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Hear This Week's 60-Second Radio Commercial Honoring Small Business Owners
Thanks to 710 KNUS AM

 

[Listen Now]

 

Each week, at least one noteworthy small business owner is featured in a 60-second radio spot that runs Monday-thru-Friday during the day on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.

 

The spots celebrate entrepreneurship and our Small Business Drives America™ and Small Business Drives Colorado™ campaigns.

 

THIS WEEK

 

  

[Listen Now]

 

Would you like to be featured in an upcoming 710 KNUS AM / Small Business Drives Colorado™ radio spot? 

 

There is no charge and you'll reach an audience of tens of thousands of radio listeners.

 

Email us at [email protected] and let us know what makes your small business distinctive.  We'd love to hear from you.

 

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Previous Small Business Drives America™/710 KNUS AM Radio Spots

 

Jordan Jackson - Owner

Security Central Inc.

 

Alicia Vargo - Owner

Pampered Passions Fine Lingerie

 

 

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Business Unconventional is broadcast every Sunday at 8:00 am on 710 KNUS AM in Denver.  It can also be heard live over the Internet at www.710KNUS.com
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Monday Morning Radio

 

Join with small business owners, entrepreneurs, inventors and self-employed professionals around the globe who read and enjoy Roy H. Williams's renowned  Monday Morning Memo and hear weekly audios featuring the successful men and women who are putting into practice the lessons taught by Williams and the faculty of The Wizard Academy.  

 

Leaping Past Internet Clutter

Holly Hamann - Blog Frog

Holly Hamann is an indefatigable entrepreneur who has helped launch six start-ups.  Her latest venture, Blog Frog, was recently named one of Entrepreneur Magazine's "100 Brilliant Companies."

 

Blog Frog, whose clients include national brand companies - such as Intuit, KinderCare, Shutterfly and Subway - connects clients with popular bloggers and other social media influences to generate peer-driven content on topics including food, fashion, parenting, fitness and technology.

 

Blog Frog leaps past the clutter of Internet ads to harness the power of more than 100,000 social influencers. Everyone benefits. Ribbit. Ribbit.

 

Hear the segment now.

Originally produced August 13, 2012

 

View and download all of our other Monday Morning Radio episodes.
WEALTH CREATION
How Do You Compare?

Take this
and see how your strategy for growing your personal wealth compares with that of other local small business owners.


Wealth Survey 
Articles of Interest
 

Simultaneous Entrepreneurs:

 

Creativity coupled with necessity often drive small business owners Entrepreneurial Dive and entrepreneurs to juggle more than one unrelated startup at the same time.  These 'Simultaneous Entrepreneurs' are, in many ways, just hedging their bets. Read the full story .

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Bruce K. Alexander - Vectra Bank Colorado
Vectra Bank's
Bruce K. Alexander
 
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We Can Protect

While politicians wrestle with the policy issues surrounding such tragedies, Dave Jabas, a recognized security expert, has published an e-book designed to immediately empower parents to better protect their children's schools and to extinguish their sense of helplessness. 

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Fantastic Voyage 2: Journey to the Human Body's Pain and Inflammation Centers

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  David McInnis - Cranberry Newswire

by David McInnis, acclaimed NewsMarketer

 

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Colorado Edition - February 13, 2013
Sara Bobeldyk

Fine Photography on the Radio

Denver business owner Sara Bobeldyk, a talented photographer and founder of Latitude 83, will display her works alongside other talented artists during a month-long show, Travelers on Tenn 4, beginning March 1.  See "Mark Your Calendars" below.

Photo By Avital Rotbart
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Morgan Stanfield - Tensegrity At last night's Rockies Venture Club meeting in Golden, four Colorado companies pitched angel investors in a bid to raise much-needed capital. 

 

Morgan Stanfield (left), representing Tensegrity Prosthetics, won plaudits from our reporter in attendance.  Read his review here.

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Meet The 2-Second Marketing Genius

Kessler's Diamonds


This Valentine's season, Wisconsin retailer Richard Kessler is likely to sell more diamonds than his next three closest competitors combined.  He's that good.

 

How Richard creates his retail magic is instructive not just to other jewelers, but to every retail business owner who dreams of dominating his or her market.

 

For more than 6 months, our extended interview with Richard has been the most downloaded audio at Monday Morning Radio, a weekly podcast reaching more than 50,000 small business owners and entrepreneurs nationally.

 

In particular, Richard's 2-second blink radio commercials have become legend in both radio and jewelry circles.  Could something similar work for you?

 

Small Business Drives America™ senior writer, Phyllis Cannon, revisits our July 2012 interview with Richard and the lessons he has to offer in this Cranberry Newswire exclusive feature. 

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TOMORROW:  7TH Annual Inventors' Roundtable Meeting

[Listen Now]

 

Rita Crompton
Rita Crompton

Join Rita Crompton and a large gathering of Colorado's veteran and hobbyist inventors at this special annual gathering. Whether you're an experienced serial inventor or a first-time tinkerer, Inventors' Roundtable provides you a wealth of valuable information and wonderful networking opportunities.

 

The dinner meeting, which is free, will feature a keynote speaker and a panel of experts, along with pertinent exhibitors.  For more information, listen to our exclusive audio or phone Rita at 303-910-8889.  See you there! 

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Hello again  

 

Say what you will, Valentine$ Day is as much about profits as it is about romance.

 

For many Colorado retailers, Valentine$ Day ranks right up there with Mother's Day and Christmas as the year's most impactful selling season.

 

Flowers. Chocolates. Dining. Jewelry. Lingerie. Photography. Grooming.

 

We've featured business owners in each of these categories, who share their insights on how to succeed by delivering superior value and service.

 

Of course, given that our program's name includes the word "Unconventional," let your imagination run wild as to what might make a truly romantic Valentine$ Day gift or experience.

 

Jeffry B. Jewelry (Our Audio)

Wendy Brandes Jewelry  (Our Audio)

Kesslers Diamonds (Our Audio)

Diz's Daisys (Our Audio)

The Chocolate Therapist (Our Audio)

Pampered Passions Fine Lingerie (Our Audio)

Tilted Kilt (Our Audio)

Billy's Gourmet Hot Dogs (Our Audio)

 

Perhaps his-and-her new cars from our Small Business Drives Colorado™ lead sponsor, Mountain States Toyota, or an appointment with Dr. William H. Lee, a nationally recognized local physician dedicated to the science of youthful aging?

 

Personally, I'll be spending a romantic Valentine$ evening at the Inventors' Roundtable dinner and annual meeting, taking place at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce complex at 1445 Market Street, 5th Floor.

 

The meeting is a perfect forum for entrepreneurial romantics, like me, who need the advice and support of an expert and caring community to turn their inventor dreams into a reality.

 

Indeed, given the choice of chocolates, flowers or jewelry, which card-carrying small business owner wouldn't bypass all three for the timeless and powerful allure of earning lots and lots of money?

 

Sincerely,

Dean Rotbart


Dean Rotbart

Founder & Chairman
Small Business Drives America™
Phone: 303-800-6081


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Calendar
Mark Your Calendars

Small Business Calendar - Colorado 
 

Join experienced inventors and service providers who can answer your questions about intellectual property, engineering, manufacturing, marketing/selling and licensing.

Dinner is at 5:30 p.m. The meeting begins at 6:00 p.m.
Denver Metro Chamber - 1445 Market Street, 5th Floor
No fee.  Contact: Rita Crompton - 303-910-8889 or email her: [email protected]
 

February 17th: Business Unconventional
 
The weekly one hour booster shot for the business soul

Airing at 8:00 a.m. on 710 KNUS AM in Denver and simultaneously streamed at www.710KNUS.com

Guests:
Brad Friedman
Friedman

Segments One and Two: Kyle Cease, noted Comedy Central comedian and business speaker: The Groove of Greatness

Segment Three: Brad Friedman, owner, The Friedman Group - Social Media Marketing for Professionals

Segment Four: Adrian Van Zelfdan, author, Fearless Business Ownership - Asset Protection for Business Owners 

Hosts: David Biondo and Dean Rotbart


February 21st: CEO Space Special Dinner
 
Power networking and businesss insights at the Highlands Ranch CEO Space special dinner. Bring an appetite for knowledge and camaraderie.
 
Hilton Garden Inn - 1050 Plaza Drive in Highlands Ranch @ 6:30 p.m.  RSVP and details at http://www.meetup.com/CEOSpaceDenver
 
February 24th: LoDo Sertoma Club Wine & Beer Tasting

Benefit for the LoDo Sertoma Club, which sends deaf children to its Field of Dreams Sports Camps 
(baseball, soccer, basketball, and gymnastics). 

For the second consecutive year, David Biondo, host of Business Unconventional and a gifted-musician, will be performing.

Location: Old Chicago Restaurant * 16990 E. Iliff Avenue * Aurora, CO 80013

Tickets available at the door or in advance by phoning Mike Burha at 720-435-0653.

March 1st: Travelers on Tenn 4 Opening Night Reception

TennTenn Street ART's 4th annual international juried photography show runs March 1st to March 31st.

Opening night, 6-9 pm, features live music and refreshments. Many of the artists will be in attendance.

Location: Tenn Street Coffee & Books - 4418 Tennyson Street, Denver.  No fee. 


RVCMarch 19th & 20th: Angel Capital Summit
 
Angel Capital Summit Annual conference connecting entrepreneurs and angel investors, hosted by the Rockies Venture Club.  Thirty-five companies will have the opportunity to pitch investors.
 
Location: University of Denver Sturm Hall, Room 246 - 200 E. Asbury Avenue. Visit website for fees and registration.

To list your upcoming small business event, email [email protected] with full details and contacts.

Mountain States Toyota
Save Thousands on Your Next Vehicle

Whether you need it for your business or your personal use, a new car (or truck) from Mountain States Toyota will suit your needs and your budget.

Thanks to special programs designed specifically for small business owners and entrepreneurs, Mountain
Juan Casillas
Casillas
States Toyota is the exclusive automotive dealer of the 2013 Small Business Drives Colorado™ campaign. 

In fact, MST has a team of three small business specialists at the ready to work closely with you to meet and surpass your expectations: Juan Casillas, Doug Morlan and Michael Ramstetter.

Put the Mountain States Toyota small business team on your team today! Phone Juan, Doug or Michael at 800-628-0982, or drop by anytime.  They are located at 201 W. 70th Avenue in Denver (80221).

Mountain States Toyota - Helping Small Business Owners Drive the Colorado Economy
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TensegrityRockies Venture Club: 

Tensegrity Pitch for Capital Resonates 

A Cranberry Newswire Feature

 

By Dean Rotbart

Editor-in-Chief 

 

Praful K. Shah, an angel investor from Superior, Colorado, went 'window shopping' last night for promising small business investment opportunities.

 

He was one of roughly 100 Coloradoans in attendance at the Rockies Venture Club event - Crowdfunding in Colorado - held at the American Mountaineering Center Theater in Golden. 

 

The turnout was impressive, not only for its size, but for the quality of those both in the audience and presenting on stage.

 

Indeed, the Colorado startup economy remains vibrant, with innovative, diverse, and leading-edge companies planting roots in all four corners of our state.  Today's startups and early-stage small businesses are tomorrow's drivers of job creation and economic strength.

 

Two recent guests on Business Unconventional, pitching coaches Dom DiDia and Frank Hofmeister, invited us to witness the process as four area companies were allotted 5 minutes each on stage to tell their company's tale and explain to audience members such as Praful Shah why they should make an angel investment.

 

[Hear our extended interview with Dom and Frank]

 

On a monthly basis, Rockies Venture Club hosts a networking happy hour, a panel or other educational component, and four presenting companies.

 

(On March 19th and 20th, 35 companies will be in the spotlight during the Angel Capital Summit hosted by the Rockies Venture Club.) 

 

Last night, these companies took their turn:

 

  • P2Bi - A company that uses crowdfunding to raise money for factoring   
  • Couragent - Maker of the FlipPad Scanner, and currently raising capital through crowdfunding   
  • Tensegrity - A local company with a superior prosthetic foot raising capital for their go-to-market phase 
  • Crowdfunding Offerings - Their product 'Mainstreet Crowd' is a crowdfunding platform that focuses on local and regional offerings  

As Dom and Frank explained on our weekly radio broadcast, a lot rides on the quality of these pitches. Good companies with mediocre pitches face a steep uphill funding battle.  It's one reason that the Rockies Venture Club now offers regular clinics, known as Pitch Academy, to help founders and CEOs hone their presentations.

 

Of the four companies pitching last night, I thought the most impressive was Tensegrity, not only because its presentation - handled by Morgan Stanfield, director of Marketing & Communications - was the most polished, but because the Boulder-based company seems poised for enormous growth and ultimate success.

 

Tensegrity produces a superior, proprietary product in a rapidly growing and relatively non-competitive field.

 

With the global population aging, and incidents of diabetes on a sharp upward trajectory, sadly more and more people will face amputation in the years ahead.  Already, more than 1.5 million amputees in the United States rely on prosthetic feet - often featuring outdated, less effective models.

 

Jeremy Rifkin - Tensegrity
Tensegrity's Rifkin

While web apps, innovative business financing and gadgets are a lot sexier to most investors than prosthetics, Tensegrity stands to grow to be a major player - if not the major player - in its specialty.

 

I liked the fact that Tensegrity came to the Rockies Venture Club with all barrels loaded.  In addition to Morgan, who made the formal presentation, Tensegrity had four other company executives on stage and invited one of its satisfied customers, Arthur Stone, to provide a personal testimonial.

 

Stone, who wore blue jean shorts to the event - making it perfectly clear he is a Tensegrity prosthetic wearer - is a grandfather of four, and a two-time Amputee Golf Association National Champion.

 

Of the four companies and executives presenting, only Tensegrity's CEO, Jerome Rifkin, openly raised the possibility that he and his colleagues would not sell their company at the first opportunity to a larger, potential suitor.

 

No, that is not what some angel investors want to hear, since they are eager to know each company's "exit strategy" - and hence, how quickly they'll get back their money and profits.

 

But I like hearing from a CEO who is not simply a surrogate mother - birthing the company and then handing it over to others to grow and raise.  In my view, a CEO who wants to raise his or her own child - or at least sees that as a real option - is someone who is more likely to give an early-stage company the love and management nutrition it will require to thrive during later stages of its life.

  
 

 

Dean Rotbart, founder and editor-in-chief of Small Business Drives America™, previously wrote the Heard on the Street investment column for The Wall Street Journal. 

VIDEO
VIDEO: Fine Lingerie on the Radio
Pampered Passions Fine Lingerie
Click on photo to view video
Pampered Passions Fine Lingerie Valentine's Day Radio Fashion Show

 

Valentine's Day is big business for small businesses that sell jewelry, chocolates, flowers, and, of course, lingerie.

 

In February 2012, entrepreneur Alicia Vargo, owner of Pampered Passions Fine Lingerie and Pampered Passions Care Wear, discussed the importance of Valentine's Day sales to her stores. She also brought along three models who showcased some of Alicia's best-selling outfits.

 

Since this video was first posted, it has received more than 20,000 hits on YouTube.  WARNING: This is a business video - not a Playboy video.  

 

 YouTube link   

 

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Small Business Drives America™ - Colorado Edition is the "community newspaper" of our state's small business community.  We're interested in hearing from you and about you, including:

  • New product lines you are launching
  • New management/hires
  • New locations
  • Awards won
  • Upcoming speeches/presentations
  • Special landmarks, including "years in business"
Please be sure to include your full contact information. Email us at: [email protected].  Feel free to send along digital pictures.  We LOVE photos!
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WEALTH CREATION
How Do You Compare?

Take this
and see how your strategy for growing your personal wealth compares with that of other local small business owners.


Wealth Survey 
Nominate Your Business
Let us honor you!! Win Prizes!!

Throughout 2013, Small Business Drives America™ - Colorado Edition will be shining the spotlight on some of the fabulous small businesses and small business owners in our state.  

 

Would you like more free visibility for your small business?  Would you like an opportunity to earn statewide peer recognition, as well as a suite of prizes that includes cash, technology and services designed for your business?

 

Small Business Drives America™ will be showcasing 100s of Colorado-owned businesses in the coming weeks and months.  Let us know why you are a great role model for other entrepreneurs to emulate? 

 

More details on specific visibility and prize opportunities will be announced soon.  Until then, go right ahead and nominate yourself.  Email us and tell us about you and your business - and what makes you unique.  Be sure to include all of your contact information.  Our email is: [email protected].

Weekly Small Business Drives Colorado™ 
Honoree
Shatter Buggy
Benjamin Head - Shatterbuggy
Benjamin Head
Former airline pilot Benjamin Head recognized the potential to offer superior, fast service to the millions of iPhone and iPad owners who each year crack their screens or need replacement batteries.
  
His Shatter Buggy fleet of cars and technicians make rapid repair calls to homes, businesses, coffee shops and even gyms.
 
Small Business Drives Colorado™ proudly salutes Ben and Shatter Buggy.

Broadcast: February 10, 2013
Length: 10 mins 

Previous Honorees:

10th YEAR:  Arif Gangji - Neon Rain
 
2nd GEN:  Jordan Jackson - Security Central

INVENTOR: Jim Wilkinson - Veritek

FRANCHISER: Mike Hartkop - Solar Roast
 Coming Sunday
February 17, 2013 
Business Unconventional
8 am (Mountain) - www.710KNUS.com
Adrian Van Zelfden
Van Zelfden

Adrian Van Zelfden is an author, an attorney, a CPA, an MBA and a magna cum laude graduate from the USAF Academy who attained the rank of Captain while still in his 20s.

 

Talk about underachievers!  

 

Adrian advises small businesses and their owners how to safeguard their assets from legal predators and the IRS.

  

On our next program, he discusses his new book, Fearless Business Ownership, which sums up decades of experience in a highly readable, understandable fashion.  

 

Adrian is a force to reckon with.  You won't want to miss this interview!


Business Unconventional
is broadcast on 710 KNUS AM in Denver from 8 am to 9 am every Sunday.
 Recent Guests
Business Unconventional
Billy's Gourmet
Billy, Bill & Dawn Feid
Enjoy gourmet hot dogs and great memories of childhood bliss at Billy's Gourmet Hot Dogs, with two Denver locations and a third on the way.
 
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RECOMMENDED LINKS

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Tattered Cover Press - Print on Demand


Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce

Small Business Development Center
Colorado Technology Partners
Colorado Tourism Office
Center for Innovation
Andrew Hudson's Jobs List


Rockies Venture Club
MMM
MONDAY MORNING MEMO
by Roy H. Williams
The Facebook Mirage

 

Wizard Academy Pin

 

A mirage is not a hallucination, but a misinterpretation.  We see the sky reflected from the ground and we assume it to be water. But it isn't. That reflection is caused by light passing through cold air that sits on a thin layer of hot air, heated by sun-soaked sand.

 

1. FaceBook, for business is a mirage.  

Can it successfully gather a crowd to hear a band perform at a bar? Absolutely. Social media, social event. Can it successfully be used by a physically-existing retail or service business as a substitute for mass media? No. It cannot. 

 

A physically-existing business is one that lives in the land of sunlight. A purely online business, by contrast, lives in the light of the plasma screen.

 

Check into those FaceBook success stories and you'll find them all to be businesses that sprang into existence after 2003. I defy you to find a physically-existing business who enjoyed success prior to 2003 that is now reducing its mass media budget because it has found FaceBook to be a more effective use of ad dollars. You will find no such example. I've been looking for 3 long years.


When you see the power of FaceBook to connect people together, you are facing an indisputable fact. When you assume it's "the next big thing" for business, you are seeing a mirage, an illusion, a reflection caused by hot air.


Google is our phone book, our encyclopedia, our source of ongoing news. Amazon is our bookstore and our mail-order catalog. FaceBook is a party line, a telephone line shared by a large group of people allowing each to listen-in on the conversations of the others.

 

2. Google's own data makes it clear: pay-per-click works extremely well for physically-existing businesses that have already built themselves a name. Pay-per-click performs poorly for businesses that aren't already well known. 

If the name of your business is a household word in your town, consider investing in local pay-per-click. But if you're still trying to build your name, put all your eggs into a single mass-media basket and then lift that basket to the sky. 

The biggest mistake
you can make is to spread your ad dollars around, thinking you should "cover all your bases." You don't have the money for that. Have courage. Get focused. Talk loud and draw a crowd. 

 

 

Read Roy's full Monday Morning Memo column here.

 

Subscribe for free to the Monday Morning Memo here.

 

Listen or Download this week's Monday Morning Memo here

Articles of Interest

 

PR is like customer service - It's in your interest to do it right

 

Although I don't keep formal statistics on the results of my outbound calls, I would guess that roughly 50 percent of the time when a release does catch my attention, the "contact" person listed on the paid news release is not available when I call.  

 

That is particularly vexing, since I typically phone on the same day, and often within minutes, of when the news release crosses the public relations newswire. 

 

Read the full column.

 

Dean Rotbart - Small Business Drives AmericaDean Rotbart, founder and editor-in-chief of Small Business Drives America™, is a veteran journalist and successful entrepreneur. 

 

He is also a contributor to Talking Biz 2, where this article was first published.

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Discovering Your Company's Key Performance Indicator

 

Each and every business, regardless of its size, has a key Tale of Curly Washburn and Southwest Airlines performance indicator that if properly identified and pursued, will lead it to meaningful and durable financial success. 

 

Columnists Jake and Jeff Wilson, co-founders of LoomView Enterprises, are veteran business intelligence analysts. Read their column here.

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Ford Motor Company Assembly Line

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Bret Van Leeuwen

Entrepreneur Bret Van Leeuwen is proving that global philanthropy need not be confined to the ultra-rich

 

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Rich Carr - CarrKnowledge
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You are receiving this email because you are a current or recent client of one of our key organizers or affiliates - who include Dean RotbartDavid BiondoJeff WilsonJake Wilson, Homer H. Hillis, Jr., Rich Carr, Roy H. Williams and Lauren E. Mille- or because you have been a guest or been featured on one of our programs, which include Business Unconventional on 710 KNUS AMMonday Morning Radio presented in cooperation with The Wizard Academy; and Radio Chavura on 990 KRKS AM. We are also affiliated with No Socks to Work™ Day
 
You may have registered to receive information from us during a 710 KNUS AM - Salem Media of Colorado event.
 
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Small Business Drives America™ | 303-800-6081 | [email protected] | http://www.bunconventional.com/sbdc
Attn: Dean Rotbart
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Bldg 300 - #111-49
Denver, CO 80230

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