Kudos to the City of Loveland Economic Development staff for a job well done with this year’s Loveland Business Appreciation Breakfast. Kelly Jones, Economic Development Director, kicked off the event by acknowledging her team’s efforts. Annette Gilbert, Cindy Mackin and Beata McKee each received a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
The theme of the event was quite clever: Loveland Business Ninjas. Ninja themed T-shirts were worn by the city team, along with many of the people manning the resource tables. I thought that was a nice touch and added a fun element.
Loveland Mayor, Cecil Gutierrez, gave the welcome message. Cecil reminded us this was his last year as mayor. He shared his joy, pride and love for Loveland these past 8 years. Next year, we will see a new face giving the welcome message.
Cecil is a hard act to follow. Loveland City Manager, Steve Adams, spoke next and came out as a strong Ninja. A clever and humorous clip showing Steve doing Ninja training was shown as he came up to the podium.
A highlight of the breakfast was the keynote speaker, Noah Kaufman, the “Ninjadoc”. He has competed on American Ninja Warrior for 3 seasons and Team Ninja Warrior. Noah has joined forces with top Ninjas to tackle the epidemics of childhood obesity and diabetes. It was nice to see a local celebrity chosen to be a speaker at this event. An upcoming event that Noah is involved with, Wolf Pack Ninja Tour, will be held at the Budweiser Events Center on November 3-5, 2017.
The Business Breakfast is one of my favorite events and is an opportunity to spotlight the services the Loveland Business Development Center offers. I also enjoy visiting the other resource tables to discover resources that I am not aware of. I am looking forward to next year’s event and can’t wait to see what the economic development team comes up with for a theme.
