Blogs

An anticipated time of the year for Coloradans is finally here! Girl Scout Cookie time starts Friday, Jan. 7. Not only can a box of Girl Scout Cookies satisfy your sweet tooth, but every Girl Scout Cookie purchase helps Girl Scouts in Colorado do great things. When Girl Scouts participate in the annual cookie sale, they are part of the largest girl-led business in the country that generates more than $700 million for girls in communities nationwide. In fact, last year in Colorado, girls participating in Girl Scouts earned $2.2 million for their activities, such as service projects or exciting trips. The Girl Scout Cookie Program is also an important ingredient for leadership development and helps girls develop five key skills: goal-setting, decision-making, money management, people skills and business ethics. Many Girl Scout alumnae credit programs like the cookie sale as the place they learned their early business skills. 

“My daughter is a Girl Scout Brownie, so I get to see first-hand the real-life skills she’s learning during the Girl Scout Cookie Activity – everything from setting goals to learning to speak in front of people and giving back to her community,” said Megan Ferland, president and CEO of Girl Scouts of Colorado. “Since I joined Girl Scouts of Colorado a year ago, I’ve been impressed by the women leaders I’ve met across the state who have said their Girl Scout experiences have helped lead them to their success today.”

Across the state, Girl Scout Cookies will be for sale from Friday, Jan. 7, to Sunday, March 13. Booth Sales at retail locations run from Friday, Feb. 18, to Sunday, March 13. Girl Scout Cookies cost $3.50 per box, and all money raised supports girls in Girl Scouts of Colorado, with a portion of the money going directly to the girls participating in Girl Scouts.

The eight Girl Scout Cookie varieties are Do-Si-Dos, Dulce de Leche, Lemon Chalet Cremes, Samoas, Tagalongs, Thank U Berry Munch, Thin Mints and Trefoils. All Girl Scout Cookie varieties contain zero grams of trans fat per serving and the Trefoils, Do-Si-Dos, Lemon Chalet Cremes, Thank U Berry Munch and Dulce de Leche have no hydrogenated oils.

Girl Scouts are encouraged to “ask” family and friends to buy Girl Scout Cookies online through email, social networking (such as Facebook or Twitter) or even text messaging; however, at this time, Girl Scouts cannot collect money online for cookie purchases. In Colorado, Girl Scouts can participate in the online Cookie Club, where they set goals, track their progress and email their family and friends to ask them to purchase.

Making the world a better place is central to the Girl Scout mission. During the cookie sale, Girl Scouts honor the non-profit organizations, food banks, military and uniformed personnel who are so important to our community through Girl Scouts’ Gift of Caring/Hometown Heroes program. Through this program, customers have the opportunity to purchase a box of cookies to donate to Girl Scouts’ heroes – a perfect solution for those who pass on the tempting treats! Girls learn about the invaluable work of their recipients by taking tours, learning about careers in public service and helping with community service projects. All Gift of Caring/Hometown Heroes purchases are tax deductible. Last year’s statewide program netted 120,000 boxes for hundreds of community organizations.  

For more information on ordering Girl Scout Cookies, text “Cookies” to 48696, visit our Facebook (Girl Scouts of Colorado) or Twitter (GSColo) pages, go to girlscoutsofcolorado.org, email inquiry@gscolorado.org or call 1-877-404-5708.

Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts of Colorado makes it easy, meaningful and fun for girls and volunteers to grow as leaders. We provide a safe place for girls to explore their world – from science, technology and the environment to healthy living, anti-bullying and financial literacy. For nearly 100 years, Girl Scouting has been helping each girl develop her personal leadership skills and make friends that last a lifetime. Girl Scouts is also a great place to enhance job skills and give back to your community as an adult volunteer. In fact, we serve 29,500 girl members and 9,500 adult volunteers across Colorado! For more information on how you can get involved in Girl Scouts of Colorado, visit girlscoutsofcolorado.org, call 1-877-404-5708 or email inquiry@gscolorado.org.

Aha!Local University Session 2: Local Listings

5:00 p.m. Thursday, January 13, 2011

Parallel Path Internet Marketing

1637 Pearl Street, Suite 201
Boulder, CO 80302
303-996-0959

The first Aha!U session presented an overview of seven different techniques available to the local business owner for marketing his or her business online to a local audience. This session takes a closer look at the first technique, online local listings, including Google Maps, Yahoo! local, Internet yellow pages, and similar sites.

We'll examine what online listings are, where they come from, how you can (or can't) control what is displayed, what you can do yourself, what you need an agency to help with, and what criteria you might use in selecting an agency.

For details and to register, visit http://www.meetup.com/AhaLocal-University

It’s never too early to start thinking about taxes, especially when tax moves you make right now could save you cash in the New Year. To help taxpayers gain a better understanding of tax savvy moves to make before Dec. 31, 2010, Bob Meighan, CPA and VP of TurboTax, recently released a new video (To learn more about maximizing your refund for 2010, view Bob Meighan’s video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eomiSFIRo0U) providing tips for taking advantage of end-of-year tax deductions and credits.

According to tax expert, Bob Meighan, the following are smart tax moves taxpayers can make before year’s end to maximize their refunds:

• Invest in making your home more energy efficient – Spend money to insulate your home, replace drafty windows, replace creaky old furnaces and water heaters or install residential solar, wind turbine systems or geothermal heat pumps to slash your energy bill now and increase your refund at tax time. You could be eligible for up to $1500 federal tax credits for investing in these energy savings.

• Give back - Donating to qualified charities helps those in need and can increase your tax refund. Obviously you can get a tax write-off for cash contributions, but don’t overlook donations like clothing, furniture, toys and bikes. Even the miles driven to and from volunteering can be deductible. Remember to keep receipts and documentation for all donations. There are free ways to find out how much your items are worth: visit ItsDeductible.com. Keep track of donated items here so it’s easier come tax time. Visit IRS.gov to make sure your chosen charity qualifies.

• Invest in your retirement plan – Investing in your 401k or IRA can increase your tax refund and fund a more comfortable retirement nest egg – tax free. Contributing to retirement accounts before the end of the year will decrease taxable income, boosting this year’s refund.

• Use tax software or go online – Despite pending tax law changes, taxpayers using tax software or going online can be confident that tax software will be updated when they are ready to file. Also, most of the pending tax legislation applies to 2011 and beyond. Very few of the pending tax bills affect one's 2010 tax return.

• Ask questions - If you have questions on deductions and credits, there is still time to get free answers to your questions. Visit freetaxquestion.com to have a tax expert call you back with a free answer between now and the end of January 2011.

Bob Meighan, CPA and VP of TurboTax, is the past chairman and current member of the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee. He joined Intuit in September 1991 and served most recently as vice president and general manager of the consumer tax group. Prior to joining Intuit, Mr. Meighan spent 11 years with the 'Big 6' accounting and consulting firm, Price Waterhouse, where he served as a senior manager in the advanced technology group. Because of his extensive tax knowledge, Meighan has been featured on ABC News, Fox, CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg Radio, and countless local and national television and radio programs, as well as contributing tax tips and information to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

To learn more about maximizing your refund for 2010, view Bob Meighan’s video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eomiSFIRo0U.

D3 Energy Lab Opens in Boulder, Colorado!

Facility Offers World-Class Facility Indoor Cycling& Training

Boulder, Colo. – Mike Ricci of D3 Multisport is proud to announce the opening of D3Energy Lab (www.d3energylab.com)at 3200 Valmont Street in Boulder. The Energy Lab is a state-of-the-art indoorcycling facility featuring CompuTrainer (www.racermateinc.com) equipment to provide riders with significantbenefits in a short amount of time, no matter what the weather.

Up to eight riders can train at the same time, on their own bikes, on the samevirtual course, which is projected onto the wall. Courses can be customized,and the system’s Interactive Real Course Videos allow parameters from famouscourses (including Tour de France stages and Ironman courses) to be input andraced. This allows riders to measure their performance against one another, andthemselves, as the system measures and records a variety of performanceparameters, including speed, calories and power output.

This networked, multi-rider feature allows CompuTrainer to provide the mostinteresting indoor bike experience available. USA Triathlon and USA Cyclingtest and train their athletes using CompuTrainer, which can help increase arider’s cycling power 20 to 30 percent while boosting speed 2 to 4 mph; and nowthis technology is available to riders of all ages and abilities in the Boulderarea. Classes are up and running and sessions are available mornings,lunchtime, evenings and weekends, and for a limited time, new riders canexperience a session for free. See http://www.d3multisport.com/EnergyLab/schedulefor a full schedule.

Available programs include Group Training and Coaching, enabling both competitive andfriendly group sessions where each rider performs at their own level. The coachprograms an individual athlete's threshold value and then creates a special"time-versus-percent threshold" workout for the athletes to follow asa group. Each rider then pushes themselves through the same workout, at theirown workload.

The D3 Energy Lab fills a void in the Boulder cycling and triathlon community byproviding coached indoor cycling, brick workouts using the facilitiestreadmills, and core strength options. There is nothing like it in the areathat combines indoor CompuTrainer/treadmill workouts along with high-levelcoaching for individuals and groups. Riders who break out of their basement toexperience the D3 Energy Lab will increase their speed and power and learn it’snot how much you train, it’s how you train. Punch passes, one-on-one, group and8-week class sessions are available, along with corporate team building events.

About the owners of the D3 Energy Lab:

Mike Ricci is a certified USAT Level III Coach, the owner of D3 Multisport, Inc.since 2000, and the head coach for the National Champion University of ColoradoTriathlon Team. D3 Multisport’s coaching services are based on the cornerstonephilosophy: Desire, Determination, and Discipline. D3 Multisport providesmultisport athletes and runners with a coaching service that is affordable,knowledgeable, and driven by the highest standards of customer service.D3 Multisport strives to be the leader in the multisport coaching fieldproviding customized training programs to athletes of all abilities. For moreinformation visit www.d3multisport.comor www.twitter.com/d3multisport,or search for D3 on Facebook..

Jay Lochhead is a local businessman and avid triathlete. Jay has competed for sixyears in triathlons from Sprint distance through Ironman. In 2008 he completedthe Ironman World Championship in Kona. A passion for driving higherperformance out of himself and others made Jay recognize the immediate valuethat the D3 Energy Lab had to offer. When not training for and racingtriathlon, Jay is active with his homeowners association, local government, andhis work in real estate with Keller Williams in Longmont, CO. Contact him at http://jaylochhead.yourkwagent.comor jaylochhead@kw.com.

Join us and shop for holiday gifts!

Tuesday, December 14th

3:30-5:30 pm

Boulder Country Day School

Eclectic Accessories by Tall Blonde Designs

Stella & Dot Jewelry from Patti Lemlein

Sweet Madeline Homemade Desserts

Pocket Poems from Lorie Shetter

Scentsy Wickless Candles

Baby Bibs & Necessities from Liana Wolf

Cottonwood Bark Carvings from Peter Chandler

Beads & Jewelry from Diana Assenmacher

Custom Decorative Pillows from Jan Designs

All vendors will be giving a percentage of their sales to the Boulder Country Day Annual Fund.

Rocky Mountain Brassworks will perform both traditional and contemporary holidaymusic on Saturday, December 11th at 7:30pm at the Broomfield Auditorium. Thisbrass band is known for celebrating the season with holiday selections with ahint of jazz, swing, or gospel. Festive brass arrangements include, “A CarolFantasy,” “Simple Gifts” and “Christmas Festival.” Brassworks will also perform the alwayspopular “Caribbean Christmas” and the inspiring “Salvation is Created.”

The Broomfield Auditorium is located at 3 Community Park Road in Broomfield, just north of 120^th Avenue between Main andLamar streets. The box office opens at6:30pm and the doors open at 7:00pm. Allseats are general admission. Tickets can be purchased in advance through www.rockymountainbrassworks.orgor (303) 476-0560. Ticket prices are;$15 Adults, $10 Seniors & Students.

Rocky Mountain Brassworks is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization that has performed in the Denver area for more than 30 years. The band has developed a strong workingrelationship with several local schools and supports their music programsthrough free performances.

For more information, please contact RMBrassworks@live.com, call us at 303-476-0560 or visit our website at www.rockymountainbrassworks.org.