Award Nominations

Mayor’s Business Appreciation Awards: “Designed to Inspire”
Lakewood Economic Development is now accepting nominations for the 2008 Mayor’s Business Appreciation Awards: Designed to Inspire.  Award categories and criteria are listed below.  Nominations forms will be accepted through Wednesday, June 11, 2008 and are available at www.lakewood-colorado.org. 

The Business Award: Measurable impact by a private, for-profit business on the City’s economic stability including private investment, employment, competitive wages, and improved quality of life for the citizens of Lakewood

The Small Business Award: Measurable impact by a private, for-profit business with 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees or less, on the City’s economic stability including private investment, employment, and improved quality of life for the citizens of Lakewood through a strong entrepreneurial vision. 

The Design Award: A project that incorporates the vision and goals of economic development while incorporating innovative design elements including, site layout, building design, color scheme, and performance based review process. 

The Outdoor Spaces Award: The Outdoor Spaces award nominee must be a landscape or exterior hardscape project that shows one or more of the following: quality site design, appropriate scale, preservation of natural features to the extent possible, preservation of view corridors and solar access, and conservation of natural resources. The project must interact appropriately with adjoining land uses, promotes community stewardship of natural and man-made resources and environments, and promote community sustainability.

The Youth Award:  An individual under the age of 21 who has demonstrated one or more of the following qualities: innovation / trend setting initiatives, spirit of leadership, and building, fostering, or strengthening partnerships through activities, contributions, or involvement within the City of Lakewood. 

The C.Y. Choi Award: A project that embodies the principles of the Performance-based Review Process during project review and implementation, particular in terms of respect for adjacent land users, creativity in addressing areas of contention, and attention to the Performance-based Elements outlined in the Lakewood Comprehensive Plan.

The Tony Sabatini Award: The Tony Sabatini award is given to individuals who have contributed to the betterment of the community of Lakewood or the enhancement of the quality of life for the people of Lakewood over a period of many years.  Such contributions must have been made in non-elected position(s), for which the award recipient received no direct or indirect compensation.  Recipients must exhibit vision, creativity, consensus building, and achievement toward the goals of the community.  Their contributions should be in many diverse arenas including such areas as parks, recreation, services to the disadvantaged, community planning, economic development, community beautification, open space preservation, the arts, and historic preservation.  Recipients may provide their contributions through service on City boards and community foundations, neighborhood associations, and charitable or community service organizations.

 Events

 
Young Entrepreneurs Needed
Celebration for Young Entrepreneurs, an annual business competition hosted by Young Americans Center for Financial Education, recognizes and rewards young entrepreneurs, ages 6-21, throughout Colorado.  Young people with businesses are encouraged to complete an application and return it by June 20, 2008.  A panel of judges will review the applications and select one winner and two finalists in four age categories: 6-11, 12-14, 15-17, 18-21.  Each finalist will receive $250 and each winner will receive $1,000!  All of  the entrepreneurs will be honored at a dinner and awards ceremony on September 25 at the Belmar Center in Lakewood. 

Applications are available at www.yacenter.org or by calling 303-321-2265.  The deadline is June 20.

Lakewood Hosts 2008 Parade of Homes
The 2008 Parade of Homes at Solterra in Lakewood features eight extraordinary custom homes inspired by the hilltowns of Europe and crafted by some of the region's finest custom homecrafters, architects, landscape architects and interior designers.
 
Carma Colorado is the development company behind Solterra which will include 20 percent open space and is being developed with the Rooney Valley Joint Master Plan as its guide, an inter-governmental agreement adopted in 2002 by Lakewood, Morrison and Jefferson County to steer development in the area. 

Carma is a 48-year-old company with offices in Denver, CO; Kansas City, MO and Austin, TX. It has developed 80 master-planned communities across North America; its first Colorado community, Tallyn's Reach was home to the 2000 Metro Denver Parade of Homes and was named Community of the Year by the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver. Carma is part of Brookfield Properties, Inc.

The 2008 Parade of Homes begins on Saturday, July 26 and runs through Labor Day. 

For more information visit www.paradeofhomesdenver.com.

Business News

Ritter Boosts Businesses
Gov. Bill Ritter recently gave a significant boost to Colorado's economy, signing legislation that eases the tax burden on tens of thousands of businesses statewide and provides incentives to keep Colorado companies competitive in the 21st century.

Joined by state Economic Development Director Don Elliman, Colorado business leaders and several lawmakers at a ceremony in the historic Littleton business district, Gov. Ritter signed four bills into law:

House Bill 1183 (Hodge/Veiga), New Job Creation Incentives
House Bill 1225 (Rice/Williams), Business Personal Property Tax
House Bill 1261 (Buescher/Bacon), Fly-Away Sales Tax Exemption
House Bill 1380 (Jahn/Shaffer), Single-Sales Factor

A number of major business organizations across Colorado supported -- and in some cases helped craft -- the legislation signed today, including: the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, Colorado Competitive Council and Colorado Concern.

HB 1225 exempts 30,400 additional businesses from Colorado's Business Personal Property Tax. Currently, businesses are exempt from paying the tax if they have personal property such as computers and other equipment worth less than $2,500. HB 1225 raises the exemption threshold to $7,000 over five years.

HB 1380 simplifies Colorado's corporate tax structure by establishing a "single sales factor" for multi-state corporations. This is the most comprehensive income tax reform in Colorado in more than four decades. It creates an incentive for companies that want to build their workforce and increase their physical presence in Colorado, and it rewards companies currently investing in the people and infrastructure of Colorado.

HB 1261 abolishes Colorado's "fly-away" sales tax on airplanes made in Colorado but sold to out-of-state owners. This will be a tool to entice aircraft manufacturers to Colorado.

HB 1183 will make it easier for businesses -- especially small rural businesses -- to qualify for job-creation incentives through the state's Performance-Based Incentives Fund.

For a complete list of 2008 legislation Gov. Ritter has signed visit www.colorado.gov/governor.