NEWS Plans moving along for new interchange Costs increase after Crossroads Blvd., I-25 New rules for home roundabout redesign builders Page 2 $ 1 June 8-21, 2007 HB-1338 could Vol. 12, No. 19 increase costs www.ncbr.com for new homes Page 24 New health care demand in region Occupational medicine More prospects knock on NoCo’s door clinics adding services to meet competition Page 3 from prospective employers shop- dent Larry that the region is more prominently Visits, referrals ping for expansion or relocation Burkhardt said. on the site-selection map than ever space. “Just in the past before. up as eco-devo At the same time, officials at six weeks we’ve Through April, the agency host- Upstate Colorado Economic Devel- had seven of ed 10 visitations from company del- groups get busier opment, based in Greeley, and Love- them, and at least egations or consultants representing land-based Northern Colorado three of those are prospective employers. By Tom Hacker Economic Development Corp. say companies that “We’re already at 75 percent of [email protected] they are working more cooperative- have come back last year’s total,” NCEDC Vice Pres- Community colleges ly than ever before. for repeat visits.” BURKHARDT ident Jacob Castillo said. “We’re get- feel funding pinch Northern Colorado’s two main “An office of this size will typi- While the ting more qualified interest, late- Sen. Bob Bacon upset economic development agencies are cally process 10 to 12 site visits in numbers recorded at NCEDC are stage interest, from these compa- by lack of attention and both reporting soaring interest the course of a year,” Upstate Presi- not quite as dramatic, they do show See SITE VISITS, 37 funds CO colleges receive Page 3 Company missing 4M pounds of beans Health care Department of Ag. ‘Green’‘Green’ grocergrocer mergermerger stillstill onon investigating Western Grain International Inc. Page 4 plans aim 70 THE EDGE 60 to deflect 50 40 future crisis Whole Foods Market Announced Merger Proposal from Getting your 20 Feb. 21, 2007 business loan local experts one Things to be aware of MARKET DRIVEN — The Whole 18 when getting a loan, Foods Markets location that of four considered maintaining good credit opened in Fort Collins in 2004 Millions quickly grabbed a big share of the 16 By Steve Porter Page 7 market held by rival Wild Oats Mar- [email protected] kets. When the two announced Wild Oats Markets merger plans on Feb. 21, Wild Oats’ 14 LISTS (Nasdaq: OATS) share price spiked, FORT COLLINS — A proposal Region’s largest while Whole Foods (Nasdaq: WFMI) July 2006 Sept 2006 Nov 2006 Jan 2007 Mar 2007 May 2007 that included authors from North- has been more volatile. ern Colorado is one of four culled from a list of more than two dozen Engineering firms SOURCE: YAHOOFINANCE.COM Photo by Tom Hacker, Northern Colorado Business Report Page 21 aimed at helping state legislators Analysts say the FTC is working find a better way General Whole Foods, Wild Oats stranded at to determine whether the natural- to address an contractors and-organic retail food sector, in impending health- Page 22 altar while FTC ponders marriage which Whole Foods and Wild Oats care crisis. are the two biggest players, is a sep- “I think the Agricultural By Tom Hacker Whole Foods (Nasdaq: WFMI) arate sector from the larger retail- group that worked equipment dealers [email protected] announced its intention to buy food industry, a half-trillion-dollar on this realized Page 29 Wild Oats (Nasdaq: OATS) for $565 industry dominated by such chains from our own BOULDER — A consensus of million in late February, capturing as Safeway Inc., Albertsons and The experience that food retail experts, including com- the attention of the entire con- Kroger Co. there’s this grow- PLOCK pany executives and industry ana- sumer-products industry nation- Among the most careful ing group of peo- lysts, say the proposed merger of wide. But it also triggered an exam- observers of the merger proposal is ple in the middle who can’t afford Whole Foods Markets and Wild ination by the Federal Trade Com- Michael Gilliland, who co-founded insurance now and it could grow to Oats Markets is inevitable, despite a mission, an agency that has since Wild Oats in the late 1980s and is all of us, which is intolerable,” said continuing series of stalls that have then scrutinized the deal under the now CEO of Sunflower Farmers Carol Plock, executive director of the led others to speculate the deal is on provisions of a federal act designed Markets, an 11-store chain of natur- Health District of Northern Larimer ice. to ensure healthy competition. See MERGER, 35 See HEALTH, 34 2 The Northern Colorado Business Report June 8-21, 2007 Crossroads interchange project moving ahead Regional support needed to cover $4.7 million cost By Steve Porter [email protected] LOVELAND — Designers of a new interchange at Interstate 25 and Crossroads Boulevard just south of The Ranch are clos- ing in a final version that would set the stage for construction to begin this fall and head off a potentially dangerous traffic mess. “We’re about halfway through the design process and the hope is that we can get that done by August and then out to bid, start construction in the early fall and be com- plete by the summer of ’08,” said Dave Klockeman, engineer for the city of Love- land. “It’s quicker than normal because we’re not actually doing any work on I-25.” Last year, officials connected with the project said they hoped it would cost less than $3 million and be finished by the end of 2007. But changes in the interchange’s roundabout design have bumped its esti- mated cost up to $4.7 million and comple- tion date back by nearly a year. Still, Klockeman said the project is mov- ing along on a reasonably fast track when compared to waiting for Colorado Depart- ment of Transportation funding and con- struction, which would cost at least $20 Michael D. Wailes, Northern Colorado Business Report million for a full interchange redesign and GETTING CRAMPED — Traffic on Crossroads Boulevard west of I-25 heads toward a cramped interchange that will have roundabouts and other improvements added as an unknown number of years of planning. part of a $4.7 million project set to begin later this year. See CROSSROADS, 26 REGIONAL LOCATIONS AT Southeast corner of I-25 & US 34 RETAIL • OFFICE • LIGHT INDUSTRIAL www.chrislandinc.com Nicholas M Christensen, J.D. Ryan J. Schaefer 970-663-3150 x 3 970-663-3150 x 4 June 8-21, 2007 The Northern Colorado Business Report 3 THE Ice Energy seals $25 million funding deal Goldman Sachs the source of the funding, rather than the EYE amount, that would mean the most to the com- Ice Energy Inc. pany’s future. leads investment “While $25 million sounds like a lot of money, it really provides us with access to the Founded: 2003 partnership group next level, the next step in attracting more,” Management: Frank Ramirez, CEO New handle for Ramirez said. “All money spends the same, but Headquarters: Windsor By Tom Hacker it’s great for a company like ours to attract the Product/Service: Manuf actures Ice Bear efficient old heat source: [email protected] sponsorship and global reach of someone like energy storage air conditioners Goldman Sachs. They are large participants Employees: 40 woody biomass WINDSOR — Ice Energy Inc., with a grow- with a lot of credibility in the renewable energy Web: www.ice-energy.com ing presence in Northern Colorado’s clean and sphere. The leverage that they provide is sub- renewable energy sector, has taken a substantial stantial.” The Eye tips the hat leap forward with $25 million in new funding. Ice’s core technology is the Ice Bear, an air SOURCE: BUSINESS REPORT RESEARCH this week to the Colorado A partnership led by investment banking conditioning unit that cuts peak daytime energy use by freezing water during nighttime hours, State Forest Service and powerhouse Goldman Sachs includes special- time, installation of the Ice Bear boxes cuts car- when energy is cheapest. Ramirez says the the Governor’s Energy ized renewable energy venture capital company bon dioxide emissions by 40 percent. deployment of the Ice Bear to replace tradition- Office f or its innovative Good Energies and Seattle-based venture fund It’s partly the utter simplicity of the technol- group Second Avenue Partners. al refrigerant cooling systems can cut a user’s packaging of a two-day See ICE ENERGY, 32 conference in Fort Ice Energy CEO Frank Ramirez said it was peak-time demand by 95 percent. At the same Collins. The June 4-5 event at F OCUS the Fort Collins Marriott Community brought together forestry and energy experts “to provide the latest infor- colleges feel mation about heating with woody biomass.” The Woody Biomass Facility Heating Confer- inadequate ence, according to the state forest service press release, “was specifically developed for public facil- funding pinch ity managers and mainte- nance staff, city and coun- ty administrators, fuels Education Summit to reduction and wood products businesses, ener- discuss state school gy consultants and equip- ment manufacturers, pub- needs and prospects lic forest managers and private landowners, and renewable energy advo- By Steve Porter cates and policymakers.” Michael D. Wailes, Northern Colorado Business Report [email protected] On hand for the event were Tim Reader, “utiliza- MORE CLINICS — Dr. Brian Mathwich, physician at Workwell Occupational Clinic in Loveland, demonstrates occupational FORT COLLINS — Bob Bacon is frustrated.