Boulder County Business Hall of Fame names 2026 inductees

BOULDER — Nine business leaders have been selected for the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame’s 2026 class, the organization announced Wednesday.

The honorees — Gerry Agnes, Sally and Sandy Bracken, Becky Callan-Gamble and Dean Callan, Rene and Maria Cervantes, Rich Lopez and Denis Nock — will be inducted in a ceremony to be held Sept. 30 at the Boulder Jewish Community Center, 6007 Oreg Ave. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m.

The inductees’ contributions span commercial real estate, financial services, immigrant entrepreneurship, civic leadership, higher education and community investment.

“From immigrant entrepreneurs to decades-long pillars of the real estate and financial sectors, this class reflects the full breadth of what makes Boulder County exceptional,” Doyle Albee, who chairs the organization’s board of directors, said in a prepared statement. “These honorees embody the spirit of bold ideas and an unwavering commitment to community.”

Gerry Agnes: As president and CEO of Elevations Credit Union for 17 years, Agnes transformed a community financial institution into one of the most recognized credit unions in the country. Under his leadership, Elevations grew to more than $3.5 billion in assets and earned the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice, one of the highest distinctions for organizational excellence in the United States. A fixture in Boulder’s business community for nearly two decades, Agnes was repeatedly recognized as one of BizWest’s Most Influential Business Leaders and served in numerous civic and industry leadership roles. He retired in February.

Sally and Sandy Bracken: The Brackens have built a legacy that spans higher education, business strategy and philanthropy. Sally Bracken has spent more than four decades helping shape Boulder County. She served as a trustee of the Boulder Community Health Foundation and, together with Sandy, made a landmark $1 million gift to Boulder Community Foothills Hospital in 2012 for an  inpatient cancer and urology unit, a space that now bears the Bracken name.

Sandy Bracken, who served as the 19th president of the University of Colorado and later held the Quigg and Virginia S. Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership at CU Boulder, began his career in higher education at Anderson College in Anderson, Indiana, and then transitioned to the business world, working for Ball Corp. in Westminster and Boulder.

The couple has also been active supporters and board members of the Community Foundation Boulder County, Student Venture, Boulder Community Health Imagine! Foundation, Impact on Education, and the Boulder Humane Society.

Dean Callan and Becky Callan-Gamble: Few names are more synonymous with Boulder’s commercial real estate landscape than Callan. Dean Callan founded Dean Callan & Co. in 1963 with a community-first approach that became the firm’s defining characteristic for more than six decades. His daughter Becky Callan-Gamble joined the company in 1992 and has served as CEO, guiding a team of brokers with more than 150 years of collective experience in tenant and landlord representation across the Front Range.

Dean Callan served on several boards, including Boulder Community Hospital, Colorado National Bank and Frasier Meadows Manor.  Becky Callan-Gamble served on the initial advisory boards of the Boulder Center for Sport Medicine and the Boulder Economic Council.  In addition, Becky and her husband, Bruce, were integral to the Leadership Program for student-athletes at The University of Colorado, where the Gamble Steps Program was implemented to design comprehensive career and life skills to help seniors transition out of competitive athletics.

Both Becky and Dean served terms as president of the CU Buff Club.

Rene and Maria Cervantes: The Cervanteses arrived in Longmont more than 37 years ago with little more than hard work, hope and a determination to build something for their family. What began as a small burrito shop became La Mariposa, with multiple restaurant locations across Boulder County. Their business has not only created jobs and served generations of families but has also become a symbol of the Latino business community’s contributions to Boulder County’s economic and cultural fabric.

Rich Lopez: Raised in California, Lopez worked in agricultural fields before serving in the National Guard. He studied architecture and planning at California Polytechnic State and Cornell universities, then earned a law degree from the University of Colorado. His professional career began in city planning, where he contributed to Boulder’s first Community Energy Management Program, early planning for Denver International Airport and major land-use, transportation, energy, solid waste and bikeways initiatives. He served two years on Boulder’s planning board and four on the Boulder City Council, including as deputy mayor.  Lopez has chaired major boards including the Denver Foundation and Boulder Community Health, led wildfire and flood relief efforts for the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County and guided the Cal-Wood Education Center through the dual challenges of a pandemic and wildfire.

Denis Nock: Nock arrived in Boulder in 1980 as president of Valleylab Inc., the medical products division of Bristol-Myers. He served as president of the Boulder Chamber of Commerce for eight years, earning its Businessperson of the Year award, before directing the entrepreneurship center at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Inductees are evaluated by a selection committee that considers the nominee’s business achievements, community impact, ethical leadership and lasting contributions to Boulder County’s economic and social fabric. The nomination window for the class of 2027 will open in early 2027.

Any current or former business leader with demonstrated ties to Boulder County is eligible. Nominees should have a record of business excellence, community engagement and ethical leadership that has had a measurable impact on the region.

Ticket and sponsorship information for the Sept. 30 ceremony is available at halloffamebiz.com. Sponsorships support both the event and the organization’s broader mission, including its student scholarship program.

The Boulder County Business Hall of Fame, a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1992, has inducted more than 200 business leaders who represent the highest standards of business ethics, innovation and community commitment in Boulder County. Profiles of all alumni classes are available at halloffamebiz.com/alumni.

The organization also provides scholarships to Boulder County high school students who wish to attend CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business and to students at Front Range Community College.

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