Shareholders approve go-public merger with Lightning eMotors Loveland-based Lightning eMotors is one step closer to becoming a publicly listed company after shareholders in a special purpose acquisition company approved a merger between the two companies. Approximately 98% of GigCapital 3 shareholders who participated in a special meeting Wednesday voted to approve the company’s merging with the maker of drivetrains for nonpassenger electric vehicles, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday morning. SPACs are shell companies that are listed on public exchanges and are later merged with companies looking to go public outside of the normal procedures of an initial public offering. That method of taking a private company onto an exchange soared in popularity last year. Once the deal is consummated, Lightning will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ZEV. At the time of the deal’s announcement last December, Lightning eMotors was valued at $823 million. The company expects to add up to $270 million in cash to its books through the deal, which it plans to use to fuel an audacious growth strategy. The latest filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that Lightning expects to go from generating about $9 million in revenue in 2020 to $63 million in 2021 and grow exponentially to $2 billion in sales and a gross margin of 26% by 2025. WeldWerks confirms restart of October beer festival WeldWerks Brewing of Greeley will hold its WeldWerks Invitational beer festival in person in October, taking a direction opposite of the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. The brewery said Monday that it will invite representatives from 45 craft breweries across the U.S. to restart the annual competition that began in 2018 but was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. WeldWerks said it will continue to monitor COVID-19 guidelines and trends in the months leading up to the Oct. 30 festival. A full set of safety guidelines is set to be determined once tickets are put on sale. WeldWerks announced plans for the in-person event days after the Brewers Association said it would hold the Great American Beer Festival virtually for the second year in a row out of an abundance of caution. BBB names Torch Award for Ethics winners Three businesses and one nonprofit organization from Northern Colorado and Wyoming have been named recipients of the 2021 BBB Torch Awards for Ethics by the Better Business Bureau Foundation Serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming. The virtual celebration was held Thursday and included recognition of the second class of BBB ethics scholar interns, and the announcement of this year’s Torch Award for Ethics winners. Torch winners in the business category were: • Blue Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Cheyenne with branch locations along the Front Range of Colorado. • Coffey Engineering and Surveying, headquartered in Laramie with an office in Loveland. • Spine and Injury Clinic of Laramie The nonprofit winner was Animal Friends Alliance, which has two locations in Fort Collins.Nominations for the 2022 BBB Torch Awards are now open, and the nomination form is available at bit.ly/2QkSrIB. The deadline to nominate an organization is July 9, 2021. In Brief • Tolmar Pharmaceuticals of Fort Collins has won a federal contract award for $63,837,600 from the Department of Veterans Affairs in Hines, Ill., for drugs and biologicals. • Dr. Davis Blanton of UCHealth Family Medicine Center partnered with Surgery Center of Fort Collins on March 11 to host a daylong event to perform colonoscopies on 12 patients from underserved Northern Colorado communities. Dr. Julio Salimbeni served as anesthesiologist, and Summit Pathology in Loveland donated its services to review findings. • The 87 Runza restaurants, including one in Loveland, raised $40,139 during the Nebraska-based company’s Runza Feeds the Need fundraiser April 13. The money will benefit hunger-related organizations, including KidsPak in Loveland. People Ashley Imburgia • Ashley Imburgia, a doctor of psychology, has joined Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center at McKee Medical Center in Loveland and North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley to help with the range of emotions that can come with a cancer diagnosis and to support a patient’s physical cancer care. Psycho-oncology provides personalized behavioral medicine and support interventions to patients and their caregivers. • Tyler Smith, owner of Bear Naked Hot Tub Co. in Loveland and Mountain Mist Pool & Spa in Longmont, was featured as a model of best business marketing practices at Main Street America’s Main Street Now 2021 Conference, a virtual event April 12-14. He was part of a presentation by Destination Business expert Jon Schallert, “The Post-Covid Comeback: The New Requirements to Build a Destination Downtown.” • Professional speaker Rebekah Shardy of Loveland has completed her second book, “Indivisible Nature, People, and Spirit.” According to a press release, the book “presents ways to overcome current social divisions through empathetic dialogue, a reciprocal relationship with Nature and fusion of one’s internal energies.” Shardy offers best practices from the Iroquois nation and early Celts. The book is available on Amazon. For more information, or to schedule a presentation, contact Shardy at 970-308-8393. Send us your business news The Reporter-Herald strives to include newsworthy business briefs for its readers each Sunday. The focus of business briefs is on Northern Colorado businesses, not business promotions. The items we consider for briefs include: • New businesses.• Business relocations.• Business closings.• New contracts.• Anniversaries (divisible by five).• Mergers and acquisitions.• New owners, employees or promotions of employees.• Manufacture of new products.• Business organization meetings, workshops, seminars or classes meant for networking or education.• Open houses related to newsworthy events (new business, anniversary, new owners, renovations, new management, etc.).• Awards or other recognition.• Donations to charities.• Earnings. Press releases are welcome. The Reporter-Herald reserves the right to edit information submitted for publication. Pictures of individuals involved in the event are welcome, but publication is not guaranteed. Information is due by noon Wednesday for publication in the following Sunday’s business section. Information can be emailed to [email protected]. For more information, contact Craig Young, 970-635-3634, [email protected]. © 2020 BizWest Media LLC Loveland Reporter-Herald