More than 575 participants from more than 60 companies hit the lanes to help Junior Achievement (JA) provide financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurial programs to local students.

The Northern Colorado JA Bowl-A-Thon raised a record $80,000, up from $66,000 last year. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the JA Bowl-A-Thon will be used to implement innovative economic education curriculum in classrooms in Northern Colorado. Specifically, these funds will cover the costs to provide JA programs to 3,700 students in 160 local classrooms during the 2013/14 school year.

The JA Bowl-A-Thon is JA’s largest single source of funding; proceeds from the event provide funding for approximately 25% of JA programs. The K-12 programs, taught by volunteers from the business community, cover the basic concepts of business and economics and emphasize the relevance of education.

In addition to raising a record amount of money, this year’s JA Bowl-A-Thon was supported by a record number of local companies, many of which seek fun, meaningful activities for their employees and want to support JA’s K-12 business/economic programs. “The success of the JA Bowl-A-Thon is a reflection of the participation of many local companies and the individual who give,” said Travis Gillmore, JA Northern Colorado Advisory Board Chair.  “We are grateful for the generosity of everyone involved.”

Brinkman Partners played a significant role in the success of this event by taking on the challenge to fill an event with 31 teams to collectively raise more than $23,000.  Paul Brinkman, cofounder and partner of Brinkman Partners said, “We are long term supporters of JA and believe in the programs that Junior Achievement provides our students that they wouldn’t otherwise have.”

JA Bowl-A-Thon events are held throughout the year in both Fort Collins and Greeley.  “Junior Achievement is overwhelmed by the generous support of the community,” said Joy Nyenhuis, District Direct for Junior Achievement–Rocky Mountain, Inc.   “It is great having so many companies participate in our JA Bowl-A-Thon shifts and to raise support to provide JA programs to local students.  We are grateful for each company, bowler, and donor that made this year’s event a huge success.”

The companies and organizations who participated in this year’s JA Bowl-A-Thon include: ABRA Auto Body, Advanced Interiors, Advantage Bank, Air Comfort, Alpine Lumber, Anadarko, Anton Collins Mitchell, Ben Car Corp, Brinkman Partners, Chase Bank, Cosner Financial, DCP Midstream, Dellenbach Motors, Distinctive Welding, DRM Real Estate Advisors, EKS&H, Exodus Moving & Storage, First National Bank, First Bank, Flood and Peterson, Forney Industries, Gillmore Family, Great Western Bank, Holsinger Drywall, Hurr Vasa Landscape & Sprinkler, Interstates Construction Services, King Soopers, Kiwanis of the Rockies, Kohl’s, Land Title, Lynn Cunningham Appliance, Masters LLC, Maximum Painting, MKO Financial, Molecular Coatings, Neuworks Mechanical, OtterBox Distribution Center, Pepsi, Perfection Painting, Pierson’s Concrete, Ripley Design, Roberts Excavation, Rodelle Inc., Schrader Oil Company, Security Services Federal Credit Union, Shirazi Benefits, SilverEdge, Standard Interiors, State Farm, Sunstate Equipment, Team Petroleum, Union Colony Protective Services, VFLA, Weld County Garage, Wells Fargo, Western States Bank, Western States Fire Protection, Wood Masters Enterprises, and YKS Acceptance.

Companies that provided generous lane sponsors were Acoustics & Interiors, Anadarko, Anton Collins Mitchell, Axis Electric, ColoScapes Concrete, Cosner Financial, DaVinci Signs, DCP Midstream, Dellenbach Motors, Design Mechanical, Earth Engineering Consultants, LLC, EKS&H, Flood & Peterson, Forney Industries, Freedom Fire Protection, Front Range Roofing, Glenrock Distributing, Grabau Roofing, Gregory Electric, Interstates Construction Services, Inc., Lynn Cunningham Appliance, Markley Motors, Masters, LLC, Open Studio Architecture, Pierson’s Concrete, r4 Architects, Schrader Oil Company, Stucco Rite, Tiger Steel, Weld County Garage, Western States, and Woodward.