The BizWest Podcast: Recent Episodes
BizWest Media
The BizWest podcast is a weekly rundown to keep you informed on the trends and news driving business in Northern Colorado and the Boulder Valley. We feature thought-provoking insights and best practices from business and community leaders.
BizWest publisher Christopher Wood sat down in June during A Day in the Life of Downtown Greeley to chat with Richmark Holdings principal Logan Richardson, Greeley Downtown Development Authority Bianca Fisher
and Centennial Hospitality Group Brian Seifried about the evolutions of of Greeley's central business, residential, entertainment culinary, cultural and vibrancy hub. This podcast was recorded in the studios of Greeley's new LINC: Library Innovation Center.
KUNC CEO Neil Best reflects on how he's watched Northern Colorado change over the past half-century from his perch as a program director, news director and CEO of the public radio station.
Lucas High chats with Quicksilver Scientific founder and CEO Dr. Christopher Shade on how the company is trying to develop ways to put CBD into food and beverages in novel ways.
BizWest editor Chris Wood talks with Sunrise Strategic Partners CEO Steve Hughes about what he thinks will generate the growth of natural and organic companies that he might invest in the near future.
When your restaurant chain prides itself on its cannabis-themed interiors, how does it stay relevant during the pandemic when to-go is the dominant way people eat? Lucas High chats with Cheba Hut vice president of marketing Brian Loeb about how the Fort Collins chain is getting customers to play mobile games at home for pinners.
In January, the Lafayette City Council approved a deal to offer a delay in fee payments by a local developer who agreed to rename a new apartment building downtown after initially naming it after the city's founder Mary Miller. That came after months of petitioning from local residents who were against indirectly honoring Mary Miller's grandsons, who participated in the Ku Klux Klan's period of dominance in the city in the early 20th century.
Doug Connaroe, a Lafayette resident, historian and former newspaper publisher, talks about why he helped draft the petition to rename the Miller and what private businesses owe in the renewed effort across the country to remove honors from those who supported racism in American life.
In this week's episode, Lucas High talks with Eric Pierce of New Hope Network about Boulder's natural and organics industry as it looks forward to promoting health after one of the most unhealthy years in human history.
We're shifting our schedule for dropping new episodes of the podcast. Starting next week, we'll be dropping new interviews and insights every other Tuesday.
On this week's episode, Neat Capital Inc. CEO Luke Johnson describes how financial technology startups that eschew in-person meetings got hot during the pandemic, and how they can permanently alter how we buy homes in a post-pandemic world.
BizWest editor Chris Wood talks with Jessica Erickson of the Longmont Economic Development Partnership about the group's new strategy to build an inclusive local economy , and Dan Mika speaks with Ramble on Pearl CEO Andy Mindenabout how the pandemic has hurt the clothing store and other local retailers that didn't get the benefit of being declared essential businesses.
Dan Mika, Lucas High and Chris Wood take some time to talk about the highlights and the (frankly a lot of) lowlights of 2020 and what they're watching in the Northern Colorado and Boulder area business scene as the world prepares to emerge from the pandemic.
We're taking a break from the podcast this week, so in lieu of a full episode, we have a brief message from all of us here at BizWest Media.
In this week's episode, Dan Mika speaks with Susan Kirkpatrick on how small retailers in the region have fared in this strange holiday shopping season, and Dan Mika and Chris Wood discuss Lightning eMotors' plans to go public and eventually pull in billions in revenue by 2025.
This podcast is supported by Pinnacol Workers’ Comp.
Dan Mika and Lucas High talk about the worrisome predictions CU Boulder's Leeds School of Business has for Colorado's economic recovery in 2021, and Lucas speaks with JumpCloud CTO Greg Keller on the Louisville software company's plan to hire 500 people in the coming years.
This podcast is supported by Pinnacol Workers’ Comp.
This week, Dan Mika speaks with Colorado School of Public Health professor Glen Mays about how the fight between COVID-19 restrictions and the survival of small businesses reached a boiling point, and Chris Wood speaks with Mark Retzloff on where Boulder's longtime organic foods industry stands after months of the pandemic.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Pinnacol Workers’ Comp, Chartered Technologyand FMS Bank.
We're taking the week off from the BizWest Podcast this week in observance of Thanksgiving. From all of us at BizWest, please have a safe long weekend by staying at home and avoiding gatherings, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
In this week's episode, we have a recap of BizWest's 2020 Boulder Valley RE/Con. National Association of Realtors senior economist Lawrence Yun tells us why the winter may be one of the hottest seasons for homebuying in memory, while Lynda Gibbons and Gregory Glass from commercial brokerage Gibbons White breaks down a COVID-strained office and retail market.
BizWest editor and publisher Christopher Wood and reporter Lucas High preview what's in store for next week's BizWest Boulder Valley Real Estate Conference and discuss the breaking news of State Farm vacating its Greeley offices to allow employees to permanently work from home.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Chartered Technology, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
We don't have those election results, but we do have a recap of the ballot measures that matter most to Northern Colorado and the Boulder Valley with executive editor Chris Wood, managing editor Ken Amundson and reporter Lucas High.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Chartered Technology, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
This week, we bring you selected conversations from last week's Confluence, BizWest's symposium on how water impacts Northern Colorado’s present and future.
USDA biogeochemist Chuck Rhoades tells us how Colorado’s record-setting fire season this year could change how local watersheds could behave for years to come, while a group of public health and utilities experts talk about how useful wastewater is as a tool for tracking the virus' spread across the region.
Greeley Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Jaime Henning joins the podcast to reflect on her first year at the chamber's helm and managing COVID's economic effects, and Larimer Small Business Development Center director Mike O'Connell comes on to talk about the state of the Paycheck Protection Program in Northern Colorado.
Chris Wood and Lucas High recap the week's chats at the Boulder Economic Summit, and Chris Wood returns for a conversation with East Colorado SBDC director Lisa Hudson on how the pandemic is affecting the state's eastern front.
Dan Mika and Lucas High discuss Medtronic's decision to abandon building its new campus at Louisville's 400-acre Redtail Ridge plot, and Dan speaks with Amy Prieto and Mike Rosenberg about Prieto Battery Inc.'s deal to develop batteries for all-electric pickups and SUVs.
In this week's episode, Dan Mika chats with Fort Collins Area Chamber CEO David May, who will retire at the end of the year after 17 years with the group. Meanwhile, Lucas High chats with CU Boulder professor Danny Dig about the university's new center focusing on the Internet of Things.
In this week's episode, Lucas High speaks with Deepank Utkhede from Vantage Hemp in Weld County about the area's increasing interest from the hemp industry, and about a recent visit from actor Laurence Fishburne.
In this week’s podcast, Dan Mika speaks with CSU economics professor Zachary Schaller on how the rules governing workplace safety penalties led to JBS being fined $16,000 after counting 300 COVID infections and six deaths in the Greeley plant, while BizWest editor Chris Wood speaks with former Greeley assistant city manager Becky Safarik on her 42-year career in the city's economic development scene.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Chartered Technology, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week's podcast, Dan Mika speaks with Brad Udall, a climate and water researcher at CSU and a co-author of the National Climate Assessment, about how the recent rapid growth of the Cameron Peak fire is a sign of future threats from climate change.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Chartered Technology, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week’s episode, Dan Mika and BizWest editor Chris Wood run down the newly-released BizWest 500 list of fastest growing firms in the region, and Dan talks with Jerry Kominski from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health on how COVID may actually keep health insurance premiums down next year.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Chartered Technology, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week’s episode, Dan Mika speaks with Molly Armbrister of CBRE Denver on just how much office space tech is taking up in Boulder, while Chris Wood speaks with Ray Caraway as he prepares to end a 17-year career as head of the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Chartered Technology, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week’s episode, Lucas High speaks with Sarah Woodson of the Denver-based non-profit Color of Cannabis about its efforts at the crossroads of criminal justice reform and the marijuana industry, and Dan Mika and Lucas talk about the CU-Leeds School of Business’ newest estimate that more than 120,000 jobs will be permanently gone in Colorado by the end of the year.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Chartered Technology, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week's episode, Chris Wood chats with Boulder Chamber CEO John Tayerabout the Chamber's plan to help businesses recover from the COVID pandemic, while Dan Mika and Lucas High chat about the recent citizen pushbacks against mega-developments like Redtail Ridge, Montava and the Hughes Stadium rezoning.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Chartered Technology, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week's podcast, Lucas High and Dan Mika chat about how the wave of department store and retail closures are shaping some of the area's most prominent destinations, and Dan speaks with Annett James of the NAACP of Boulder County about its new corporate sponsorship program.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Chartered Technology, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
On this week's episode, Dan Mika speaks with Housing Colorado executive director Elena Wilken on how the expiry of a $600 additional unemployment benefit and federal eviction moratorium could disrupt Coloradans' lives during COVID, and Lucas High explains the tentative settlement to end the decade-long municipal utility battle between Boulder and Xcel Energy.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Pinnacol Workers’ Comp, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
This week, Dan Mika and Ken Amundson chat about Aurora's plans to buy $28 million in water rights located in Windsor, and Dan Mika talks with Asa Firestone of A-Lodge Boulder and Lyons about how COVID-19 is hitting the independent and boutique hotel sector.
Sponsors for this podcast include: Pinnacol Workers’ Comp, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week's episode, we recount the death of local CRE developer Allen Ginsborg and relive parts of BizWest's Life Interrupted series that spoke to the immense mental health pressures employees and bosses face in this current time. Later, Lucas High chats with Morgan Smith about next week's Longmont Startup Week going all online. (NOTE: here's the link we mention at the end: https://www.longmontstartupweek.co/)
Sponsors for this podcast include: Pinnacol Workers' Comp, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week's episode, Dan Mika and Lucas High talk about Monday's dump of Paycheck Protection Program data and what it says about NoCo and Boulder Valley businesses, and Lucas chats with Nicole & Gerry Wienholt of Boulder's YogaPod Studio talk about their pivot to online classes in the midst of the COVID pandemic.
Make sure you never miss a new episode by subscribing on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week's episode, CSU's Martin Shields and CU-Boulder's Rich Wobbekind return to the podcast 90 days after the first episode launched to talk about how they see the last quarter's economy wrangle with COVID-19. Chris Wood speaks with Clif Harald, who just left as head of the Boulder Economic Council after 9 years.
Make sure you never miss a new episode by subscribing on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
This week, we revisit our conversation on housing affordability at the BizWest Northern Colorado Real Estate Summit.
Make sure you never miss a new episode by subscribing on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
This week, Lucas High chats with Lindsey Rohde of Galvanize Boulder about how co-working spaces are preparing for the socially-distanced offices of the future, and we bring you a portion of our conversation on the intersection of water security and real estate development from our Northern Colorado Real Estate Summit earlier this week.
Make sure you never miss a new episode by subscribing on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
This week, Chris talks with Kimberlee McKee of the Longmont Downtown Development Authority talks about how Longmont's Main Street district is surviving in a part-time social isolation world, while Dan Mika talks with the Colorado Health Institute's Emily Johnson on how the estimated about 560,000 Coloradans expected to enroll in Medicaid by the end of the year will affect the entire healthcare continuum.
Make sure you never miss a new episode by subscribing on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
Dan Mika chats with Nick Calloway and Jason Brill from Loveland Aleworks about the challenges of running a brewery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
On this week's episode, Lucas High talks with Lauren Hansen of multiple listing service IRES talks about the possibility of a post-COVID resurgence in residential real estate, while Chris Wood looks into the crystal ball at how the pandemic will permanently alter the world with futurist Tom Frey.
Make sure you never miss a new episode by subscribing on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
Ken Amundson speaks with Indigo Education Co. CEO Sheri Smith on how workers can aim for career changes in the post-COVID labor market, while Dan Mika chats with SimplyHR partner Tina Todd on how to navigate labor laws as Colorado begins to reopen non-essential businesses.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
Lucas High speaks with Frascas owner Bobby Stuckey about how the Boulder restaurant is up for one of the most prestigious culinary awards in the world while being shut down due to COVID-19, while Chris Wood speaks with the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau's Maryann Mahoney about how hotels are handling a world where leisure travel is on no one's mind.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
Chris Wood speaks with Yvonne Myyers of Columbine Health Systems about how the group of senior living homes is handling the COVID-19 crisis while caring for the most vulnerable populations, while Dan Mika speaks with Megan Bentof Harbinger Ventures, on the progress toward gender equity in the venture capital world and how COVID-19 could upend that.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week’s episode, Dan Mika talks with the Colorado Cattlemen Association's Terry Fankhauser on how COVID is shaking up the beef market, while Lucas High chats with Bob Pinkerton on how a Broomfield startup is keeping their company band together via Zoom.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week’s episode, Dan Mika talks with Colorado School of Mines professor Will Flickenstein on this week's historic collapse in oil prices, while Lucas High chats with Laura Frankon state news organizations teaming up to tell the story of dozens of Coloradans getting through a day during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week’s episode, Chris Wood talks with Foundry Group managing director Seth Levine on how COVID-19 is hitting startups in Colorado, while Dan Mika speaks with Hosea Rosenberg, executive chef and owner of Blackbelly and Santo restaurants in Boulder, on the intense challenges the restaurant industry faces.
Sponsors for this podcast include: First American Exchange Company, DaVinci Sign Systems and FMS Bank.
In this week's episode, Dan Mika talks with executive coach and former psychotherapist Craig Revord on how to handle the mental stress of managing a business in the middle of a pandemic, while Lucas High chats with Nicholas Meyerson, CEO of Darwin Biosciences and winner of the University of Colorado New Venture Challenge pitch slam.
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Find Lucas on Twitter: @LucasHigh
The BizWest Podcast launches with discussions with CU-Boulder economics professor Richard Wobbekind and Colorado State University economics professor Martin Shields talking about the unprecedented national and statewide challenges created by COVID-19.
Subscribe to BizWest today for all our coverage of business and economic news in Northern Colorado and the Boulder Valley.