Fruita Area Chamber honored members during it’s annual banquet.
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n District 51’s facilities master plan
District 51 Superintendent Brian Hill discussed the district’s success in developing the 25-year facility master plan.
Venture Group launches new commercial real estate brokerage in Grand Junction.
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n Fortunato Fitness Club transitions
Fruita’s Fortunato Fitness has moved a quarter-mile west, and the move brought members together.
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n Behavioral health center comes to Delta
Dr. Ray and Jean Kadkhodaian’s nonprofit center will provide comprehensive counseling services for children, adolescents, couples and families, as well as peer-support groups for the community.
n Venture Group A few tweaks to help keep you from getting in a real pickle
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Komodo Pickleball owner Dave Milo stands in front of a display of pickleball paddles for sale at Komodo’s pro shop at 1077 22 Road. Komodo manufactures the paddles and sells them globally along with pickleballs and other pickleball accessories, such as bags and paddle cases. Komodo also has two indoor pickleball courts in one of the two Quonset huts on the property, and Milo has plans to connect the Quonset huts and have six indoor courts for play, lessons and training. Photo by Tim Harty.
Sports safety tips to keep you in the game St. Mary’s Regional Hospital See page 3
A Greater Cause to Serve
Komodo Pickleball became a global company with timely help from tennis legend Andre Agassi
Tim Harty The Business Times
Dave Milo was working out in his home gym one morning about a year and a half ago when the powerfully built owner of Grand Junction-based Komodo Pickleball was overcome with despair.
Komodo Pickleball, a designer, maker and retailer of pickleball paddles and accessories, was about to go bankrupt, and Milo said, “I was down to my last little bit of money, and, I mean, I have everything invested in this.”
A man of Christian faith, Milo said he dropped to the floor and just started crying.
“And I asked the Lord to help me,” he said. “I said, ‘Lord, I’m giving this to you. I cannot do this anymore. I’m mentally, physically, financially, I’m gonna lose everything that I have, and I don’t know what to do.’”
As of that day, Milo figured he had 15 days left of income, 15 days for something to happen, or he would file bankruptcy. Thirteen days passed, then a friend from California, during an event in Denver, introduced Milo to another man of faith, a winner of eight men’s tennis Grand Slam championships: Andre Agassi.
And a new day dawned for Komodo Pickleball.
This array of Komodo Pickleball paddles includes several currently available models, such as the Katana, Furi 14, Furi 16 and Venum, and one upcoming model, the Tenet. Komodo’s newer paddle models range in price from $130 to $225 as listed online at komodopickleball.com, usually with a four-pack of BioBalls included. Komodo Pickleball owner Dave Milo said the difference between Komodo’s paddles and cheap paddles that sell for about $30 to $40 in big-box stores is the materials used to make them. “A lot of the very cheaper-end paddles are made with very poor polypropylene, and it’s the fiberglass face or a cheap carbon-fiber face. They’re just very cheaply made, very cheaply made. They’re not made to last,” he said. In the middle of the photo are three BioBalls, which Komodo makes and markets as “the world’s first USAPA approved bio-pickleball.” It is biodegradable and Komodo claims a BioBall is “five times more durable than traditional pickleballs, lasting up to 70 games on a single ball.” Photo by Tim Harty.
“On Day 14, I met Andre Agassi, and Andre Agassi came on board and helped lift me to a next level,” Milo said. “And you can look that up, it’s online, Komodo Pickleball, Andre Agassi was a part owner of our company.”
In his office at 1077 22 Road, Milo pointed to a photo of Agassi with Milo and his wife, Jessica, and he said, “He lifted us up to the next level and brought us out of a hole.”
Komodo Pickleball went from the brink of bankruptcy to a burgeoning international pickleball company.
Milo said Agassi moved on to a different pickleball company, Joola, a few months ago.
“He is with the number one paddle company in the world right now, because they’re paying him big bucks,” Milo said.
Milo added they’re still good friends, mentioning during an April 30 interview he had called Agassi the day before to wish him a happy birthday.
There is nothing to be upset about, he said. Milo remains grateful for Agassi and sees their friendship as a gift from God when he needed it most.
“Things in life like that, and in business, it’s truly amazing what can transpire when you release it and give it to God,” Milo said. “And that’s what I did. I mean, I completely said, ‘Take it. ‘”
GROWING INTO GLOBAL COMPANY
Proof that Komodo Pickleball is now thriving comes in numerous forms, such as:
• This week’s Komodo Open, a second-year pickleball tournament that starts May 7 and runs to May 11.
It drew more than 250 participants a year ago, and Milo expects at least as many this year. There will be plenty of players with a Komodo Pickleball paddle in hand on the Lincoln Park pickleball courts.
• As of Jan. 1, according to Milo, Komodo Pickleball made the top 20 of paddle companies – “and there’s about 80 of them,” he said – based on pro-shop sales throughout the tennis and pickleball world.
“The tennis world right now is where a lot of the pro shops are picking up pickleball,” he said. “There’s not a lot of dedicated, just pickleball stores. It’s a lot of racket sports, too, so tennis is the big one. So, in the tennis world right now, out of pro shops, tennis pro shops, we’re ranked 20 right now, which is phenomenal.”
• That Top 20 listing was before Komodo Pickleball launched in 22 countries in March. It’s moving into Australia and New Zealand next, as Milo said on April 30, “Product is on its way there right now. Probably June 1st they physically will be selling product.”
Meanwhile, Milo has a bit of a world tour planned this spring to visit locations where Komodo has or will add manufacturing or distribution. The trip will take him to Spain, Australia, China and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, in Grand Junction there’s plenty of growing to do in other ways, such as investing in more research and development to remain relevant in the competitive pickleball market.
SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY
Becoming a global company means doing a lot more marketing of everything Komodo Pickleball sells.
Milo wishes he’d understood the importance of marketing sooner. He owned oil and gas and construction-based businesses previously, but they weren’t retail-based.
He quickly learned “marketing is a very big key in retail. And I didn’t realize that till this last year, and now I’m having, you know, to really market Komodo. … And now going global, even marketing harder.”
See Komodo on Page 6
Award was recognizing its Fred and Tufley, built creating alike. Their ongoing support involved, visit website at went to Rick consistently mission. volunteer spirit, fostering community. As the continues stories,
District 51’s 25-year facilities master plan getting results
Brandon Leuallen The Business Times
Mesa County Valley School District 51 continues to advance its 25-year Facility Master Plan, a comprehensive roadmap initiated in 2023 to address the district’s long-term infrastructure needs. At the Grand Junction Economic Summit on April 25, District 51 Superintendent Brian Hill discussed the district’s success in developing the facility master plan as a way to communicate with the community, provide updates on capital funding needs and establish a consistent approach to securing and responsibly utilizing funding for the projects.
Origin of the 25-year plan
In the summer of 2023, District 51 hired Hord Coplan Macht (HCM), an architectural and planning firm, to develop a long-range facility master plan. The decision was driven by the need to identify and address an unknown quantity of maintenance and infrastructure needs across the district.
“When Clint Garcia started in his position, there was no comprehensive facility plan,” District 51 board member Angela Lema said. “There were some partial plans for some of the facilities, but nothing that showed the big picture. We spoke about it, and he and Superintendent Hill came up with a plan specifically for this, and they’ve done an excellent job.”
Lema said Hill and Garcia started in their current positions in July 2022, about 6 months after she had been elected to the board.
According to District 51’s facilities master plan, the assessments conducted by the consultants evaluated the condition, educational adequacy and utilization of nearly all of the district’s 3 million square feet of building space and 46 schools and programs. The district’s facilities range in age, with the oldest built in 1903 and the newest completed in 2024. On average, the buildings are just over 42 years old.
“We had schools that still lacked secure entrances. If you can walk right into the front of some of our schools, there’s no vestibule, it’s not OK for our kids.” Hill said Their work culminated in a prioritized list of initiatives with safety and security improvements, deferred maintenance and enhancements for special education and preschool programs topping the list and about $585 million of needs over the 25-
year period into the future.
The committee’s recommendations were presented to the District 51 administration and school board in the fall of 2024, setting the stage for a voterapproved $190 million bond and mill levy in November 2024.
The plan consists of five phases, and the initial funding supports Phase 1, targeting the most critical needs, including safety upgrades and major renovations at Central High School and Fruita Monument High School.
Local funding for the plan has been particularly important for District 51, one of Colorado’s lowest-funded school districts per student, facing longtime shortfalls from the state. Board President Andrea Haitz said the state has withheld approximately $250 million from the district since 2009 due to the budget-stabilization factor, which can reduce funding by up to $20 million in certain years.
Transparency and fiscal responsibility
One major goal of the facility master plan is to provide a publicly accessible, long-range plan that allows residents to track progress and understand the condition of their schools.
“These properties belong to the community, and they have a right to know what’s coming up,” Lema said.
Another key objective is ensuring fiscal responsibility by finishing projects under budget, allowing savings to be rolled into subsequent efforts.
“These are taxpayer dollars. It’s the people’s money. We have to make them stretch as far as we can,” Lema said.
As a board member and committee participant, she said she is actively involved in the process. Lema also underscored that while cost cutting is important, maintaining quality remains a top priority.
“We talk a lot about needs versus what would be nice. Like, do we need something, or would it just be nice to have it? We don’t have the luxury of creating luxury. We’ve got to have functionality,” she said.
Additional funding strategies
Lema said the district is pursuing grants to help fund additional phases, and Hill said that selling unneeded parcels of land is another strategy to put money back into the capital budget. With project savings, grant funding and land-sale proceeds, Lema said some Phase 2 projects might be able to be pulled into Phase 1 to keep the process moving.
Grand Junction High School, a separate project planned under a previous superintendent and board, was funded through a different bond.
See DISTRICT 51 on Page 14
Brian Hill
Venture Group launches new commercial real estate brokerage
Tim Harty The Business Times
They’ve worked together previously at different companies in Grand Junction, and they’re familiar with the expertise each
That familiarity is a pretty good start for Kyle Serrano, Cory Carlson, Becca Posner and Theresa Englbrecht, a quartet of commercial brokers who came together to form Venture Group in late April. The new commercial real estate and business brokerage firm in Grand Junction focuses specifically on commercial market segments as well as mergers and acquisitions.
Venture Group, 627 24 1/2 Road, Unit D, is well-versed in a variety of commercial real estate transactions, from retail spaces and office buildings to industrial properties and land development. It will offer a comprehensive range of services, including property valuation, market analysis, business brokerage and leasing negotiations.
Serrano, Venture Group’s CEO, said he worked with Carlson, Posner and Englbrecht previously, at least three years with each, and he thinks it was seven years with Eng-
Serrano said their reunion isn’t something that was long in the works. Rather, it was an “all the stars kind of aligned sce-
“I was looking at doing something dif-
ferent and kind of joining some type of a firm or growing or scaling at some point for some more synergy with other good brokers in the area,” he said. “It just kinda happened at the same time that some other brokers were looking to make some changes and kinda do some things differently with their business. So, it all kind of originated pretty quickly after that.”
Serrano calls Venture Group a boutique brokerage because of its focus. It’s not trying to be all things to all people. The foursome has similar strengths and will play to those.
“Focusing our resources and our energy and our efforts and our time and a specialty of commercial and business brokerage was kind of where we all had the meeting of the minds of like, ‘Yes, this just makes sense that we have a specialty boutique firm that focuses on commercial real estate and M&A,’” he said.
Serrano thinks Venture Group’s experience in total is about 40 to 45 years, and the four have worked in the Grand Valley and know the market. And they want to be in this market.
“We’re all bullish on Grand Junction in terms of long-term growth in general,” he said. “The commercial real estate market here has been appreciating, and it’s been pretty robust, and it’s been increasing over the last number of years. So, we’re just bullish on where we’re at in the marketplace and kind of what the future growth projections look like for Grand Junction relative to M&A and relative to commercial real estate.”
Clients have options when it comes to commercial brokers in Grand Junction and the Western Slope, but Serrano thinks clients who come to Venture Group will quickly see what sets it apart.
He points to the experience in the group, the competency, the quality of people that they have to work with and represent people. And then there’s “the specialty and the direct focus of doing what we do, and focusing on commercial and M&A is really what sets us apart and why you would choose us.”
For more information about Venture Group and its services, visit www.venturegj.com, email info@venturegj.com or call 970-314-2084. F
Kyle Serrano
Cory Carlson
Theresa Englbrecht
District 51
Continued from page 5
Lema said that while that project came in under budget, the district will not redirect those funds to other capital needs. Instead, the savings will be returned to taxpayers through a reduced levy following project completion.
Hill said that with declining enrollment, the district has addressed some capital and general fund challenges by consolidating and closing schools.
Broader cost-saving measures
Outside of capital projects, Lema said the district is working to control costs through measures such as leaving certain administrative positions unfilled and focusing on energy conservation. She credited Facilities, Energy and Resource Conservation Manager Keegan Pfeiffer for leading conservation efforts that resulted in $400,000 of savings in 2024, with an estimated $600,000 of savings projected for 2025.
For more information on the 25-Year facility master plan, visit the School District 51 website at www.d51schools.org.
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Fortunato
Continued from page 11
What that ultimately means is Fortunato Fitness Club is going from calling itself a 24/7 gym to really being a 24/7 gym.
Having to have a staff member around wasn’t always possible, and now it doesn’t matter.
“Now they can just scan the QR code, and they can get inside,” Paul said. Or, Chelcy added, “Buy a membership, and they go.”
The Kisi system also has 24-7 camera systems, “and we have access to that on our phones at all times,” Paul said.
The system also lets the Fortunatos
Using cutting-edge data, we can provide up-to-date information on the labor market and wage analysis for any occupation
We offer assessments to address various skills needed for employment as well as the NCRC, a nationallyrecognized assessment to identify the foundational skills of a candidate
A variety of services are available for employers and employees when a business must downsize, layoff, or close
know with a ding on their phones if someone enters the building and does not have the app, such as a nonmember following in behind a member or being let inside by a member.
“That’ll help, because we did have a little bit of that with the old system, somebody had let their friend in,” Paul said. Because the building was a warehouse, it has a huge garage door in front, and Chelcy thinks they can take advantage of that on nice days.
“We thought that this was a great spot to even open up that garage door in the summertime and do some spin classes and do those types of things where you can get the sunshine and kind of go back and forth with the gym,” she said.
Also, the lot is large, meaning there’s a lot of space for parking, double what they used to have.
Otherwise, it’s the same old Fortunato Fitness, continuing to offer what netted the club 400 members.
And for anyone who hasn’t been to Fortunato Fitness, Paul said they should come and check it out
“You know, I think the biggest thing that we have to offer is it is a community gym, it’s a family gym,” he said. “It’s 24/7, which fits everybody’s schedule, so there’s no excuse not to get in here. … We’d love to see as many people in here as we can.”
Owners Paul and Chelcy Fortunato stand next to the Jacobs Ladder climbing machine inside Fortunato Fitness Club, which moved to 616 E. Grand Ave. on April 27. Photo by Tim Harty.
