WESTMINSTER - Centura Health, the operator of Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, has completed a deal to purchase 35 acres of land in Westminster to build a new 300,000-square-foot medical campus.

Centura purchased the property on the southwest corner of 144th Ave. and Interstate 25 for $13,447,000 with funding from Catholic Health Initiatives. Parkway Development Inc. sold the property. Craig Ockers with The Colorado Group in Boulder helped broker the real estate deal.

The new medical campus will be affiliated with Centura's St. Anthony North Hospital in Westminster and feature outpatient facilities and an emergency-care clinic. The campus is also slated to be part of new 125,000-square-foot retail development called Orchard Park Place (formerly Orchard View) being developed by Arizona-based Biltmore Development and Arizona Gold Properties.

The developments will be adjacent to the new Orchard Town Center, which opened in April, with 983,000 square feet of commercial retail space.

BROOMFIELD - Real Goods Solar, (Nasdaq: RSOL) a residential and commercial solar installer based in Broomfield, began trading stock today with an initial public offering at $10 a share.

The company sold 5,500,000 Class A shares in the offering - 500,000 shares more than the previously announced offering size.

ThinkPanmure LLC acted as book running lead manager of this offering. Canaccord Adams Inc. and Broadpoint Capital Inc. acted as co-managers.

Real Goods Solar, a subsidiary of Broomfield-based Gaiam (Nasdaq: GAIA), said it has installed more than 2,400 residential and small commercial systems.

Gaiam, which sells environmentally friendly lifestyle products, will continue to control Real Goods Solar through its 100 percent holding in Real Goods' Class B shares. The Class B shares are worth 10 votes apiece, versus one vote per Class A share.

Real Goods Solar plans to use $19.8 million of its expected proceeds to repay amounts owed to parent Gaiam, with the remainder of the cash going toward working capital and general corporate purposes, which it said could include future acquisitions.

BOULDER - IBM (NYSE:IBM) has completed a deal to provide and install a new supercomputer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Mesa Laboratory in Boulder.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The new supercomputer, known as a Power 575 Hydro-Cluster and called bluefire, is the first of its kind.

Scientists at NCAR and across the country will use the new system to accelerate research on climate change, including future patterns of precipitation and drought around the world, changes to agriculture and growing seasons and hurricanes. Researchers also will use it to improve weather forecasting models so society can better anticipate where and when dangerous storms may strike.

The new supercomputer has a peak speed of more than 76 teraflops, equal to 76 trillion calculations per second. When fully operational in August it is expected to rank among the 25 most powerful supercomputers in the world and will more than triple NCAR's sustained computing capacity. Bluefire relies on a water-based cooling system that is 33 percent more energy efficient than traditional air-cooled systems, IBM said.

The new supercomputer will replace three NCAR supercomputers with an aggregate peak speed of 20 teraflops. It will provide NCAR scientists with supercomputing support through 2011 when NCAR expects to build a new supercomputer center in Wyoming.

NCAR is managed by the Boulder-based nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research through primary funding by the National Science Foundation. UCAR's contract is up for bid this summer. The nonprofit has applied to retain management.

NIWOT and LOUISVILLE - Crocs Inc. (Nasdaq: CROX) reported a net loss of $4.5 million, or 5 cents per share, for the first quarter ending March 31. A year ago, Crocs reported a net income of $24.9 million, or 31 cents per diluted share for the same period.

Revenues for the Niwot-based footwear manufacturer increased 39.8 percent to $198.5 million, compared to $142 million for the same period last year.

The net loss was associated with a $12.1 million after-tax charge associated with the shutdown of the company's Canadian manufacturing operations, without which the company would have reported a gain of $7.6 million, it said.

Net loss per share and net income per diluted share for both quarters are adjusted to reflect the two-for-one stock split that took place in June of 2007.

Crocs said it expects revenues to increase approximately 10 to 15 percent for the second quarter, compared to the second quarter of 2007, with diluted earnings per share in the range of 42 to 47 cents.

Louisville-based Replidyne Inc. (Nasdaq:RDYN), reported a net loss of $9 million for the first quarter ending March 31, or 33 cents per basic and diluted common share, compared to a loss of $8.6 million, or 32 cents per basic and diluted common share, for the same period a year ago.

Research and development expenses for the first quarter were $7.6 million, compared to $9.4 million in the corresponding quarter of 2007. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $2 million, compared to $3.5 million in the first quarter of 2007.

The company did not report any revenue in the first quarter of 2008. Revenue of $2.9 million reported in the first quarter last year was related to the commercialization and development agreement with Forest Laboratories that concluded May of 2007.

Replidyne has discontinued enrollment in a Phase III trial of faropenem medoxomil and restructured its operations in an effort to conserve cash assets and support ongoing strategic initiatives. As a result, the company will incur about $1.8 million of expense, including $1.4 million related to future employee severance.

BOULDER - John Taylor, who has been the executive director of Imagine! for 25 years, is retiring from the position at the end of May.

Taylor will be replaced by Mark Emery, who has also been with the organization since 1983. Emery is currently Imagine!'s chief operations officer.

When Taylor took over Imagine! in 1983, the nonprofit served 520 people with developmental disabilities and their families. Today it serves 2,300 people with developmental disabilities and their families in Boulder and Broomfield counties. It is one of the largest nonprofits in Boulder County, with an operating budget of more than $29 million.

Taylor has been the lead on innovative developments such as construction of the Smart Home, a house that contains the latest technologies to assist people with developmental disabilities.

Imagine!, formerly the Developmental Disabilities Center, went through a name change in the summer of 2002 with the intention of being identified with ideas of hope and possibility.

"'Imagine!' is more inspirational," said Taylor in a press release. "It inspires people to imagine that life can be better."

"Who we're talking about here when we talk about people with developmental disabilities is the kid who lives down the street, the daughter, the neighbor and the co-worker," he said. "Helping them is what a caring community should do. Who would want to move here if we don't care for our people?"

Disabilities addressed by Imagine! include mental retardation, autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, brain injury and hearing, speech and vision impairments. Causes of disabilities include genetic disorders, childhood accidents, drug and toxic substance poisoning during pregnancy and malnutrition.

Casey Middle School presents Steps for Literacy from 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. on Friday, May 9. In this fundraiser for the school, faculty and family will march from the school to the Pearl Street Mall, carrying banners and leaflets of sponsors. Contact: 303-245-5948.

The Mental Health Center Serving Boulder and Broomfield Counties offers Beautiful Art for Beautiful Minds from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 9 at the St. Julien Hotel, 900 Walnut St. in Boulder. An evening of fine art, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and music by Holly and the Husbands, featuring an art and silent auction. All proceeds benefit Chinook Clubhouse, a social and vocational support program for adults with mental illness. Cost: $50. Contact: Kelly Cochran, 303-413-6287 or kcochran@mhcbbc.org.