2018 Boulder County Business Hall of Fame
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
BizWest | | 2018 Boulder County Business Hall of Fame DAVID BOLDUC• GINA DAY AND DIANE GREENLEE • HEIDI GANAHL • DAVE QUERY • CLAIR VOLK• THE WINTER FAMILY Class of 2018 g g 2 | BizWest | Boulder County Business Hall of Fame | 2018 www.bizwest.com Congratulations 2018 Boulder County David Bolduc Business Hall of Fame Boulder Book Store Honorees The DellaCava family would like to congratulate all of the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame 2018 Recipients for their extraordinary achievement in business and the Boulder County communities. COUNTY R BU E S D I L N U E S 2595 Canyon Blvd., Suite 230 O S B Bolduc writes bookstore’s Boulder, CO 80302 H A E Phone: 303-449-0510 L M L OF FA Fax: 303-473-0015 45-year success story By Dallas Heltzell try it.’ [email protected] “Some companies want people to rely on the internet to fulfill all their Times are hard enough for brick- needs — and it certainly can’t. It’s not and-mortar chain bookstores in the good for communities. Proud Sponsor of the Boulder County era of the internet, and independents “We’ve been very involved with ‘city Business Hall of Fame have an even rougher time. things’ over the years, a lot of boards,” “Our biggest challenge now starts he said, mentioning his membership with an A,” said David Bolduc, presi- on Downtown Boulder’s board. “I A community bank that has called Colorado home dent and owner of Boulder Book Store. wanted to do it. It was interesting, and for over 60 years. Let us help you reach your “Everyone’s running scared because it was also my responsibility if I was Amazon wants the whole pie, which downtown.” financial goals. isn’t good for democracy.” As a founding member of the Boul- And yet Boulder Book Store, a fix- der Independent Business Alliance, he 303.293.5500 ture on the Pearl Street Mall, survives participated in the development of the and thrives, with about 50 knowl- Pearl Street Mall. He co-founded the GuarantyBankCO.com edgeable employees and more than Boulder Valley Farmers Market and 100,000 titles in 20,000 square feet of also serves on the board of Naropa space on three floors. University. The store also serves as “It goes up and goes over here and Naropa’s bookstore, with a small sec- down there,” Bolduc mused. “A lot of tion downstairs that features the texts people from rural places have never the school’s teachers want students to seen a store this big. Even their librar- use in their classes. ies aren’t that big.” Bolduc had opened a co-op book- The store attracts visitors from store on East 17th Avenue in Denver in around Colorado and tourists from 1968, then opened Boulder Book Store across the country and the world. It in 1973 about a half block to the east also holds more than 200 events both of its current location. It moved to its in the store and off site, attracting current, larger spot in the late 1980s. influential authors such as Deepak For awhile, Naropa used the upstairs Chopra, Neil Gaiman, Gloria Steinem as a performing-arts space. and Jon Krakauer. Bolduc remembers the public “We have survived so far by our library in Michigan he used to roam as connections to the community,” a boy. “It had huge, beautiful murals,” Bolduc said. “This community really he said. “I loved the place, going into thinks independent bookstores are the stacks, doing homework in the very important. People constantly basement. There was something come in and tell us that. The vanil- about the institution — I liked the la flavors for everything are kind of whole history about it.” wearing thin on people. People run Bolduc has tried to capture that ideas by us, and we say, ‘Well, we’ll feeling at Boulder Book Store. www.bizwest.com BizWest | Boulder County Business Hall of Fame | 2018 | 3 Boulder Beer: It’s all in From rock to restaurants, a (Gina) Day’s work beat goes on for Greenlee By Dallas Heltzell we were taking a big risk. My parents [email protected] helped us finance the loan.” Gina Day and Diane Greenlee That station at 97.3 FM became Boulder Beer co-owner Diane Boulder Beer Co. KBCO, the legendary pioneer of a new Greenlee has a definite opinion about music format called adult album alter- Gina Day’s role in the success of the native that has been copied around the venerable brewery: nation. Led by Dennis Constantine, “Gina did all the work,” she said, “our air staff created a format,” Green- “and I got half the credit.” lee said. “We sold KBCO in 1989, but to Gina Day knows better. She and hus- this day it never hurts me at all to turn band Frank, along with Bob and Diane on Ginger and hear her beautiful voice.” Greeley, share the kudos for the contin- Divested of KBCO and KADE, the ued success of Boulder Beer, which had Greenlees traveled to London and been founded in 1979 as Colorado’s first roamed through a warehouse full of microbrewery. They acquired Boulder pub fixtures such as back benches and Beer in 1990, and, Gina Day said, “the paneling. Remembering a brewpub nice thing is that we’re still here.” they’d seen in Milwaukee, Bob met with Armed with a bachelor’s degree in Frank Day and asked, “What do you medical technology, Day earned a cer- know about brewpubs?” After check- tification with the American Society of ing out a few in California, the Days Clinical Pathology. During her medical returned to Colorado and said yes, they career, she worked at Boulder Commu- believed they could run one. “Bob said nity Hospital and the Peoples Clinic as Quality Award in Manufacturing from By Dallas Heltzell ‘Good, because I just bought one,’ ” well as Corning Medical Co. the American Society of Quality Con- [email protected] Diane Greenlee recalled. “This whole She entered the hospitality business trol’s Rocky Mountain Chapter. thing started over a handshake.” in 1990 when they opened The Walnut She worked as a beverage consul- Diane Greenlee well remembers her The team gutted the downtown Brewery and she helped develop the tant to Rock Bottom Restaurants and greatest learning experience, which Boulder building that had housed menus and beverage list. Boulder Beer from 2001 to 2010, and turned into her greatest accomplish- Famous Pacific Seafood Co., and Wal- “We opened Walnut Brewery but we acquired Boulder Beer back from Craft- ment. nut Brewery was born in 1990. It’s now were unable to produce enough beer works Restaurants in 2014. She cur- “In 1975 I was young and naïve, Boulder Beer, with a brewpub at 1123 for the restaurant — and we were not rently serves as a consultant and part- getting into a loaner car in west Des Walnut St., and a brewery at 2800 Wil- producing really good beer,” Diane ner with Concept Restaurants, whose Moines with two small children and a derness Place. Greenlee said. “Gina, as a medical tech, holdings include the Hotel Boulderado, beagle and heading for Colorado,” she Diane Greenlee had earned a bach- took on the responsibility to figure out the Walrus and Boulder Beer. said. “But in the next 14 years I learned elor’s degree in telecommunication what was wrong. It was contaminated, In the community, she served on the more, accomplished more, and gained arts from Iowa State University and a and after several months she finally boards for the University of Colorado’s self-confidence.” master’s in Asian art history at the Uni- worked that out.” College of Music, the Boulder Commu- Diane and husband Bob purchased versity of Colorado Boulder. She used Gina Day became active manag- nity Hospital Foundation and United a daytime-only AM radio station in her involvement with the Iowa State ing partner of Boulder Beer in March Bank of Boulder, and as an advocate Boulder — then KADE, now University and CU alumni associations to both 1991 and served as chief executive and for the People’s Clinic’s indigent-care of Colorado-owned KVCU-AM 1190. recruit for the alumni groups and mar- president until 2002. The company facility. “The hardest things I ever did is ket Boulder Beer products. “We were grew rapidly and was ranked 221st on Day enjoys competing with her hors- make sales calls,” she said, “because the introducing our name and our target Inc. magazine’s 1995 list of the nation’s es in the hunter/jumper circuits, fly advertisers didn’t like rock ‘n’ roll. We into a market we knew,” she said. “They 500 fastest-growing private companies. fishing, skiing and bicycling. had to compete against KBOL, which were the perfect demographic.” The honors flowed like craft beer for Boulder Beer has endured, she said, was a typical small-market station The Greenlees started a family foun- Gina Day. In 1994 she was named Ernst despite competition from out-of-state back then where everybody gets their dation in the late 1990s, and Bob served and Young’s Retail/Wholesale/Distri- beers, contract brewers and “the big name on the stations once a month.” 17 years on the Boulder City Council, bution Entrepreneur of the Year in the guys that came in and tried to take over (That station at AM 1490 is now KCFC, including a brief term as mayor. Diane Rocky Mountain region, and the Boul- the Colorado market. Now it’s all the simulcasting Colorado Public Radio Greenlee also has worked with the I der Chamber’s Esprit Entrepreneur little guys and little brewers coming in.