BOULDER - Earth Balance, a line of all-natural buttery spreads, shortenings, nut butters and cream cheeses, are being offered in 230 stores across Canada.

Longmont-based Earth Balance is the all-natural division of Smart Balance Inc. (Nasdaq: SMBL). Earth Balance produces a line of 14 spreads made with a proprietary blend of expeller-pressed oils shown to raise good cholesterol and lower bad. The spreads are available in organic, vegan and dairy blends in both tub and stick forms.

"We are excited to extend our line of natural spreads across Canada at Loblaws," said Richard Werner, vice president and general manager of Earth Balance. "Loblaws is the premier Canadian food retailer."

In 2007, Smart Balance had $175.5 million in net sales. Smart Balance has eight employees in Longmont and two of the eight are with Earth Balance. 

Due to technical difficulties, the BCBRdaily from Aug. 20 was not sent. Here is a link to the breaking news from that day.

The Broomfield Chamber of Commerce hosts August Business After Hours from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 21, at Rustic Ranch Relics & More, 11605 Wadsworth Blvd. in Broomfield. A networking event for chamber members. Cost: $15. Contact: www.broomfieldchamber.com.

The 10th Annual NedFest takes place Friday, Aug. 22, to Sunday, Aug. 24, at Barker Reservoir in Nederland. This event is a three-day music and microbrew festival with camping. Musical genres include bluegrass, jazz, jam band and world beat. Cost: Varies. Contact: www.nedfest.com.

BOULDER - Upon successful completion of NASA's Oct. 8 mission, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. will have built all instruments aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, the company announced Thursday.

The Boulder-based company has shipped both fully assembled tools and 1,500 tool parts to the Kennedy Space Flight Center for use on the Hubble. For more than six months, Ball (NYSE: BLL) has worked on producing the tool parts that comprise the Crew Aids and Tools that Space Shuttle Atlantis astronauts will use during their mission.

"Ball is very proud of the challenging technical contributions it has made to Hubble the past 30 years, and especially those designed to return the telescope to the apex of its scientific capability," David Taylor, Ball's president and chief executive, said in a press release.

The tools will be used to repair the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Advanced Camera for Surveys, according to a company release.

Astronauts also will install a Ball-built $70 million phone booth-size Cosmic Origins Spectrograph designed by a team at the University of Colorado at Boulder, according to a CU press release. The spectrograph is expected to help astronomers better understand how galaxies, stars and planets change.

The Wide Field Camera 3, built by Ball, also will be installed during the mission.

BOULDER - Two TechStars companies announced new partnerships Wednesday at the 2008 TechStars Demo and Investor Day Boulder.

EventVue Inc., a 2007 TechStars company that helps attendees connect prior to a conference, has signed a deal with DEMOfall 08. Gyminee Corp., a 2008 TechStars company that allows users to track health and fitness levels, nutrition and provides a social network for users to encourage a friend's fitness goals, has partnered with Flatiron Athletic Club.

"They're a key customer for us - our largest customer to date," said EventVue co-founder Rob Johnson, who wouldn't disclose financial terms of the deal. "We're super excited about it."

The conference, which takes place Sept. 7-9 in San Diego, is a chance for technology startups to gain national exposure through venture capitalists and media.

"DEMO is the premier conference for startups and new technology to launch their product."

Gyminee Corp. finalized the co-branding partnership with Flatiron last week, said co-founder Andy Smith. The athletic club will promote the Gyminee.com Web site in its newsletter and throughout the club while members will be able to use the tools Gyminee offers.

"Our goal with this is to increase user retention of the gym members," Smith said.

He said his company is also sponsoring a running and a weight-lifting challenge for club members, and the winner will receive a prize.

Both announcements were made Wednesday as the 2008 TechStars company founders presented their business plans to roughly 150 investors at the Boulder Theater.

BOULDER - The National Credit Union Foundation will posthumously present a Herb Wegner Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement to Bill Sterner, former president and chief executive officer of Boulder-based Elevations Credit Union.

Sterner died of a heart attack in March at the age of 66.

The announcement came in conjunction with the grand opening of the Credit Union Association of Colorado's new Denver offices, which include the Sterner Education Center, named in honor of Sterner.

"Bill's strong commitment, vision and innovation to foster growth in the credit union industry will continue to inspire and help advance future generations and new frontiers," said John Dill, president and chief executive officer of the Credit Union Association of Colorado.

The Herb Wegner Award recognizes credit union professionals for consistent dedication and innovation throughout their careers. It is awarded annually at the National Credit Union Association governmental Affairs Conference and is one of the most prestigious industry awards.

During his credit union career Sterner served as president of the Kansas Credit Union Association and vice president of the Credit Union National Association. In 1997, Sterner joined Elevations Credit Union and became CEO in 2000.  At the time of his death, Sterner also was serving as the chairman of the Credit Union Association of Colorado and chairman-elect of the Community Foundation serving Boulder County.

LOUISVILLE - Eldorado Artesian Springs Inc., a Louisville-based provider of spring water, set a single-month sales record in July, topping the $1 million mark in net revenue for the first time in company history.

Revenue for July 2008 increased by 21 percent compared to July 2007.

The increase in July attributed to new product introductions during the past year, including the Eldorado's (OTCBB:ELDO) Organic Vitamin Charged Spring Water and a one-gallon purified water product, which was created to fulfill a new contract with an undisclosed retailer, according to Doug Larson, president and chief executive of the company.

"We are pleased to say that we funded these revenue generating investments with internally generated cash flow without diluting our shareholders with expensive equity capital," Larson said, in a statement. "We have also made excellent progress in expanding our distribution of new and existing products, including the addition of major retail chains to our already existing distribution network."

Eldorado reported an increase in revenues and net loss for first quarter 2008 on Aug. 12.

Eldorado's revenues increased from $2.1 million in the same quarter last year to $2.2 million. The company had a net loss of $206,500 in the first quarter 2008, compared to $49,000 last year.