Courtesy Lafayette Chamber of Commerce - M.J. Vacco, owner of Martino’s Pizzeria at 1389 Forest Park Circle, No. 101, in Lafayette, cuts the ribbon during a grand opening ceremony on Aug. 12. The event was hosted by the Lafayette and Louisville chambers of commerce.

BRIEFS

Eltron Research & Development Inc. in Boulder is partnering with Tennessee-based Eastman Chemical Co. to scale up and pilot-test Eltron’s advanced membrane system for hydrogen separation and carbon dioxide capture. The $8 million development project is sponsored by a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Energy.

A partnership between Louisville-based Bella Energy Inc. and 7News will power the Denver television station’s 24/7 Weather Center with solar energy. The new solar array provides enough power to offset more than 25,000 pounds of carbon emissions every year and will make the 24/7 Weather Center one of the only clean-energy broadcast segments in the United States, the companies said.

OptTek Systems Inc. in Boulder has received a two-year contract worth $750,000 from the federal government to help improve ballistic-missile defense systems. The funding comes through a phase 2 Small Business Innovative Research grant issued by the United States Missile Defense Agency to develop improved simulation modeling software. OptTek will create a software toolkit, OptDef, to provide the agency with the capability to analyze and improve ballistic-missile defense systems.

Louisville-based Eldorado Artesian Springs Inc. (OTC: Bulletin Board: ELDO) began using 100 percent recycled plastic in its bottles this month. Recycled plastic, or RPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate), is made from plastic that was previously used as packaging, then recycled and processed to create new bottles. By using RPET instead of virgin plastic, Eldorado will reduce the energy required to produce this bottle by 77 percent and will reduce greenhouse emissions by 58 percent, according to the National Association for PET Container Resources.

Boulder-based Clementine Art’s products are available through Boulder’s Best Organics, including Clementine’s Natural Crayons and Natural Rock Crayons.

CU-Boulder Career Services is collecting gently worn professional attire from the Boulder business community to help students dress appropriately for their job interviews this fall. The center will sell the clothes to students at its annual Suit Yourself event — full suits go for $20. Proceeds benefit the Multicultural Business and Engineering Programs on campus. Donations are being accepted through Sept. 15 at the Career Services office in Willard Hall on the CU campus and at all five Art Cleaners stores in Boulder. Types of clothing needed include men’s and women’s suits, jackets, pants, shirts, skirts, ties and handbags.

Boulder-based Parascript LLC’s signature verification technology was used during the 2010 primary elections to process incoming vote-by-mail envelopes in two counties in California. Between the two counties, More than 100,000 envelopes were handled on Criterion sorting systems from Bowe Bell + Howell that uses Parascript’s SignatureXpert software for signature verification.

Aircell Business Aviation Services LLC has rebranded its air-to-ground high-speed Internet service for the business aviation market. The Broomfield-based company has renamed the service Gogo Biz Inflight Internet. It previously was called Aircell High Speed Internet. The company said the rebranding will more closely align the service in its two primary markets — business aviation and commercial airlines.

CONTRACTS

Webroot Software Inc. in Boulder has hired Boulder-based TDA Advertising & Design as its first global advertising agency of record. Webroot provides Internet security products for consumers and businesses. TDA will have a budget of approximately $5 million to spend on print, online, guerrilla and point-of-purchase advertising, and a brand redesign.

TeneoTalent Inc., a Boulder-based sales recruiting firm, has signed an agreement with SHL Group Ltd. in the United Kingdom to license SHL’s assessments for online delivery to candidates and employers. TeneoTalent assesses a job candidate’s “genetic" ability to sell, the types of products or services the candidate sells best and other criteria. The company then matches candidates with employers by comparing the candidate’s assessment to the employer’s job profile.

Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT) expanded its service relationship with IPNetzone Communications Inc., an independent Internet service provider and managed-service provider, to provide direct Internet access and transport services. Based in New York, IPNetzone serves enterprise and other carrier companies looking for a wide range of converged communications services.

Longmont-based interSector Partners L3C was selected to manage a development director search and strategic planning for returning clients for the Notah Begay III Foundation in Bernalillo, New Mexico; MyLifeLine.org and Howard Dental Center. InterSector also was hired by the Denver HIV Resources Planning Council.

Boulder-based engineering firm Stratom Inc. will resell National Instruments’ products to government agencies and federal contractors. The collaboration will address the needs of the federal government to procure NI products through certified small businesses. Stratom is one of the first companies to achieve Federal Reseller Authorization from National Instruments.

The town of Superior has hired Bella Energy Inc. in Louisville to install a solar-energy system at Superior’s water- and wastewater-treatment facilities. The solar-power plants are scheduled for completion by the end of 2010. The systems will produce more than 280,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, which represents more than 8 percent of the town’s electrical consumption.

Fitness-industry veteran June Kahn will work with Body Bar Inc. in Boulder to develop a fitness program for seniors. The Body Bar FLEX program will include downloadable fitness routines, DVDs and educational materials using the lightweight and portable Body Bar FLEX, a workout tool designed to improve strength, balance and flexibility.

GRANTS

A joint renewable-energy center in the Boulder Valley has been awarded $336,534 from the National Science Foundation so undergraduates can conduct research related to the conversion of biomass to fuels and chemicals. The grant, awarded to the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels, or C2B2, will allow students to pursue research over the next three years on feedstock science and engineering, biochemical conversions, thermochemical conversions, engineering reactions or separations, and solids-handling processes needed for biorefining applications. The center consists of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado School of Mines in Golden and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.

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