Colorado Space Coalition conference. 2007 BioWest conference. To enlarge photos double click on the pictures.

Thornton Business Development proactively pursues the growth of scientific jobs and companies in the community. To keep abreast of new companies, staff regularly attend conferences, including those in bioscience and space technology. In December, Business Development staff met with professionals in these industries at the Colorado Space Coalition conference and the 2007 BioWest conference.

Colorado is the third-largest space economy in the United States and this industry will continue to grow. Thornton is an excellent location for future space companies, because of the availability of undeveloped land, the proximity to the airport and its location along major transportation corridors. Business Development staff attended the Colorado Space Coalition conference in an effort to connect with future space companies, start-ups and high-tech companies with cutting edge technologies that support aerospace that might be looking for a place to "set up shop." For more information on the Colorado Space Coalition visit www.spacecolorado.org.

At BioWest 2007, the bioscience conference of the Rocky Mountain region, medical device developers, life science and biopharmaceutical business experts congregated in Denver to share ideas on the future of bioscience industry. Business Development staff connected with new biotechnology companies as well as architecture and engineering firms that specialize in developing biotechnology and biopharmaceutical facilities.

Thornton is open to companies from a wide range of scientific, technical and professional sectors that may be on the verge of expanding and needing space to grow their firms.

Several Thornton Businesses Make Book of Lists

The Denver Business Journal recently published their annual "Book of Lists" and several Thornton businesses are featured. The Book of Lists is a compilation of the industries ranked by categories such as revenue, sales volume, gross income, operating budget or number of professional employees. Only the top 10 to 25 companies make the industry lists. This year more than 30 Thornton businesses and centers made the cut.

Some of the standouts include

• AMI Mechanical was the 5th largest mechanical contractors in the state.
• North Suburban Medical Center-HealthONE made it onto three lists: largest, most charitable and amount of patients served. Exempla, a partner in the new Cancer Care Center, was also ranked high on these lists.
• EchoStar took high honors in several categories, including second largest public company by sales and market capitalization, fifth largest by number of employees, and eleventh fastest growing public company. Echostar's second largest call center in the U.S. is located in Thornton's Washington Square Employment Center.
• Adams 12 Five Star Schools kept their rank as 9th in the top Denver-Area Public Sector Employers.
• Pure Cycle ranked in the top 100 public companies.
• Arapahoe House and Community Reach Center excelled in the Human Service Organization category; making the top 20 list.
• Citizens Investment, a holding company of North Valley Bank, was listed in the top 20 Denver-Area Bank Holding Companies.
• North Valley Hospital was ranked 25th in the number of patient admissions.
• Villas at Sunny Acres made the top 10 list of Denver-Area Retirement Communities.
• A Thornton top employer, Elms Haven Care Community held onto its rank number one on the Nursing Home list.
• Thornton is the location of four out of the five largest office buildings in Adams County.
• Pro Chrysler Plymouth Jeep of Thornton ranked 5th in fleet sales.
• Thorncreek Golf Course was listed among the top 25 public golf courses.
• Both Larkridge and Thorncreek Crossing were listed on the list of the top area shopping centers.

More information on the 2007/2008 Denver Business Journal Book of Lists can be found at www.bizjournals.com/denver.

New Business in Thornton

• Family Dentistry Orthodontics opened at 2300 E. 120^th Avenue in Thornton. Dr. Eunice Lee and Dr. Amir Fereydouni accept patients of all ages – even as young as one year old.  For more information contact 303-254-8828.
   
• Horizons Pediatrics has relocated to the Settlers Chase center. Originally across the street, this medical office is now in a new facility to the south of 3 Margaritas. To contact Horizons Pediatrics call 720-929-8300.
   
• The Credit Union of Colorado now has a full-service branch in Thornton to serve its members in the north metro region. The credit union was founded by its original members in 1934 for those employees of the State of Colorado.  Over the last 70 years the bank has expanded its membership criteria and now serves those in various public services. The Vice President of Marketing for Credit Union of Colorado, states that it has more than 50,000 members within a ten minute distance of the newest branch, located at 120th and Colorado Blvd.  www.cuofco.org.

Thornton Business Expo a Success

“Meeting new people and the lunch was great!” “Entire program was excellent.” “The information available was very useful.” These were some of the comments from the more than 200 business owners, developers, and brokers that participated in panel presentations, business resource opportunities, and an awards lunch at the 2008 Thornton Business Expo.

The awards lunch, hosted by Thornton City Council, was a celebration of Thornton businesses. Some of the businesses were honored for setting the pace within the Thornton business community.  

• The brand new Cancer Care Center of Thornton received the Capital Investment Award.

• Firehouse Animal Health received the Community Impact Award for their programs of donating pet medicines and food to the local shelters.

• The Large Business Pacesetter Award went to Urban Farmer, which turns 25 this spring and has come far from starting out of a garage to now more than 390 employees.

• The Small Business Pacesetter Award went to Quality Electric for being consistently strong and involved business in the Thornton community.

• A new award, the Thornton Innovation Award went to SunGard Availability Services, for being a pioneer and leading provider of information availability solutions, and IT disaster recovery services.

Applebee's received special acknowledgement in the form of a Council Proclamation for their commitment to hire and train employees with disabilities. Also, Thornton's top employers were honored. These companies included EchoStar, North Suburban Medical Center, T Mobile, American Furniture Warehouse, Wal-Mart, Ultimate Electronics, Urban Farmer, Qwest Communications, Target, Home Depot, Sears, North Valley Rehabilitation Hospital, King Soopers and Elms Haven Care Center.

A new type of funeral center broke ground in Thornton.  It is also available for weddings and receptions.

“This is the way funeral homes across the nation are going,” says Larry Tabler, owner of The Highline Circle of Life Center. The center, located at 12114 Grant Circle in the Washington Square Employment Center, is not affiliated with any church.  Those wishing to celebrate weddings or celebrate the life of those past can work with one facility. The center welcomes the involvement in the celebration of all Circle of Life events. 

The Highline Circle of Life Center broke ground on January 15.