Maria Martin //February 1, 2014//
Look through the list of names that make up the Colorado Business Hall of Fame laureates, and it’s hard to miss the big picture.
No history book could better illustrate the history of the Centennial State. The stories of the 136 honored over the past 25 years give readers a glimpse of the grit, creativity and generosity of the men and women who help shape Colorado’s business community.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement- Rocky Mountain Inc., co-sponsors of the event, award only those who have truly changed our state for the better, says Robin Wise, CEO of Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain.
“When you look across the landscape of Colorado, there isn’t much that you can lay your eyes on that hasn’t been in some way impacted by this group of laureates,” Wise says.
“Look at agriculture, and the laureates who have something to do with getting water to the plains, and look at the ski industry and what has come out of that.”
William Philpott isn’t surprised that names like Felipe Baca, Walter Cheesman and John Iliff dominated the early years of Hall of Fame awards.
“Most people don’t realize that the Gold Rush, which brought people to Denver in 1858, was something of a bust,” says Philpott, associate professor of history at the University of Denver. “Half of the people who came to Denver left, but when gold was found in places like Central City, Denver became a supply center for the area.”
And while mining drew people here, agriculture – a way to feed those people – became a thriving business, as did the necessity and desire to scatter those people through the city, and provide them with everything from banking to shopping.
Baca, a rancher who helped found Trinidad; Cheesman, whose enthusiasm for business helped him move the railroad through Denver and improve the city’s water system; and Iliff, a cattle rancher and namesake of a theology school, helped turn Denver into a blossoming city.
Look at names like laureate Peter Seibert, founder of Vail Ski Resort, to see the tipping point, when tourism began to boom in the state. Engineering feats – such as the Eisenhower Tunnel, completed in 1979 – transformed travel in the High Country.
“By 1980, you can drive through the mountains,” said Philpott, author of “Vacationland: Tourism and Environment in the Colorado High Country.”
“This shift – this growing sense that tourism could become the major industry for some parts of the state – started after World War II.”
Tourism did more than simply draw people fleetingly to the state, he says. It helped paint the picture of Colorado with vivid hues. Real estate mavens, bankers, college deans spread the word.
“They all pointed to the natural beauty and the whole idea of quality of life became important,” Philpott said.
It was more than simply the ski resorts cashing in on the tourist trade – which is now, by most estimates, the state’s second-largest industry.
Laureates like the Gart brothers and David and Renie Gorsuch tapped into the markets of winter sports apparel and equipment.
As youth were drawn to the state, aerospace companies and other high-tech companies recognized the market was a gold mine, and big businesses made Colorado their anchor.
Laureates like Ron Montoya reflect the growth of the technology industry in the state. But look to his background to see that in addition to business savvy, Hall of Fame laureates share a common love for Colorado and a determination to give back.
“I’ve been involved in every community and every board because I feel like the greatest reward is making an impact in the nonprofit world,” says Montoya, owner of Innov8 Solutions, a supplier of telecommunication and electrical products.
“The feeling I get from serving the community far outweighs making a few bucks.”
Wise notes that altruistic spirit has been essential to the panel of individuals with the challenging task of choosing Hall of Fame recipients. The name “Buell” carries a lot of weight to those in the state who love the theater, thanks to laureate Temple Buell, the late architect of some of Denver’s most notable structures.
“Look at the schools and the hospitals and the foundations and scholarship that these men and women have built,” Wise says. “It’s not only their risk-taking, innovation and vision, but their desire to be philanthropic.”
That aspiration might seem unusual, Philpott says, given that many individuals currently in the state are relatively new to Colorado.
“But this is a place that people immediately take pride in,” Philpott says. “It’s a wonderful place to live, and they want to give back.”
Jake Jabs, president and CEO of American Furniture Warehouse, is an example of a laureate who moved to Colorado, fell in love with his new surroundings and opted to give back.
“I’m a farm kid from Montana who started with nothing,” said Jabs. “Colorado has been good to me.”
The Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Denver taps into one of the state’s greatest potentials, he says.
{pagebreak}
“We need more entrepreneurs from all walks of life,” he says. “All college students should take a class in business. They should learn you have to take risks, and you have to have passion for what you do.”
Jabs says he was surprised to be named a Hall of Fame award recipient in 2012.
“I didn’t get into business for the money and I’m not a social butterfly,” he says, then laughs. “I had to dust off my tuxedo before the banquet.”
But the honor meant the world to him, he recalls.
Montoya reflects the same sentiment.
“I’m relishing it,” he says. “I have some customers who now say, ‘I never realized that we were working with someone so well respected in the business community.’ It has become part of me, and I’m humbled by it.”
Future laureates will continue to represent the grit of the pioneers who built the state, says Wise, adding that the list will soon include more women and minorities, as they continue to make strides in all aspects of Colorado’s marketplace.
“This next generation thinks globally, and they are color blind – not judgmental when it comes to race, religion or anything else,” she says.
“I look at our laureates and I ask the question: ‘What’s the rest of the story?’ To our young people I ask, ‘How will you build upon the legacy of the great laureates who came before you?’”
WHAT:
The 25th Anniversary
Business Hall of Fame
Where:
Hyatt Regency Denver
at the Convention Center
When:
Jan. 30, 2014
The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a VIP reception, followed by a general reception at 6 p.m.
The program begins at 7 p.m., and dinner will be served at 8 p.m.
Ticket information and details: Coloradobusinesshalloffame.org
ARTHUR BROOKS, CHAMPION OF FREE ENTERPRISE, SLATED TO SPEAK
A 25th anniversary is a great time to reminisce. With that in mind, this year, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement have decided to bring the legendary contributions of past laureates to life in a memorable production.
Robin Wise, CEO of Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain, promises the evening will be enlightening and entertaining.
Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, will speak at the event. Brooks, the author of numerous books and articles on economics, was a professor of business and government policy at Syracuse University before he started at AEI. Throughout his varied career, he has worked as a professional musician, a music teacher, and a professor of everything from economics to nonprofit management.
In 2008, he left academia to join the AEI, and since has worked with the organization’s scholars and staff to fight for better policy. He speaks around the word about the free enterprise movement.
// LAUREATE HISTORY: 1990-2013 //
1990
Clifford E. Baldridge
Claude K. Boettcher
Adolph Coors
Charles Cassius Gates
Carl A. Norgren
General William Jackson Palmer
1991
Benjamin Harrison Eaton
John Evans
William D. Farr
Spencer Penrose
Jesse Shwayder
1992
Barney Ford
Lloyd King
Otto Mears
David H. Moffat
Churchhill Owen
1993
D.R.C. (Darcy) Brown, Jr.
William N. Byers
Roger D. Knight, Jr.
Henry M. Porter
Frank H. Ricketson, Jr.
1994
C.K. (Chet) Enstrom
Cecil J. Hernandez
Elrey B. Jeppesen
Nicholas R. Petry
Anna C. Petteys
1995
Helen Bonfils
Arthur E. Johnson
Bob Johnston
Ken Monfort
Aksel Nielsen
1996
Eugene H. Adams
William K. Coors
Bill Daniels
Emily Griffith
W. Clarence Kurtz
1997
Philip F. Anschutz
Elwood M. Brooks
Dana H. Crawford
Daniel L. Ritchie
William Thayer Tutt
1998
Felipe Baca
Walter S. Cheesman
George E. Cranmer
Charles C. Gates, Jr.
Frank S. Hoag, Sr.
Mary Elitch Long
John A. Love
Robert T. Person, Sr.
1999
Sam Gary
Del Hock
Bob Magness
Dr. John Malone
LaRae Orullian
Russell T. Tutt
2000
Kathryn Hach-Darrow
Ed McVaney
Alan Phipps
Gerald Phipps
Richard and Ed Robinson
Horace Tabor
2001
Thomas Bailey
William Bent
Cortlandt Dietler
Walter A. Koelbel
Hannah Levy
William Dean Singleton
2002
Morley Ballantine
Franklin and Joy Burns
Charles Hansen
Emmett Heitler
Joe Wagner
2003
Lloyd Chavez
John W. Iliff
Roger Reisher
Peter Seibert Sr.
Robert G. Tointon
2004
A.B., Edward and Barry Hirschfeld
William J. Hybl
Frederick R. Mayer
Leonard C. Burch
Robert S. Everitt
2005
Kent and Caroline
Rickenbaugh
Charles Boettcher
Thor and Gerald Groswold
Carl M. Williams
2006
Tom Gleason
A.V. Hunter
Harry T. Lewis, Jr.
Dave and Gail Liniger
Morris “Moe” Miller
Robert Hoag Rawlings
2007
Herb Bacon
Henry Cordes Brown
Al Cohen
John Fuller
Ralph Peterson
2008
Samuel Addoms
Louis Clinton, Jr.
Harry Frampton
J. K Mullen
William Vollbracht
2009
Bruce Benson
Cathey M. Finlon
The Loo Family
Sam Maynes
Jordon Perlmutter
Jack Vickers
2010
Hank Bosco
Merle Chambers
The Gart Brothers
Fred Hamilton
James Wallace
2011
Charles Gallagher
Walter Imhoff
Mary Ann Padilla
Myron “Micky” Miller
Bob Young
2012
Peter Coors
Raymond Duncan
David & Renie Gorsuch
Jacob “Jake” Jabs
J. Landis “Lanny” Martin
2013
Temple Buell
Glenn Jones
Don Kortz
Ron Montoya
Rod and Beth Slifer