Partners Groups North American Headquarters

The Stasko Agency recently helped Partners Group UK Ltd., a global private markets investment manager, celebrate the Grand Opening of its North American headquarters at the Interlocken Advanced Technology Environment business park in Broomfield, CO.   The 129,400-square-foot campus features multiple buildings, including office and amenities space as well as a training facility and subterranean parking.  The campus is capable of accommodating several hundred employees.

Despite poor weather – the Front Range received an unexpected five inches of early season snow – the celebration drew several dignitaries, including Broomfield Mayor Randy Ahrens and Jeff Romine, the city’s new economic vitality director. The weather did limit media attendance, so we set up call-in interviews instead with Co-CEO David Layton. As a result, we were able to secure coverage from the following media outlets: The Denver Channel 7The Denver Post, Denver Business Journal, BizWest, and Colorado Real Estate Journal.

This is the second time the Stasko Agency provided publicity and public relations support to Partners Group, which is based in Baar, Switzerland. We started our relationship with the firm, when it broke ground on the campus in December 2017.

At that time, Charlies Dallara, Chairman of the Americas at Partners Group stressed how vital the campus would be to supporting the firm’s U.S. business growth: “The state-of-the-art headquarters we are building here will be an important milestone for Partners Group, enhancing our ability to serve our clients and manage our investments across the entire Americas region. In Broomfield, we believe we have found the ideal location for our headquarters, with great transport connectivity, a welcoming and business friendly environment, a strong local talent pool and an excellent quality of life for our employees.”

The ground-breaking ceremony, which was attended by local government representatives, the building development team, and senior management of the firm, was documented in the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

The Partners Group’s new Broomfield campus was developed by a dedicated team that included PrimeWest Development,  Swinerton, Open Studio Architecture.

Little Man Ice Cream’s newest concept, The Constellation, landed in Stapleton at the Eastbridge development and celebrated its Grand Opening on March 30th.  The Constellation Ice Cream shop is named after The Constellation or “Connie,” a four-engine airliner built by Lockheed Martin, an airliner that revolutionized the mid-20th century.  The ice cream shop is housed in a 75-foot replica of the Constellation airplane wing.  The wing suspends over Martin Luther King Boulevard, paying tribute to the former Stapleton International Airport.

The maiden voyage Grand Opening was a smashing success, celebrated with hundreds of Little Man Ice Cream fans.  Customers were encouraged to bring a piece of luggage in order to receive a baggage claim ticket that would be entered into a drawing for a trip for 4 to New York City!  Congratulations to the Little Man staff for a remarkable opening and for bringing a piece of history to yet another community.

The Constellation is the fourth ice cream concept developed by Paul Tamburello, founder of Little Man Ice Cream.  The Stasko Agency was hired by Tamburello to promote the first concept, Little Man Ice Cream, a 28-foot-tall replica of an antique Milk Can back in 2008.  Over the past ten years, The Stasko Agency has provide publicity and public relations services for Paul Tamburello and the Little Man brands.  Tamburello has two more concepts on tap for 2019, a soft serve shop called Dang and a Little Man Ice Cream shop at Denver International Airport, a testament to the iconic status of the brand.

While I absolutely love being an entrepreneur, there’s no doubt that the life of a business owner can get lonely. To combat that isolation, I’ve built a network of colleagues who have valuable insight and can serve as great sounding boards when challenges arise. I also like to think that my perspective can prove helpful when my fellow entrepreneurs find themselves struggling with a public relations or marketing issue.

For example, a few months ago, a few of my colleagues were trying to figure out how to test an exciting new concept publicly. The duo – Janine Underhill and Dana Wasson – both graphic facilitators, were interested in piloting a new interactive event offering called a “Listening Lab Pop-Up.” The event provides a platform for attendees to share what’s meaningful to them, while their thoughts and ideas are captured on a Listening Wall that organizers can use to identify trends or themes.

When I heard about the idea, I instantly started thinking about all the different events where a Listening Pop-Up could prove useful – from community development forums where developers are trying to gauge reaction to a project from neighborhood residents to a focus group where a corporation might be trying to connect with consumers – the possibilities seemed endless.

Another obvious option was tapping the Listening Pop-Up for political candidates hoping to reach voters. So, I connected with Denver Mayoral Candidate Jamie Giellis, who I knew was going to be hosting a fundraiser to raise awareness about her campaign. I thought the event could serve as the perfect platform to launch the Listening Pop-Up.

Luckily, Jamie and her team jumped on the idea. Knowing that she would never be able to talk to each and every person who attended the event, Jamie viewed the Listening Pop-Up as a way to really “hear” what her constituents wanted to say even if she couldn’t interact with them all directly. She developed three questions for attendees and then Janine and Dana recorded their responses for Jamie’s future use. This approach allowed Jamie to gather so much more information than she could have done going door to door.

I’m excited to share that other mayoral candidates have expressed interest in hosting their own Listening Pop-Ups. I am also working with Janine and Dana to approach Governor Polis about using the format for his policy work. We see lots of opportunities on the horizon to share this special tool. For more information on the Listening Pop-Up, visit https://www.epiphanylabpopup.com

And remember, collaboration can be crucial in pushing new ideas from conception to implementation!

 

 

 

 

With Autumn arriving this weekend, we would like to take a quick look back at the highlights of the summer at The Stasko Agency.

We have been busy getting ready for the highly-anticipated opening of Little Man Ice Cream’s newest shop, The Factory. Housed in the Sloan’s Lake neighborhood, The Factory is a whimsical, Willy Wonka-inspired ice cream production facility and tasting room. The Little Man team, led by Paul Tamburello, aimed to create a space that sets the imagination free by creating an interactive experience that engages guests in the ice cream production process.

The Denver Business Journal interviewed Paul Tamburello early this summer about the project. Click here to see the Journal’s sneak peek inside The Factory’s development.

Continuing our work in the restaurant industry, we helped the Colorado Restaurant Association announce the acquisition of its insurance arm, Colorado Restaurant Insurance by Crest Insurance Group. The acquisition will allow the Arizona-based insurer’s to extend its presence in Colorado and providing Colorado Restaurant Insurance with the ability to expand its services. Colorado Restaurant Insurance will operate as Crest Restaurant Insurance and will become part of the Crest Insurance Group family. BusinessDen helped spread the news about the acquisition to Denver’s business community.

Sean Pechan CEO, Crest Restaurant Insurance

Also, on the merger and acquisition front, we helped longtime Stasko Agency client Mudlick Mail announce its merger with Muscle-Up Marketing, a cutting-edge marketing agency focused on the fitness and wellness industry. For Mudlick, the merger is a strategic move that will enable the company to serve a wider range of businesses and expand its digital offerings. We continue to promote Mudlick Mail CEO Tim Ross as an expert in the field of marketing, direct mail and digital media. Click here to read a contributing article we landed for Tim in MotorAge Magazine.

The Stasko Agency also continued the annual tradition of raising money for the Annual LoHi 4th of July Parade and Family Picnic. This year we raised $6,100 in two days (exceeding the $5,000 goal) due to the generosity of the LoHi Merchants. This event continues each year under the direction of Little Man Ice Cream but is sustained by the contribution of the LoHi Merchants. The parade and family picnic drew more than 2,000 attendees (we were happy to pitch in serve a lot of hot dogs) and a slew of bakers who entered 35 pies in the event’s pie contest.

We are thankful for all the new and current clients we have been able to provide publicity and public relations services for these past few months. Here’s to cooler weather!

I would like to take a moment to highlight some of our amazing clients.

Shop Fix Academy 

We are proud to announce our partnership with Aaron Stokes and his company Shop Fix Academy. Based out of Franklin, TN, Shop Fix Academy is an online, accredited, educational platform for auto shop owners and managers to learn the skills necessary to run their business. Aaron and his team provide their students with online video courses that cover a wide variety of management topics as well as marketing advice and employee management. Aaron owns four EuroFix and two AutoFix locations as well as hosting his own radio show in Tennessee where he talks about his first love, auto repair. Our work with Shop Fix Academy has garnered them recognition in several Auto Industry magazines including, MotorAge Magazine, Parts and People, Ratchet + Wrench and Tire Review.

PAN Denver

We helped launch PAN-Denver a Patient Advocacy Nurse program owned by Lisa Bushman R.N. After 30 years at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Lisa wanted to extend her reach further and started PAN Denver in July. As a Patient Advocate Nurse Lisa will be able to help the “Sandwich Generation” navigate the struggles of caring for their elderly parents or their chronically ill children. Lisa has experience working with doctors in many different specialties and would be able to translate difficult medical lingo, manage prescriptions and create detailed logs of doctor’s visits and hospital stays. Her work is so valuable to anyone caring for a loved one and we are so happy to be spreading the word about her valuable work. Lisa was recently interviewed for the Denver Business Journal and we are so excited to help her grow her business.

 

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Lisa Bushman and her new car decal for her newly launched business.

Reed Art + Imaging

One of the highlights of our year so far has been our work with a long time Denver residents Reed Art + Imaging. At the end of last year, we were approached by their team to assist them with their struggles regarding the Federal Expansion Project. They decided to re-locate their business from Federal to the ever-growing 40W Arts District and we are so glad they did because their new space in the old Harley-Davidson building on Colfax is stunning and brimming with potential. Despite the hardships of being forced to move we are so happy to see something positive come out of this story and are looking forward to Reed’s Re-Grand Opening later this year.

 

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Photo from a Denver Post article featuring Reed Art + Imaging. Photo Credit: Andy Cross with the Denver Post

City of Wheat Ridge 

Another highlight of 2017 has been our continued partnership with the City of Wheat Ridge and the Wheat Ridge Education Alliance. Wheat Ridge High School has a fantastic STEM program that is a part of the Jeffco Public Schools Vision 20/20 program that helps students prepare for the work-force. The Wheat Ridge Transcript ran a front-page article highlighting some of the benefits of these programs. We are very proud of our work with Wheat Ridge schools and were excited to see where the rest of the year takes us.

The Bindery 

In the Fall of this year, Chef and Food Entrepreneur, Linda Hampsten-Fox will be opening her restaurant The Bindery on 1817 Central St. We are all very excited for the opening of her restaurant that will serve inspired eats, morning, noon and night with an urban marketplace atmosphere. We have been working with Linda to garner press for her opening as well as some of the events she’s hosted leading up to it. A highlight was Linda speaking with celebrity-chef Andrew Zimmern at the Aspen Food and Wine Festival.

 

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Chef Linda Hampsten-Fox and Andrew Zimmern at the Aspen Food and Wine Festival

 

We have so many other fantastic clients that you will be hearing more about over the coming months. We look forward to providing our readers with more content, thank you as always for your support.

Hello Everyone!
My name is Samantha Cox and I’m happy to introduce myself as Lu’s new personal assistant at The Stasko Agency. I have a BA in Cinema Arts and Sciences from Columbia College Chicago with a concentration in Writing.  I am thrilled to be able to bring elements of my degree into a creative setting while also utilizing my years in customer service. I grew up in Greenwood Village, CO but I recently moved to the highlands in August 2015. It has been a delight to work with Lu on many local clients and have gained a passion and appreciation for my new community. I look forward to the opportunity to grow professionally with Lu and the Stasko Agency while helping the agency move towards the future.
Currently, I am working on October/Halloween event planning and promotion for Latigo Mexican Restaurant. We are excited to create new yearly events for one of Denver’s best restaurants and we hope to see you at one of our fabulous events!

 

 

The Stasko Agency is a proud representative of the Denver Independent Brokers or DIBS, as it is known. For years they have been an outstanding resource for our other real estate clients. DIBS consists of 50 participating companies with a grand total of 80 members that range from brokers to a wide variety of real estate affiliates. 

Being an eclectic group of small independent firms benefits both the client and the group’s members. For clients, having so much insight from so many different angles, experiences and skillsets provide more perspective and better decision making. For the members, they have an opportunity to absorb new knowledge and explore new opportunities in the field. 
 
Although they maintain a professional business practice, DIBS meetings are not short of any entertainment. They keep work fun with a little bit of playful banter and a lot of laughs! 
 
For more information of DIBS please visit their website at http://dibsonline.com/.

  

This past weekend marked the LoHi Neighborhood’s 8th Annual 4th of July Parade and Family Picnic. The Stasko Agency has been involved with the fundraising for this event, helping to make it happen each and every year since its inaugural event in 2008. The event has become a great tradition for people of all ages in the LoHi Neighborhood and has continued to flourish over the years. Of course, that success would not be possible without numerous generous donations made by many of our LoHi Merchants. The LoHi Merchants who stepped up to show their support were, as follows:

  
We would like to thank all of the LoHi Merchants for their generous contributions. With your help we raised $5,350 in just two days. WOW!

 

 

The parade  and picnic featured a marching band, bouncing castle, and a 100 foot long sundae provided by Little Man Ice Cream.   
We hope you made it out to enjoy the fun this year, but if not, we’ll see you next year.

 

 

 

 

Summer is certainly the time for barbecues, relaxation and fun in the sun. And if you’re anything like the City of Wheat Ridge, it’s time for ribbon cuttings. In the past few months Wheat Ridge has hosted ribbon cutting ceremonies for Clancy’s Irish Pub, Hopper Hollow Park, Grammy’s Goodies, and – the two most recent – Sprouts and Starbucks.  

The new Sprouts and Starbucks took over the lot on 38th and Kipling, giving the area a refreshing new look and vibe – something the neighborhood has been looking forward to for some time now.  
 

 
 
In addition to the new shopping center and popular coffee shop, the 6.3 acre project is also now home to MorningStar Senior Living Center. The center includes 64 units and includes a memory care center for their residents. The new development gives a fresh and inviting look to the corner and adds to the essence of Wheat Ridge. Read more about what the Denver Post says about MorningStar, Sprouts, and Starbucks Grand Openings here. 
 
See you at the next ribbon cutting July 29th at 3:00 p.m. to welcome Wheat Ridge Learning Academy into the neighborhood. You can read more about the Wheat Ridge Learning Academy here.


Hello Everyone!  
 
My name is Tayler Latham and I’m happy to introduce myself as Lu’s summer intern over at The Stasko Agency. I am about to enter my senior year at Colorado State University as a Journalism Major with a concentration on Public Relations and a Business Minor. Through my studies at CSU, I have obtained skills pertaining to news writing, social media management, and PR. I spent this last semester interning for the Walt Disney World Company in Orlando, Florida. There I was able to connect with marketing professionals, enhance my social media skills, and get hands on experience in the corporate world. I met many amazing people and had many unforgettable experiences and I’m excited to bring what I learned into my future endeavors.  
  
 I’m thrilled to start this new adventure with Lu and The Stasko Agency. I look forward to applying knowledge from my college courses to the real world and absorbing all the tips and tricks Lu has up her sleeve.   
 
Currently, I am working on the social media for the City of Wheat Ridge and press for the Highland’s 8th Annual 4th of July Parade and Family Picnic at Hirshorn Park. I can’t wait to see what all this internship has in store and look forward to meeting and working with you all.