corp.

MAN OF THE MOMENT – George Hall, here in the lobby of his company’s former headquarters in Greeley, over-sees the work of nearly 500 employees at Hall-Irwin Corp. and Bestway Concrete Inc., a company Hall formed inthe 1980s.

Past winners1998 – W.D. Farr, Greeley1999 – Bob Everitt, Fort Collins2000 – Ken Monfort, Greeley2001 – Tom Gleason, Fort Collins2002 – Bob Tointon, Greeley2003 - Kathryn Hach-Darrow, Loveland2004 – Bill Neal and Leo Schuster, Fort Collins and

Loveland

2005 Bravo! Entrepreneur — Lifetime Achievement

George Hall

By Tom Hackerthacker@ncbr.com

When the Colorado region manager forTexas-based Whole Foods Market took astroll through a Fort Collins farmers’ mar-ket two summers ago, he stumbled upon abooth run by Paul and Nenita Pellegrino.

He sampled NitaCrisp, the deliciouslysimple flatbread snack cracker that the twohad invented in the course of running theircatering business, All Occasions Catering ofFort Collins.

He liked it. In fact, he liked it enoughthat he asked the Pellegrinos if they couldsupply enough for six Whole Foods storesin Colorado and 14 in Texas.

It was a turning point for a business thatthe Pellegrinos, in the beginning, neverintended to take to the mass market nowhoping for a share of the $3.7 billion U.S.market for snack crackers.

“This all started with our catering busi-ness,” said Paul Pellegrino, who shares withhis wife the 2005 Bravo! Award for emerg-ing entrepreneurs. “We produced this spe-cialty cracker just for our use. Then peoplestarted asking where we got them.”

Nenita Pellegrino began making thecrackers by hand in the kitchen attached tothe family’s northwest Fort Collins home in

1996.Demand from catering customers dur-

ing the next five years resulted in a scatter-ing of random sales, but the couplerefrained from moving their product intoretail stores, focusing instead on their coreAll Occasions business.

Low-tech NitaCrisp snatches piece of snack market4B The Northern Colorado Business Report Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005

2005 Bravo! Entrepreneur — Emerging Entrepreneur

Paul and NenitaPellegrino

FinalistsFinalists for the Emerging EntrepreneurBravo! Entrepreneur Award included:

n Brent Eskew, president, FindYourSpot.comn Jeff Probst, president, Blue Sun Biodiesel Inc.

Tom Hacker, Northern Colorado Business Report

HANDS-ON — NitaCrisp inventor Nenita Pellegrino, left, prepares a flattened sheet of dough for the oven whilehusband Paul Pelligrino cuts the dough into squares. The couple is spending less time in the kitchen and moremaking deals with retailers.

Pellegrinos’ handmadecrackers win naturalfood retailers’ favor

See NITACRISP, 14B

By Robert Baunbbaun@ncbr.com

LOVELAND — When Jerry Donnanlaunched Factual Data Corp. in 1985, hepromised potential clients that he couldprocess mortgage credit checks faster andmore accurately than anybody else in town.

The trouble was, he still had to figure outhow.

“When we first made sales calls, we hadto say, ‘We want your business, but we’venever done this before,’” Donnan recalled ofhis first days.

Donnan found that mortgage lenderswere so hungry for an alternative to existingcredit bureaus, they were willing to take achance on the new kid.

It also helped that Donnan’s first full-timeemployee was a former president of the FortCollins Board of Realtors who had ready con-nections with local mortgage lenders.

The employee “brought back 30 applica-tions in one day,” Donnan recalled. That’sbecause he walked through a lender’s office andliterally grabbed the applications off the desk.

True story.Twenty years later, the company Donnan

reared along with his wife, Marcia, is nowKroll Factual Data Inc., a division of KrollInc. The company has 20,000 clients nation-

wide, bills $120 million in business a year,and commands almost 30 percent of themortgage credit market across the country.

Donnan now serves as an executive con-sultant with Kroll Factual Data, while hisson James is president. Another son, Russ,manages information technology for thecompany, which is known as a technologytrendsetter in the industry.

Donnan lifted Factual Data from startup to industry starFounder saw needto elevate serviceto mortgage lenders

Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005 The Northern Colorado Business Report 5B

See FACTUAL DATA, 13B

Robert Baun, Northern Colorado Business Report

GOOD CREDIT — Jerry Donnan, founder of Factual Data Corp., now Kroll Factual Data Inc., saw a need forimproved service in the mortgage credit check business. Kroll Factual Data now holds about 30 percent of themarket in the United Statees.

2005 Bravo! Entrepreneur — Loveland

Jerry Donnan

FinalistsFinalists for the Loveland Bravo! EntrepreneurAward included:

n Linda Ligon, founder, Interweave Press LLCn Clayton Schwerin, CEO, Alliance Construction

Solutions Inc.

By Robert Baunbbaun@ncbr.com

FORT COLLINS — In 2003 Lori Schlot-ter encountered a crisis.

At that time Schlotter’s company, Col-orado CustomWare Inc. of Fort Collins, wasa subcontractor on a major technologyintegration project for a government client.

But the contractor on the project sud-denly dropped Colorado CustomWare.Schlotter had to write off $600,000 in antic-ipated sales.

Schlotter pulled together her managersand staff and came up with a survival plan.Management took a 50 percent cut in pay.Four workers were laid off from the 20-per-son staff and hours for remaining employ-ees were cut back by 25 percent.

Still, Schlotter wasn’t just thinking aboutmaking payroll for the next month.

Schlotter was so confident in her compa-ny’s potential, she was also thinking aboutthe next year.

“While scaling back, I knew we had toprepare the company for growth,” she said.“I knew we had the best product on themarket.”

Schlotter’s flagship product is a softwaretool for government assessor offices. The

product, RealWare, utilizes geographicinformation systems technology and allowsassessors to conduct mass propertyappraisals to determine tax valuations.

Schlotter’s instincts about growthproved to be right.

Colorado CustomWare was able tomaintain its existing clients, and slowlystarted racking up new sales. By the sum-mer of 2004, the company had landed atwo-year contract to serve all 23 countiesin Wyoming. The Wyoming deal allowedSchlotter to raise all employees back tofull-time and bring back some formeremployees.

New contracts followed in Alexandria,Va.; Pulaski County, Ark., and RutherfordCounty, Tenn. By the end of 2004, ColoradoCustomWare had lined up new multi-year

contracts worth $6 million in future rev-enue.

Back from the brinkThis year, with the addition of new con-

tract with the city of Philadelphia, ColoradoCustomWare’s expects to record $5.2 mil-lion on the company books, more thandoubling 2004 totals.

The company now counts 44 differentclients in 11 states. At 30 employees, Col-orado CustomWare is actively searching forfive more employees, and Schlotter is closeto launching two more software products,theoretically tripling the company’s revenuepotential.

The new products include a collectionsystem for county treasurers, and a systemfor county clerks to feed property deedsinto the county’s assessment system.

“We’re looking for potential partners,”Schlotter said, referring to a county orcounties that would help to completedevelopment of the product and be thefirst customer — a role that LarimerCounty played with the launch of Real-Ware.

Before Schlotter founded Colorado Cus-tomWare in 1989, she was an employee ofthe state of Colorado who traveled aroundthe state to train county clerk and recorder

employees on new software.During that period, Schlotter observed

a need to help counties make the transi-tion from mainframe computer systemsto PCs.

Her first product was designed toassist clerk and recorder offices inrecording deeds. However, she was soonforced to pull the plug when the stateannounced it was about to offer a similarsystem for free.

“So, I was going to be selling againstfree,” Schlotter said.

Instead, she turned her attention to theassessment market and came up with Real-Ware.

Schlotter overcomes crisis to win software contractsColorado CustomWareserves needs of assessorsnationwide from F.C.

6B The Northern Colorado Business Report Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005

Robert Baun, Northern Colorado Business Report

SOFTWARE SUCCESS — Lori Schlotter, CEO of Colorado CustomWare in Fort Collins, turned the company aroundafter it lost a major contract in 2003. Colorado CustomWare’s sales are expected to double this year.

2005 Bravo! Entrepreneur — Fort Collins

Lori Schlotter

FinalistsFinalists for the Fort Collins Bravo! EntrepreneurAward included:

n Doug Odell, founder and brewmaster, OdellBrewing Co.

n David Carson, president, CBW Automation

See SCHLOTTER, 14B

By Danielle M. Casteelnews@ncbr.com

“I used to work 24 hours straight …Now, I don’t have to be there.”

Mark Kendall, founder and owner ofKendall Printing Co., still keeps on topof things at his 40,000-square-foot plantin west Greeley. But after 21 years inbusiness, he’s attained a comfort levelthat allows him to stand back and watchplant manager Kevin McDermott runthe show.

“It’s been wonderful,” he said. Kendallhas just returned from a month-long trip tothe Amazon, something he says he wouldnever have been able to do had it not beenfor Kendall Printing. He says he’d alwayswanted to travel, and now he can.

Kendall had been working as a produc-tion manager for another local printerbefore he started Kendall Printing in 1984.He said owning a business had been his goalsince college.

Kathy Lauerman, president of the Print-ing and Imaging Association MountainStates, an industry trade group based inDenver, applauded what Kendall has pro-duced.

“Even from a distance … I’m beyondimpressed,” Lauerman said. “They use tradi-tional theory but with new technology thatis appropriate … They do wonderful work.”

When starting his business, Kendallfocused on three key things: building astrong relationship with the client to pro-vide impeccable customer service, creatinghigh-quality print jobs and continuallyimproving the printing environment toattain maximum efficiency. All these ele-ments comprise Kendall Printing’s missionstatement.

Since 1984, Kendall has grown from atwo-employee operation to a companywith 65 workers and hundreds of clients,including Hewlett-Packard Co. and uni-versities in Colorado. At one point, theoperation required nearly 100 employ-ees, but because of technologicaladvances in printing, Kendall has learnedto run lean.

For instance, the company’s pre-pressdepartment, which used to require a staff of24, now operates with four.

Kendall’s also learned to adapt to chang-ing market conditions. He said the compa-ny’s customer base has “turned over” almostcompletely in the last five years, in part dueto the cuts at technology companies thatused to provide the bulk of his contracts.

Kendall Printing Co. was the firstcommercial printer in Colorado toreceive ISO 9002 certification. Lauer-man said this is “very prestigious.” ISOstands for International Standards Orga-nization, founded in 1946 to promotedevelopment of international standardsand related activities, including confor-mity to assessment, to facilitate exchangeof goods and services worldwide.

Basically, Kendall said, this means thatprotocol is in place for every element inthe printing process. The certification“demonstrates your commitment toquality,” he said. The company is audit-ed twice a year to make sure they are

adhering to the ISO standards.The existing plant, built in 1992,

includes an extra three acres of property.That’s because Kendall once planned tobuild a 30,000 square-foot addition. Butthat’s no longer necessary.

“With the advent of new technology andthe ability to turn around work efficiently,”he said.

The building has accommodated variousefficiencies, and Lauerman calls it “beauti-ful, clean and progressive.”

Kendall said he’s very pleased with hisemployees and that the feeling is mutual.“Everybody’s happy with the environ-ment we’ve created,” he said. KendallPrinting provides “benefits that in thisday and age are very hard to maintain.”There is very little turnover within thecompany, and Kendall hopes to keep itthis way.

Kendall Printing’s profits have increased5,000 percent since starting the operation21 years ago. It is now a multi-million dol-lar business.

Kendall says they receive very fewcomplaints from customers. “When thattype of thing occurs, we take care of itimmediately,” he said. Kendall saidHewlett-Packard, who used to do a largeamount of business with them, wouldrate the company every year. BecauseKendall Printing consistently came in

above its standards in five categories, HPeventually raised its standards becauseKendall Printing had proved they weresurmountable.

Kendall Printing differs from manylarge-format printers in that it maintainssmall-format printing presses to accommo-date smaller jobs. “Some printers who havegrown as large as we have don’t keep thesmall accounts. But working three shifts,we’re able to deliver that product,” Kendallsaid. “We do everything from businesscards to 400-page mailings.”

“My father truly deserves the BravoAward,” said Adam Kendall, the company’svice president. “It was a priceless experi-ence to watch my father take a risk andbuild his company through hard work andpersistence.”

Kendall Printing sets, achieves high standardsFounder adapts totechnology, changesin the marketplace

Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005 The Northern Colorado Business Report 7B

FinalistsFinalists for the Greeley Bravo! EntrepreneurAward included:

n Roger Knoph, founder, Envirotech Services Inc.n Tim Thissen, founder, Thissen Construction Corp.

2005 Bravo! Entrepreneur — Greeley

Mark Kendall

Robert Buan, Northern Colorado Business Report

FINE PRINT — Mark Kendall, founder of Kendall Printing Co. in Greeley, stands next to one of his company’s prizemachines, a five-color Heidelberg Speedmaster press.

Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005 The Northern Colorado Business Report 9B

By Kristen S. Bastiankbastian@ncbr.com

In 1979, researcher Tom Baur beganworking late into the evenings in the sparebedroom of his rural Longmont home.

Baur’s work at the National Center forAtmospheric Research on a project measur-ing the magnetic fields in the sun’s spots ledhim to design a device called a Pockels cell.He soon realized that other astronomershad a need for the polarization equipment.

“Since other people seemed to wantthem, I decided it would be fun to start acommercial venture,” he said.

So he did, working out of his house afterhis daily duties at NCAR were done.

The business grew quickly, so Baurexpanded into his barn and eventually intothe chicken coop, all the while adding staffand products to the company’s roster.

It was the business’s surroundings, andits chance beginnings that gave it its name.

“It was in a meadow and it was a bit of alark,” Baur jokes.

It was in the days of the chicken coopexpansion that Baur decided MeadowlarkOptics needed someone with more of abusiness background to guide it. Not onlyhad Baur never run a business before, healso had never worked for a for-profit busi-ness entity. His work history included stintsas a teacher and a researcher, but never apresident or CEO.

In 1995, retired IBM manufacturingdirector Garry Gorsuch joined the companyto serve as president. He accepted the jobdespite the fact that his office was in a con-verted chicken coop.

“Garry’s been key to our success,”Baur said.“There were a lot of things about how compa-nies are organized that I was struggling with.”

With Gorsuch at the business helm andBaur guiding the technology research,Meadowlark Optics has grown into a pho-tonics company with 30 employees, aworldwide client base, revenues of $3.5 mil-lion and recognition as the 2005 Bravo!Entrepreneur Awards winner in the Outly-ing Areas category.

From coop to high techIn 1997, Meadowlark moved to a 20,000-

square-foot, state-of-the-art manufacturingand research facility in Frederick.

The decision to buy the land and movewas an easy one, as was the transition intoother optic technologies. Baur said thejump from Pockels cells to wave plates andpolarizers was a simple one.

What was more difficult was determin-ing who needed which technologies forwhat applications.

“I started with very little knowledge ofthe commercial needs in the marketplace,”Baur said.

He likened the company’s attempts toexpand its market to fishing — just throwin the hook and see who would bite. Themethod worked; the technology industrybit. The company’s clientele expanded fromastronomers and other researchers to hightech companies, especially in the semicon-ductor segment and tests and measure-ments sectors.

Meadowlark’s transition into the high-tech market rocketed the company’s rev-enues, but also made it susceptible to thetechnology bust.

“The market swings affect us a lot,” Gor-such said.

The bust hit the company pretty hard.Prior to the lost revenue, the companyemployed about 50 and had to make somecuts.

“The hardest part was surviving,” Baursaid.

The company is internally funded asidefrom a small loan through a state-run small

Meadowlark does photonic research, design in FrederickA lark in a meadowgrows over long haulto diverse optics firm

FinalistsFinalists for the Outlying Areas Bravo! Entrepre-neur Awards included:

n Larry Wexler, Ecomshare — Estes Parkn Chauncey & Christy Taylor, Johnson’s Corner —

Johnstown2005 Bravo! Entrepreneur — Outlying Areas

Tom Baur andGarry Gorsuch

Kristen Bastian, Northern Colorado Business Report

ON A LARK — Meadowlark founder Tom Baur, right, and President Garry Gorsuch moved the company to its Frederick facility in 1997. The company was started inBaur's spare bedroom and grew into a barn and chicken coop prior to the move.

See MEADOWLARK, 13B

It's a good day to say, Bravo!Enjoy the accolades.

Celebrate your success.Next week we'll talk banking. Take your choice of topics. A free business account. Cash management services. A credit line to take your business to the next level.

You name it. It's your choice. But, that's next week.

Today: celebrate. You deserve it!

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970.339.5600

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970.352.6400

PLATTEVILLE370 Justin Avenue970.785.2000

FORT COLLINS1044 West Drake Road

970.224.5100

WINDSOR1270 Automation Drive

970.674.3434

BankofChoice.netProud Sponsor of the 2005 BRAVO Awards

By Kristen S. Bastiankbastian@ncbr.com

If businesses had middle names, NewBelgium Brewing Co.’s might be “Sustain-ability,” or “Charitable,” for that matter.

While the company’s main matter ofbusiness is brewing award-winning beerssuch as Fat Tire, Abbey and Trippel, ownersKim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch haven’tstopped there. New Belgium is knownregionally and nationally not only for itsBelgian-style brews, but also for its commit-ment to the environment and its communi-ty. Such endeavors have earned Jordan,Lebesch and New Belgium the 2005 Bravo!Entrepreneur Regional Spirit Award.

The Bravo! Regional Spirit Award hon-ors a company, individual or organizationthat demonstrates commitment to thegrowth and well-being of the regionthrough good corporate citizenship.

New Belgium demonstrates its commit-ment to bettering the community throughits various charitable and environmentalefforts.

The company donates $1 per every bar-rel of beer produced to causes in the follow-ing areas: social, cultural, environmentaland drug and alcohol awareness. The dona-tions are dispersed by an employee-run

philanthropy committee. In 2004, the com-pany sold about 285,000 barrels.

In addition to the per-barrel donations,New Belgium works to support the local

New Belgium Brewing brews community spiritCommitment toenvironment partof corporate values

Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005 The Northern Colorado Business Report 11B

2005 Bravo! Entrepreneur — Regional Spirit

Kim Jordan andJeff Lebesch

Past winners2004 — Monfort Family Foundation, Eaton2003 — The Bohemian Foundation, Fort Collins2002 — Long’s Peak Council of the Boy Scouts2001 — State Farm Insurance Co., Greeley/Evans2000 — Greeley Independence Stampede,

Greeley1999 — Eastman Kodak Co. (Kodak Colorado

Division), Windsor1998 — Hewlett Packard Co., Fort Collins

Courtesy of New Belgium Brewing Co.

ACTION ORIENTED — Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch founded New Belgium Brewing Co. in 1991. Jordan said theyset out the company's core values before brewing any beer.See NEW BELGIUM, 14

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have contributed so much, but if you needto pick one who’s contributed in moreways — beyond the monetary, though he’sdone that, too — it has to be George,” saidPete Morrell, who served as Greeley citymanager during Hall’s record number ofterms on the city council and in themayor’s office.

“He contributed sweat equity. He getsinvolved, and when he’s involved in a pro-ject you know it’s going to succeed. He’s abrilliant guy.”

Building a cityA fourth-generation Coloradoan who

grew up in the eastern-plains farm com-munity Brush, Hall settled in Greeley withhis wife, Betty, when the city had a popula-tion of 20,000. Forty-seven years later,Greeley has more than quadrupled, to85,000, and countless projects in Greeleyand surrounding Weld County bear theHall-Irwin stamp.

While Hall’s company left Greeley tobuild a gleaming new headquarters in Mil-liken two years ago, the city and Hall stillclaim one another.

Hall’s work began in earnest in 1963when he and former partner Hale Irwin,father of golf legend Hale Irwin Jr., left theirjobs as project managers for a Greeleyhomebuilder to form their own company.

“When we started, we had a couple ofold backhoes and that was about it,” Hallsaid. Empire Excavating, as the companywas known, grew into a construction com-pany that built some of Greeley’s mostenduring neighborhoods — Hillside, Cot-tonwood Village, Rolling Hills.

Hall’s political career took off with hiselection to the Greeley City Council in1965. Thereafter, election days melded intoone another over nearly two decades, cul-minating with his back-to-back terms asGreeley’s mayor during the 1970s.

At the same time, Hall-Irwin — notquite on a back burner — was nonethelesscompeting with politics for Hall’s attention.After buying out partner Irwin’s share ofthe business in 1968, Hall said he hit theproverbial wall.

Long days “We had reached sort of a plateau with

the business,” Hall said. “We were success-ful, but we weren’t growing. …There weremany times I’d leave a council meeting atabout midnight, ending an 18-hour day. Iwas really wearing myself out.”

By the middle 1980s, Hall had left CityHall behind in favor of a less demandingpublic service position as a member of Col-

orado’s transportation commission. Long-time friend Bill Neal, who died in a 2004plane crash, said in a 2001 Business Reportinterview Hall was the state’s “foremostexpert in public-sector infrastructure.”Neal, who credited Hall as his mentor, wasnamed to succeed Hall on the commissionin 1991.

By the late 1980s, Hall-Irwin’s diversifi-cation was in full swing. Bestway Concretehad been added to the company fold, alongwith an aggregate division that has becomea core business.

Now, Hall-Irwin’s reach extends fromthe turf at Folsom Field at the University ofColorado, where the company installed aspecialized playing surface derived from theaggregate business, to ponds flanking thePoudre River in northwest Fort Collins,where Hall’s ingenuity in water storage sys-tems adds another diverse dimension.

In Fort Collins and Greeley, the compa-ny has pioneered water-storage techniquesthat contribute a huge measure of Greeley’swater supply — building slurry walls andlinings that turn mined gravel pits intoreservoirs.

“There were so many innovations, froma technical standpoint, that were allGeorge’s ideas,” Evans said. “He doesn’t takeenough credit himself for the inventivesolutions he’s come up with.”

A culture of invention and problem-solving spreads throughout the company,with Hall expecting his 450 employees toexercise the same initiative in pushing pro-jects forward that has guided him throughhis career.

“We’re all of one mind here,” Hall said inan interview in his office just across the hallfrom one where son Bret, now president ofthe company, directs day-to-day operations.“I love seeing my employees doing thingsthat are above and beyond, and they alwaysdo. It’s a corporate family. When we makedecisions here, we make them only afterconsulting with members of the family.”

12B The Northern Colorado Business Report Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005

HALL, from 3B

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“When George isinvolved in a projectyou know it’s going tosucceed.”

Pete Morrell,Former Greeley city manager

Despite the war stories from FactualData’s start-up period, Jerry Donnan was-n’t entering the business with blinders on.

He had already risen to a regional man-agement position for mortgage lender AvcoFinancial Services, supervising 60 offices in20 states. Marcia’s father owned a credit-reporting firm in Iowa and Marcia helpedto manage that business.

The experience helped the Donnansrealize there was a service gap in the mort-gage credit sector.

“The only people doing it were localcredit bureaus,” Donnan said. “And theycould charge what they wanted to.”

Donnan figured right. In the first year inbusiness, which started in 1985, Factual Datacaptured 80 percent of the local market.

Still, Factual Data had overcome hur-dles, said James Donnan.

“Starting out in the business we’re in,there’s considerable push back from ven-dors as well as the competition,” theyounger Donnan recalled. “His persistencein getting our foot on the map was critical… He’s was always finding ways to win,even when times were, let’s say, difficult.”

At the beginning, mortgage creditchecks took three days per application. Atfull throttle, Factual Data could finish eightreports a day at $65 each. Labor represent-ed 65 percent of the company’s costs.

But Donnan’s commitment to technology,which eventually included proprietary softwareto hasten credit checks, helped to turn the cred-it-check process into a matter of key strokes.

“Today we can return a report in about asecond and a half,” he said.

In addition to technology, Donnan rec-ognized early that he needed to add bulk tothe company in order to win over largermortgage lenders as clients.

In 1991 he franchised the Factual Dataname. Next, in 1998, he took the companypublic. That same year he relocated the busi-ness to the Centerra development in Love-land, where the company now operates athree-building campus with 300 employees.

Even though the company was experienc-ing steady growth in the ’90s, Donnan also saw

the need to diversify, and brought employmentbackground checks and residential tenantscreening into Factual Data’s mix of services.

Now, non-mortgage services represent40 percent of the company sales.

Predictably, Factual Data’s record ofsales growth and industry-leading technol-ogy attracted corporate suitors. Early in2002 Fidelity National Information Solu-tions Inc. agreed to buy Factual Data for$84 million, but by August of that year thedeal dissolved.

In June 2003 Kroll Inc. swooped in witha $115 million offer and the deal closedlater that year.

Before the end of the year, Donnanretired from Factual Data, but not from thebusiness world. He’s converted some of hisproceeds from the sale into the DonnanCharitable Foundation Inc., which he runswith Marcia. The foundation targets needsof disadvantaged children. He’s also estab-lished Donnan Ltd., a vehicle for investingin start-up companies in the region.

Still, he keeps a fond eye cast on the for-tunes of Kroll Factual Data, which he thinkswill continue to prosper.

Ongoing demand for real estate services,as well as employment background checks,makes Donnan believe the company could“double in size” by the end of the decade.

As a company consultant, Donnanchecks in with Factual Data periodically.And according to the new boss, the old bossremains a welcome site.

“Ever since his retirement,” James said,“there’s a smile on everyone’s face whenJerry decides to stop by.”

Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005 The Northern Colorado Business Report 13B

Congratulations to the nominees of the Bravo Entrepreneur

Awards. Just like those dedicated professionals, Banner

Health is driven. We’re committed to provide the best possible

care, no matter what it takes. Our highly talented team uses

the most advanced technology available, in state-of-the-art

facilities, to give our patients the kind of medical care they’re

looking for. And then some. Our staff goes above and beyond

to deliver a level of caring that’s hard to find—and that’s

what makes a real difference. Banner Health. Inspired to go

the extra mile every day. For every one of our patients.

Just like our local entrepreneurs, we go the extra mile.

Banner Health facilities include:

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To find a physician, visit BannerHealth.com or call 800-505-6877.

For job opportunities, visit BannerHealth.com or call 866-377-JOBS (5627).

Banner is the leading provider of not-for-profit health care

in northern Colorado.

FACTUAL DATA, from 5B

business program, and both Baur and Gor-such were determined for it to remain assuch.

Rather than just cut back on everythingduring the bust, the company took advan-tage of the situation.

Previously, the company was so busydoing jobs for its clients that there was littleor no time for internal research and devel-opment. As technology customers cut backspending, though, Meadowlark was able torefocus on developing new products.

The result was new photonics equip-ment and expanded markets.

“We’re better positioned from a prod-ucts standpoint,” Gorsuch said.

New markets openingWith the emergence of biotechnology

and biomedical companies and research,Meadowlark has found a promising newmarket for its products, as components forequipment with a variety of applications,such as determining cell structure and diag-nosing glaucoma.

For Meadowlark’s executives, the marketpossibilities are endless.

“Anything that involves light involvesphotonics,” Gorsuch said.“If you include allthat, it’s a huge industry.”

The company has not entirely rebound-ed from the technology bust yet, but bothBaur and Gorsuch agree they are on trackto get back to that level of activity. Mead-owlark has survived more than two decadesand is positioned to continue that throughmeasured growth.

Past Bravo! winners in the outlying areashave little in common as far as what theyproduce — ranging from milk to paperproducts to lawn mowers:

n 2004 — Mark Hopkins, Peak Indus-tries, Frederick. Founded in 1996. Boughtby Delphi Medical in 2004.

n 2003 — Tom Gray, Gray Oil Co., FortLupton. Founded in 1937.

n 2002 — Israel “Izzy” Salazar, TSN Inc.Founded in 1990. Bought by London-basedBunzl Plc in 2004.

n 2001 — Joe & Bob Raith, MorningFresh Farms, Platteville. Founded in 1979.

n 2000 — Max, Bob and Dean Walker,Walker Manufacturing Co., Timnath.Founded in 1959.

n 1999 — Louis Lucio, ArmadilloRestaurants, LaSalle. Founded in 1972.

n 1998 — Bill Coleman, ColoradoGreenhouse Holdings, Fort Lupton.Founded in 1992. Filed for bankruptcy andsold to Sunblest Management LLC in 2000.

Meadowlark joins this list as a companywith long-term staying power.

“We’re not a flash-in-the-pan kind ofcompany,” Baur said.

MEDOWLARK, from 9B

“His persistence ingetting our foot on themap was critical.”James Donnan, President Kroll Factual Data Inc. referring tocompany founder Jerry Donnan

14B The Northern Colorado Business Report Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005

RealWare real hitThe product has become a hit for asses-

sors because of its flexibility in assessingproperty values.

“We’re able to fine-tune it to economicneighborhoods,” said Gil Reyes, assessorfor Adams County, which has been a cus-tomer since 1996. “We can change theparameters. We can add factors, and takefactors out.”

With more rigid assessment pro-grams, an assessor may have to value anenclosed porch with a space heater thesame as a newly constructed addition ofthe same size. Unless the assessorremembered to make the modificationby hand, it caused a flaw in valuations.The RealWare program, which can beutilized in the field with computer

tablets, allows an assessor to make thatadjustment upon visual inspection.

“It makes my life easier,” Reyes said. “Itcuts down on protests, and cuts down onconsumer agitation.”

Colorado CustomWare grew graduallythrough the 1990s, but hit its stride in 2001when it grew from 11 employees to 18 andmoved into a new office building in theOakridge Business Park.

Then came the gut blow in 2003.While Schlotter heaps praise on her

management team and employees, shedeserves credit for “facing the brutal truth,”said Gerard Nalezny, who was ColoradoCustomWare’s banker at the time. “She didnot hide from the stark realities of her situ-ation.

“That’s tough. You start a business andyou have it initially flourish. Then you runinto a serious roadblock. Facing the realityof that is like finding out your kids aren’tsmart. It’s emotional. She had the guts toface the hard issues straight on.”

SCHLOTTER, from 6B

community in other ways.For the last two summers, the company

held outdoor, bike-in movie nights. Pro-ceeds from beer sales during the eventswere donated to Arts Alive in Fort Collins.

Bryan Simpson, spokesman for NewBelgium, headed this effort. He said that bychoosing Arts Alive as a recipient, thedonated money would be dispersed to vari-ous small-scale art projects throughout thearea. This year, the event raised more than$10,000 for Arts Alive.

Sustainability supporterCorporate citizenship at doesn’t end

with fiscal support. New Belgium is knownnationally for its various programs andprojects aimed at environmental sustain-ability.

New Belgium was the first brewery inthe nation to be completely wind powered.In 1999, New Belgium signed onto the windenergy program through Platte River PowerAuthority, and it did so at a cost. Accordingto Simpson, wind power cost about 2.5cents more per kilowatt/hour.

“We took an employee vote,” he said.The company would have to dip into theemployee bonus fund in order to institutethe program. Simpson went into the meet-ing feeling that it would be a hard sell.

“It was a unanimous vote,” he reported,adding that the vote speaks to the companyculture.

Not only can New Belgium take pridein its own reduction in carbon dioxide,but also in its role as a pioneer in theindustry.

“One of our core values is to be a busi-ness role model,” said Simpson. At leasttwo breweries have followed in New Bel-gium’s footsteps by converting entirely towind power. Both New York-based Brook-lyn Brewery and Utah’s Uintah BrewingCo. made the switch to wind power andcited New Belgium’s commitment as asource of inspiration.

The company now supplements itswind power by generating about 10 per-cent of its energy needs on site. New Bel-gium began operating a water treatmentfacility that treats the company’s waste-water. The process, in turn, runs a co-generation engine for an average of fivehours per day.

In 2004, these projects and others earnedNew Belgium the Environmental Achieve-ment Award by the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency.

Core corporate valuesIn addition to the wind power and

water treatment programs, New Belgiuminstitutes a number of other measures toreduce waste. One of the first innovationscame from Lebesch through a brewingprocess he instituted while still brewingin his basement. He used a closed heatloop to capture steam that in turn is usedto heat the water. This process has beenput to use on a much larger scale in thefacility.

The brewery boasts a 98 percent diver-sion rate, meaning that only 2 percent ofthe company’s waste actually goes to a land-fill. The rest is either recycled or reused insome way. Also, New Belgium attempts touse recycled materials whenever possible —even the carpeting is recycled.

For Jordan, the decision to run the com-pany through good corporate citizenshipwas common sense.

“We’ve had core values and beliefs as acompany before we ever made any beer,”she said. Fifteen years later, she is stillamazed by how helpful it is to have thecompany’s values be the foundation foreverything else it does.

For New Belgium, success isn’t measuredby barrels produced or revenue, Jordanexplains. Instead, it’s measured by how thecompany’s actions measure up to its values.

BREWING, from 11B

But when the economy tanked followingthe terrorist attacks of September 2001, thePellegrinos had to change their strategy.Their catering business dropped by a third,and they turned to humble NitaCrisp tohelp prop up their family income.

“After 9-11, we had two years of declin-ing business, and we were looking for sup-plemental income,” Paul Pellegrino said.“We started going to the farmers’ markets.People there were pretty receptive, wefound.”

Step one was to give the simple, no-name cracker a brand. It began with wordplay in the couple’s kitchen.

“Nita and I just kicked it around,” Pelle-grino said. “Need a cracker? Nita Crisp! Itjust stuck.”

The first market for NitaCrisp was strict-ly local. Two Old Town outlets — the Fort

Collins Food Coop and Beaver’s Market —were the first to put the crackers on theirshelves. Paul and Nenita also forged piggy-back relationships with Bingham HillCheese and New Belgium Brewing Co.,both of which feature NitaCrisp in retailstores and tasting rooms.

Ingredients in NitaCrisp, and the nutri-tion numbers posted on the package, arethe reasons natural-food retailers WholeFoods and Wild Oats have embraced theproduct.

Two flavors — traditional and spelt —combine flour, soybean oil, sesame seed,yeast, sugar and salt. Fat? Almost none.Calories? Eat all you want.

With Whole Foods and Wild Oats onboard, the Pellegrinos were suddenly facedwith a new wrinkle in their business. Foryears, getting their product to marketmeant loading a catering van for a driveacross town. But by 2004, NitaCrisp’s desti-nations were as far-flung as Houston andSeattle.

The U.S. snack-food industry is populat-ed by some of the biggest consumer prod-uct manufacturers in the world. Nabiscoand Keebler, for example, together lock up60 percent of the snack-cracker market.And crackers that retail stores stock on theirshelves are almost always the products of atechnology-driven, automated process.

NitaCrisp’s production system is aboutas low-tech as such things can get.

“I started with a manual pasta maker,”

Nenita Pellegrino said. “It was all done byhand.”

It still is. While an electric roller squeezesout uniform, flat sheets of dough, everyother step in the process is hands-on.

It’s part of the product’s market posi-tioning, Paul Pellegrino said.

“We’ll never automate,” he said. “Wethink our idea of building jobs and keepingit handmade is the key to our success.”

The cracker venture employs a full-timesales manager, a production manager and acustomer service representative and sixpart-time workers.

NitaCrisp also provides jobs for devel-opmentally disabled clients of FoothillsGateway in Fort Collins, who package andship the product.

“We’re handmade. We use local ingredi-ents wherever possible. We’re creating jobsfor disabled people,” Paul Pellegrino said.“This is a community cracker. It’s a crackerwith a cause.”

NITACRISP, from 4B

On the Web NitaCrisp’s home on the Internet providesinformation about retail locations, nutritioninformation and ordering. Log on atwww.nitacrisp.com.

“We’ve had core values and beliefs as acompany before weever made any beer.”Kim Jordan, cofounder New Belgium Brewing Co.

Nov. 25-Dec. 8, 2005 The Northern Colorado Business Report 15B

Bravo! Entrepreneur Awards past winners

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

1998 – W.D. Farr, Greeley1999 – Bob Everitt, Fort Collins2000 – Ken Monfort, Greeley2001 – Tom Gleason, Fort Collins2002 – Bob Tointon, Greeley2003 - Kathryn Hach-Darrow, Loveland2004 – Bill Neal and Leo Schuster, Fort Collins

and Loveland

FORT COLLINS

1998 - Kent and Gloria Sampson, Value PlasticsInc.

1999 – Doug Schatz, Advanced Energy Industries Inc.

2000 – Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch, New Belgium Brewing Co.

2001 – Spiro Palmer, Palmer Flowers2002 – David and Jim Neenan, The Neenan Co.2003 - Bill Ward, Front Range Internet Inc.2004 – David Bethune, Atrix

Laboratories Inc.

GREELEY

1998 – Darrell McAllister, 1st Choice Bank1999 – John Todd, Toddy’s grocery stores2000 – Bill Farr, Centennial Bank of the West2001 – Jerry Morgensen, Hensel Phelps

Construction Co.2002 – Ruben and Scott Ehrlich, Ehrlich Motors2003 – Tom Roche, Roche Constructors Inc.2004 - Tim and Sally Warde, Northern

Colorado Paper

LOVELAND

1998 – Tom Schultz, Group Publishing1999 - Dave Duke, Duke

Communications International2000 - Bill Beierwaltes, Colorado

Memory Systems2001 – Chad and Troy McWhinney, McWhinney

Enterprises Inc.2002 – Jack Devereaux, Home State Bank2003 – Erv Weinmeister, Super Vacuum Manu-

facturing2004 - Mark Burke, Burke Cleaners and Mister

Neat’s Formalwear

OUTLYING COMMUNITIES

1998 – Bill Coleman, Colorado Greenhouse Holdings Inc., Fort Lupton

1999 – Louis Lucio, Armadillo restaurants, LaSalle

2000 – Max, Bob and Dean Walker, Walker Manufacturing, Timnath

2001 – Joe and Bob Raith, Morning Fresh Farms,Platteville

2002 – Izzy Salazar, TSN Inc., Frederick2003 – Tom Gray, Gray Oil Co..

Fort Lupton2004 – Mark Hopkins, Peak Industries, Frederick

EMERGING ENTREPRENEUR*

2000 – Tim Gan, Open LCR, Fort Collins2001 – Jeff Whitham, Encorp Inc., Windsor2002 – Maury Dobbie, MediaTech

Productions, Fort Collins2003 – Tom and Kristi Johnson,

Bingham Hill Cheese Co., Fort Collins2004 - Bruce Golden, Bernard E. Rollin & Ralph

V. Switzer Jr., Optibrand Ltd. LLC, Fort Collins

REGIONAL SPIRIT

1998 – Hewlett-Packard Co., Fort Collins1999 - Eastman Kodak Co., Kodak

Colorado Division, Windsor2000 - Greeley Stampede2001 - State Farm Insurance Cos.,

Greeley2002 – Longs Peak Council, Boy Scouts of

America, Greeley2003 – Bohemian Foundation, Fort Collins2004 – Monfort Family Foundation, Eaton

*Bravo Award for Emerging Entrepreneur was introduced in 2000

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