Recent Articles from Mike Cote
Best of CoBiz: Duffeyrolls same as they ever were
Nick Ault says he didn’t know much about running a business when he and his short-time business partner Jim Duffey founded Duffeyrolls. He only knew they had a great recipe for cinnamon buns and that it was something he could get passionate about. Over the next 25 years, Ault found out just how much he […]
Colorado craft brewers are independent by nature
The decision by Molson Coors and SABMiller in 2007 to merge their U.S. and Puerto Rican operations to better compete with Anheuser-Busch represented a watermark in the increasing consolidation of the brewing industry – and modified the moniker yet again of Colorado’s iconic brewer, which began ope...
Courting the Latino vote in a swing state
No one thinks Mitt Romney is going to win the majority of the Hispanic vote in Colorado, but capturing one of the country’s swing states in November could rest on the presumptive Republican nominee shaving a few percentage points from President Obama’s commanding lead among Latino voters, which po...
State of the state: Aerospace
Gov. John Hickenlooper was presented with a bottle of beer after signing a bill in Colorado Springs in April. While the gesture alluded to his success as a co-founder of the state’s first brew pub, it was the name of this local variety that was apropos: Bristol Brewing Co.’s Red Rocket Pale Ale. The law […]
Checking in with Hammond’s Candies
(Editor’s note: Now in its fourth year, the Colorado Companies to Watch program has celebrated 200 second-stage companies that represent the state’s burgeoning entrepreneurial climate, including Hammond’s Candies (2011). We recently checked in on its progress.) Hammond’s Candies CEO Andy Schuman was among a group of investors who purchased the iconic company – the largest […]
50 Colorado Companies to Watch 2012
These 50 companies reflect the great promise – and growing economic impact – of Colorado’s second-stage high-growth companies The fourth class of Colorado Companies to Watch shares a few common traits with the program’s alumni: They’re successful, they’re growing and, chances are, you might be hea...
Checking in with Colorado Companies to Watch alumni
A candy maker closing in on its first century. A craft brewer celebrating its 15th year in business. A specialty tea maker that marked its fifth anniversary last year. These three Colorado Companies to Watch alumni are helping expand the “Made in Colorado” brand beyond the state while providing jobs and a financial boost to […]
In the shadow of Castro
The 1950s-era car that illustrates the cover of Bill Vidal’s memoir, “Boxing for Cuba,” says what everybody knows about the island nation: It’s a land trapped in time. Vidal emigrated from Cuba in 1961 as part of Operation Peter Pan with his two brothers after the rise of Fidel Castro and spent three years living […]
Made in Colorado 2012
“Everyone knows Colorado as this great resort community with incredible skiing and biking and white-water rafting. They don’t realize all the innovation,” says Gov. John Hickenlooper, who cited technology, aerospace, outerwear and recreational gear as examples of the state’s leading edge. “Colorad...
Executive edge: Bill Vidal
For Guillermo "Bill" Vidal, talking about contentious topics like immigration and high school dropout rates are more than civic exercises. The Cuban native knows firsthand what challenges new arrivals to this country face. As the former mayor of Denver adjusts to his new job as the president and C...
Made in Colorado: Craft beer and spirits
Lance and Anna Hansen founded Jack Rabbit Hill Farm about 12 years ago in the North Fork Valley to grow grapes. In 2005, the California transplants decided to branch out and founded Peak Spirits, a distillery that keeps its focus on the farming connection, a concept commonly practiced in Austria a...
Cote’s Colorado: Pancakes, soup and street talk
Letting your lunch partners pick the restaurant usually means little more than trusting them to pick a place with great food. So when Roxane White — Gov. John Hickenlooper’s chief of staff — chose the original Snooze in Denver’s Ballpark neighborhood we figured that’s just where she liked to plot strategy over a cup of […]