May 2018

Farewell to Aurora Mayor Stephen Hogan

It is with deep sadness that we inform the small business community that Stephen D. Hogan, Mayor of Aurora, passed away on May 13, 2018. He was 69 years old. Mayor Hogan honorably served as mayor of Aurora from 2011 until his passing. His time as mayor was preceded by 24 years on the City Council.

The Hogan family has asked that, in his honor, donations be made to the Mayor Stephen D. Hogan Memorial Fund via this link on the city’s Web site. Donations will be distributed to the following causes important to Mayor Hogan:

    University of Denver Stephen D. Hogan Scholarship Fund
    7/20 Memorial Fund
    Aurora Korean Memorial Fund
    Aurora History Museum

The community-wide memorial service to honor and celebrate the life of Aurora Mayor Stephen D. Hogan will be held on Saturday, May 19, 11AM, at the Heritage Christian Center in Aurora, located at 14401 E. Exposition Ave. Doors will open at 10AM. There is limited parking at the Heritage Christian Center, if you are attending, please plan to arrive early and park in one of designated lots off church property. Details are still being finalized, so you will need to watch for Police Explorers guiding people to parking. Please allow time to walk a little ways to the church.

We at the Aurora-South Metro SBDC consider Mayor Hogan to have been the ‘voice of reason’ over the years in his support of the small business community. He will be greatly missed!

Mayor Hogan is pictured below at the Small Business Saturday event, November 25, 2017, at Stanley Marketplace, with (from left) Frances Padilla, SBA Colorado District Director, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, Aurora Mayor Hogan, and Kevin Hougen, President, Aurora Chamber.

May Business Resource Fair

Events / By

The May 5th Business Resource Fair at Arapahoe/Douglas Works was a grand conclusion to National Small Business Week.
Many thanks to Congressman Coffman and his staff for presenting this annual fair!

Above, emcee for the morning, Marcia McGilley, Executive Director of the Aurora-South Metro SBDC, talks with SCORE representative, Ken Heller.

Below are some photos of the many community partners who came out on a lovely Saturday morning to make the event possible and to inform small businesses about the many services available to help them grow and prosper!

Follow this link to the resource partners contact information.

Mayor Stephanie Piko welcomed the attendees and gave a proclamation for National Small Business Week.

Congressman Mike Coffman (front and center) smiles with the many resource partners who interacted with attendees throughout the morning.
Becky Takeda-Tinker, President of CSU Global, introduced the Congressman to the crowd (pictured here in the red top and light jacket).

Tom Thompson of the Colorado Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) and Cindy Nowak, Regional Director for Manufacturer’s Edge, greet attendees and discuss their services with business owners.

SBA Colorado Awards, May 2

Awards, Events / By

National Small Business Week — SBA Colorado District Awards

The week’s main event was outstanding with capacity crowd — the annual Colorado Small Business Week award ceremony, held Wednesday, May 2nd at the Innovation Pavilion Event Center in Centennial, CO. The Colorado Small Business Persons of the Year winner, Margot Langstaff & Elisa Hamill, Managing partners/Owners of LifeHealth, were presented with their award (pictured below with other award winners). Both women are shown here (second and third from left) with Daniel Nordberg (far left), Region VIII Administrator, Carolyn Terrell and Joanna Sandoval, both of the SBA Business Opportunity Specialist office, and Frances Padilla (far right), District Director of the SBA Colorado District Office.

The SBA’s Colorado District Office inducted a new business on to its Wall of Fame: SNOOZE: An AM Eatery that had just opened its 25th location! The owners, Jon and Adam, opened their first location at Park Avenue West and Larimer on April 2, 2006, and now has SNOOZE in four states.

Sharon King, Executive Director of the Boulder SBDC won the National SBDC Excellence & Innovation Award (as well as for the District and the State). She is shown here on the left (in red) with Wendy McDonough of the Colorado Minority Business Office, and Wendy Wojcik, Program Manager for the Colorado SBDC Network.

Mike O’Donnell, Executive Director of Colorado Lending Source, received one of the Lender Awards from SBA’s Brian Devlin, as well as the Amy McDowell Service to Small Business award, presented by Rosy McDonough of the Colorado Minority Business Office. The Amy McDowell Award was created by the Colorado SBDC Directors to honor those who, like Amy, dedicated their careers in support of the small business community. Mike is shown here with Dan Nordberg, Rosy and Frances Padilla.

Marcia McGilley, Executive Director of the Aurora-South Metro SBDC, was, as host of the program at the Innovation Pavilion, was emcee of the awards program. She is shown here with City of Centennial Council Member Kathy Turley, who handed to Marcia the City of Centennial Mayor’s proclamation for National Small Business Week.

The awards crowd in the Innovation Pavilion Event Center, Centennial, CO

The SBA’s National Small Business Week awards table: