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Business Spotlight

Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado

The Hotel Denver has named Scott D. Olpin as general manager of the 72-room historic hotel. Olpin has served as the operations manager at the hotel since 2009 and has more than 10 years experience as a general manager at properties in Aspen and on the island of Kauai.Olpin brings his diverse background in hotel management to the historic Hotel Denver to continue the hotel’s mission to preserve an integral part of Glenwood Springs’ history. Throughout the years, The Hotel Denver has preserved its grand appearance while becoming an elegant, modern hotel that offers unique rooms decorated with turn-of-the-century antiques. “We strive to give our guests an exceptional experience, and I’m looking forward to leading our team of professionals who dedicate themselves to making that happen,” said Olpin. The Hotel Denver is half way between Aspen and the Vail Valley and is walking distance to the Hot Springs Pool as well as great restaurants and shopping in downtown Glenwood Springs. The Hotel Denver is also home to the award-winning Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co., a nonsmoking restaurant and brewery, open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Visit us at http://www.thehoteldenver.com for more information.

The 2010 Locals Choice Best Travel Agent, Sunshine Travel, would like to welcome Laurie Sweeney, formerly of Glenwood Travel King and Springs Travel, to our office located at 2022 Grand Ave.Call Laurie at 945-4786 Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunshine Travel now has more than 50 years experience in the travel industry.Laurie and Jacque are looking forward to helping you book all your travel needs.

Stifel Financial Corp., a full-service brokerage and investment banking firm, is pleased to announce the completion of the merger with Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc. The merger furthers Stifel’s mission of building the premier middle-market investment bank with significantly enhanced investment banking, research, and wealth management capabilities. “This transaction continues our commitment to balanced growth by expanding our investment banking platform in key sectors of the global economy. The integration planning process has gone extremely well, and we now look forward to executing our plan with an enhanced platform that is well-positioned to compete in our core competencies and expand into others. Our clients will experience an expanded set of product offerings across broader industry groups, and we expect our combined results will continue to drive value for our shareholders,” stated Ronald J. Kruszewski, chairman, president, and CEO of Stifel Financial Corp. “We believe this transaction is accretive to book value, to earnings per share, and to our growth rate.” With very little overlap in investment banking and research, the combination is additive to the existing platform in a number of ways. The investment banking team consists of more than 250 talented associates providing debt, equity and equity-linked offerings, private placements, and strategic advisory services. In research, the combination creates one of the largest U.S. equity research platforms, with more than 1,000 companies under coverage. The combination also expands Stifel’s institutional equity business both domestically and internationally. This announcement follows shareholder approval of the transaction at the 2010 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc. and receipt of all required regulatory approvals. Each Thomas Weisel Partners shareholder will receive 0.1364 shares of Stifel common stock for each common share of Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc. The combined company will continue to operate under the Stifel Financial Corp. name and trade on the NYSE under the symbol “SF.” The investment banking platform of Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. will operate under the Stifel Nicolaus Weisel name. Thomas Weisel Partners’ common shares have ceased trading on NASDAQ. Stifel Financial Corp. will remain headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., with significant presence in Baltimore, New York, San Francisco and Toronto.



A new hot dog store has opened in Glenwood Springs in the Meadows Shopping area. Sunny Jim’s Gourmet Hot Dogs and Ice Cream opened in the space formerly occupied by Marble Slab Ice Creamery next to the Target store.The origins of the business was a love of hot dogs but a fear of the unknown. “You can’t beat a good dog, but sometimes you wonder what goes into them,” said co-owner David Mentz. Our starting point was to use only the very best quality ingredients in all our dogs. Our sausages are made in Colorado using only chopped prime cuts of meat and natural herbs and spices.”From there chef and general manager Tudie Calderon took over. “I wanted to offer pure versions of classic combinations such as a Coney and Chicago style, but also some more exotic creations. We’ve had a big reaction to our Sonoran Epic, a quarter pound buffalo brat with a topping that includes bacon, pinto bean, jalapeo and cheese. “To call the ‘Epic’ just a hot dog is a bit like calling a Porsche just a car!” Other speciality sausage hot dogs on the menu include wild boar and elk.The all-natural philosophy doesn’t just apply to the hot dogs. In addition to the nitrate free sausages, the buns are preservative free and the ice cream contains no high fructose corn syrup. “It’s all part of our motto: “There’s no funny guff in Sunny’s stuff,” explained Calderon. The only thing that’s artificial, claims Calderon, is the traditional fluoro green relish on their Chicago style dog. “It’s pretty hard to replicate that naturally, and I couldn’t leave it out,” laughed Calderon. “People get pretty passionate about their hot dogs.”

Garfield County real estate activity has continued over the past few months to show an increase in activity over 2009. With transactions totaling 252 through May in 2010, activity is up 24 percent over the same time frame in 2009. Glenwood Springs is far and away the county leader for activity thus far in the year with a reported 61 transactions. Carbondale is next with 48, Rifle 40, New Castle 37, and Battlement Mesa 25. Silt and Parachute round out the activity in the county with 23 and 15, respectively. The remaining three transactions were quit claim deeds with document fees. Included in the transaction total of 252 are 34 sales that listed a bank as the grantor (bank owned property). These sales represent 13.5 percent of the total transaction volume in Garfield County through May. Of these sales, nine have been in New Castle, eight in Glenwood Springs, six in Rifle, four in Battlement Mesa, three each in Carbondale and Parachute, and one in Silt.



New Castle Family Fitness is hosting certification workshops in the upcoming months. A level 2 YogaFit certification workshop will take place July 16-18; an AFAA Personal Training workshop will take place Aug. 13-15; and a Ripcorefx workshop will be on Aug. 14.New Castle Family Fitness chiropractor Dr. David Vukelich D.C. will be hosting spinal screenings throughout the fall. Call Dr. V. for workshop times at 366-8402.Call 984-3200 for further information.

During this time of economic challenges, it’s more important than ever to promote your business. That’s why the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association and the Hotel Colorado are inviting local businesses to get the word out about their products and services at the Biz-Opoly Business Trade Fair on Friday, Sept. 17, from 4-7 p.m. at the Hotel Colorado. Single and double booth spaces are available and include a banquet table and cloth; a mailing list of all attendees and exhibitors; website listing; and, best of all, great exposure for your business.This fun event attracts hundreds of people, featuring complimentary beer, wine and food from area restaurants, professional networking and the chance to win great prizes. Visit glenwoodchamber.com/biz-opoly or call (970) 945-6589 to reserve your booth space by July 30 to take advantage of the early bird discount.

The first prize drawing for Glenwood’s 125th Anniversary Restaurant and Retail Promotion was held on July 2. Congratulations to Angela Samples, Mandy Gauldin, Donni Cochran, Pat Humphry and Cierra Austin for winning the first round of prizes. Visit glenwoodchamber. com/125th-anniversary to see the winning prizes. Prize drawings will be held periodically throughout the promotion that lasts through Sept. 6. More than 30 Glenwood Springs businesses are participating in Glenwood’s 125th Anniversary Restaurant and Retail Promotion through Sept. 6. The goal of the promotion is to attract visitors and locals into Glenwood Springs establishments. For every $125 spent at any combination of participating businesses, consumers are eligible to enter into periodic drawings where they can win fantastic prizes donated by the participating businesses. Consumers can pick up a punch card at any of the following participating businesses: 19th Street Diner, 20/20 EyeCare Inc., la carte, Arcella’s Retreat, Beau Jo’s Buffalo Valley Sports Bar, Big O Tires, Book Grove, Book Train, Charcoalburger Drive-In, Confetti Design, Doc Hollidays Tavern, Drs. Heim & Johnson, Fine Things Jewelry and Collectibles, Flower Mart, Gallery 809, Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co., Good Health Downtown Market & Deli, Grand Avenue Liquors, High Country Gems and Minerals, Juicy Lucy’s Steakhouse, Last Chance Retail Outlet, Luxe Boutique LLC, Peppino’s Pizza, Quizno’s, Real Deals on Home Dcor, Red Mountain Wine and Spirits, Riviera Restaurant, Roaring Fork Liquors, Sopris Lighting, Springs Downtown Bar and Grille, Summit Canyon Mountaineering, Taipei Tokyo, Through the Looking Glass, Treadz and Village Inn.


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