Health Links offers free advising for businesses

Health Links, a Denver-based nonprofit initiative by the Colorado School of Public Health, is offering free advising to businesses interested in creating or improving employee health and safety programs. For businesses of less than 50 employees, the nonprofit may also offer $250 to $1,000 to help fund these programs.

Program manager Michelle Haan said Health Link’s Kick-Start program connects local advisors with businesses to help create a healthy business plan, to be carried out over a three-, six- or 12-month timespan.

“During the advising session, they figure out where that money would best be used,” she said. “They continue to follow up with them.”

The goal of the Kick-Start program is to help businesses reach the benchmark for Health Links’ Healthy Business Certification. The certification indicates an employer communicates and encourages engagement with employees, provides for both physical and mental health needs and has well-defined safety policies.

The certifications cost between $75 and $300, depending on the size of the business. The Kick-Start program is funded in part by the certifications.

“We run it as a nonprofit initiative,” Haan said. “Businesses are helping each other out.”

For more information, Summit County businesses may contact diana.reznikoff@healthlinkscolorado.org.

CMC hosts digital marketing workshop

Colorado Mountain College will host a seminar on digital marketing trends for 2016 this Thursday, Jan. 28 at the Dillon campus. The workshop is presented by the Colorado Workforce Center and Imagine That Creative to help promote brands, build preference and increase sales through various digital marketing techniques. The workshop will start at 1:30 p.m. and will be located in the Interactive Video System (IVS) room at CMC.

Vacation rental start-up recognized statewide

Evolve Vacation Rentals was recognized on Tuesday as one of the top Colorado startups to watch this year by tech company and start-up hub Built in Colorado. The site named 50 businesses statewide marked for potential growth. In the case of Evolve Vacation Rentals, the boom of the “sharing economy” was listed as a reason for the nomination, with rental sites such as VRBOs, Flipkey and Airbnb taking off in the past few years.

The vacation rental company helps homeowners list and book their properties in exchange for a 10 percent booking fee. Founded in 2011, the Denver-based company recently expanded to Summit County.

Local tire shop changes hands

Meadow Creek Tire and Services changed hands from longtime owner Gary Bergman, who had managed the shop for 43 years. The new owner-operator, Jason Smith, is a Breckenridge local who met Bergman through their shared interest in racing.

“Gary was a racer; I was a racer,” Smith said in a statement. “He wanted to hand over his business to someone who would appreciate it and take care of it.”

The tire shop will remain at its Frisco location but has changed its name to Utopia Tire. It will continue some of the practices started by Bergman, including recycling used tires for playgrounds or asphalt and burning generated waste oil to heat the building.