Quick and Dirty: SCAPE debuts latest business crop

SCAPE debuts latest business crop

Find out what makes an entrepreneur tick when SCAPE hosts its annual start-up showcase from 2:30- 6:30 p.m. Wed., Aug. 30, in the Fort Lewis College Ballroom. In addition to presenting the graduates of the 2017 start-up accelerator program, the evening will also include a keynote speech from Patrick Mierering, founder of Zuke’s Natural Dog Food. Entrepreneurs will also have a chance to rub elbows with potential investors.

SCAPE director Elizabeth Marsh said this year’s graduating class of companies covers a diverse range, including an app that blends outdoor experiences with technology; a mobile lounge; a resource for rural energy users; and technology for the dairy goat industry. “We are really excited to introduce these promising companies to the community and to potential investors,” she said.

One of the companies is ApresActive, an augmented reality app set to launch his fall. Combining GPS with an invative interface, ApresActive allows users to superimpose their travel path, aka “LitLine,” over photos to create a virtual story of an adventure.

“ApresActive was born out of the idea that it’s not always easy to describe exactly what line you took down the hill or what ridge you hiked on the mountain,” ApresActive co-founder Tyler Fischer said. “We make it easy, to not only document those lines and adventures, but share them as well.”

Another company being showcased is Distributed Energy Strategies, founded by former La Plata Electric Association Director Jeff Berman. The new company plans to provide microgrid optimization and deployment services to remote utilities and businesses in an effort to reduce costs while improving renewable energy reliability.

A microgrid is described as a local energy grid that can disconnect from the traditional grid and operate autonomously. A microgrid uses energy generated locally, such as from generators, batteries and/or renewable sources like solar.

“For 75 years, if you wanted power in remote locations, you had to extend the grid, sometimes at great cost,” Berman said. “With increasingly economic and scalable solar power, battery storage, power conditioning and communications technology, remote loads can now, in many cases, be more cost-effectively and reliably served with microgrids.”

According to Chris Calwell, co-founder and partner with Ecos Research now collaborating with DES, electric utilities are also starting to see the value in microgrids as a way to reduce costs, improve reliability and meet customer demand. “DES provides the design, analysis and operational expertise to attain these benefits,” he explained.

The nonprofit SCAPE, or Southwest Colorado Accelerator Program for Entrepreneurs, is a six-month program that provides mentoring, development, branding and financial education as well as office space and capital-raising preparation. It also partners with an investment fund that provides seed money for the companies. Since starting in 2013, SCAPE has helped launch 15 companies, raised $4.4 million in capital and created about 60 jobs.

Budding businesses in Archuleta, Dolores, Montezuma, La Plata and San Juan Counties can apply for the 2018 SCAPE program starting Sept. 1. For application or details, go to www.goscape.org or call 970-317-0880.

Atmos proposes gas rate increase

Gas bills could be going up. Atmos Energy recently submitted a proposal to the Public Utilities Commission to increase natural gas rates by 3.8 percent for the average residential customer in Colorado (2.5 percent for small commercial customers.)

The increase is expected to generate $3.3 million a year for the Dallas-based corporation. The last rate change came in October 2014, a rate decrease of 4 percent. Prior to that, there was a rate increase of 7.6 percent in June 2014.

Atmos provides natural gas service to approximately 115,000 customers in 65 communities and 16 counties across Colorado, including Can?on City, Cortez, Crested Butte, Durango, Greeley, Lamar and Steamboat Springs. As part of its proposal, Atmos is seeking to consolidate its four rate divisions into two.

According to the NASDAQ, natural gas prices were at $2.94 per 1,000 cubic feet Tuesday. Prices hit a five-year high in 2014 at $5, and a low of $1.75 in early 2016.

The PUC will be hosting public hearings on the proposed rate hike next week in Greeley and Can?on City. Comments can also be submitted via email to:

dora_puc_complaints@state.co.us, or online at www.col orado.gov/dora/puc (click on “I Want To ...” tab and choose “Comment or Document PUC Proceeding” to get to form.) Written comments should include the proceeding number 17AL-0429G.

Anthem commits to Colorado in ’18

In a time of uncertainty in the health insurance market, local residents can at least rely on one thing: one of the area’s biggest plan providers is sticking it out for another year.

The Colorado Division of Insurance announced last week that Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has committed to Colorado’s individual online insurance exchange, Connect for Health, for 2018. Anthem is the only option for individual plans on the exchange in 14 counties in the state, including Archuleta, Hinsdale, San Juan, Dolores, Montrose and San Miguel. In La Plata and Montezuma counties, it is one of only two providers. Statewide, it serves just over 37,000 customers, mostly in rural areas.

“The fact that we didn’t lose any on-exchange carriers for the coming year speaks to our efforts,” Insurance Commissioner Marguerite Salazar said in a press release. “In this sea of turmoil stirred up by the federal government, Colorado has created an island of certainty. Our willingness to keep the lines of communication open and work with carriers like Anthem, Cigna and Kaiser highlights the fact that Colorado is a good place for these companies to operate.”

However, while many may be breathing a sigh of relief, rough waters could be ahead. According to Salazar, many will see an increase in premiums and health-care costs, as well as lingering uncertainty around cost-sharing reduction payments next year.

Mike Ramseier, president of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Colorado, said although the individual market in Colorado remains volatile, his company is dedicated to trying to work with state regulators. “As this market continues to evolve, we stand ready to work with the DOI and state leaders on long-term solutions that will improve the health-care system for all Coloradans,” he said.

For 2018, the insurance companies offering individual plans through Connect for Health Colorado (on-exchange) include: Anthem; Bright Health; Cigna Health; Colorado Choice; Denver Health; Kaiser Foundation; and Rocky Mountain HMO.

The DOI is still reviewing plan and premium filings from these companies, which were submitted in June and made available to the public in July. The approved plans and premiums, along with information on what plans will be available where and average increases/decreases, will be released sometime between mid-September to mid-October. These filings can be viewed on the DOI’s “Health Insurance Filings” web page.

The open enrollment for health insurance plans is Nov. 1 – Jan. 12, 2018.