Nutrition firm moves to Denver
Atkins created popular diet in '70s
By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published January 15, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Atkins Nutritional, which created the popular high-protein, low- carbohydrate diet 36 years ago, has moved its headquarters to Denver.
Atkins, which was bought by East Coast private-equity firm North Castle Partners last fall, is moving into about 22,000 square feet on the 10th floor of Independence Plaza, 1050 17th St.
"They are still assembling some cubicles," said John Fischbach, an Atkins vice president. "We don't even have our big Atkins logo up yet."
Fischbach, along with other members of the Atkins management team, were executives with Golden-based EAS when it was owned by North Castle. North Castle sold EAS in 2004 to Abbott Laboratories for $320 million.
New Atkins CEO Monty Sharma also was chief executive at EAS.
North Castle approached the executives about heading Atkins, and they agreed, but they wanted to stay in the metro area. So North Castle relocated Atkins to Denver.
"Basically, the whole management team in Colorado for EAS has been brought to Atkins," Fisch bach said. "This is the first company that North Castle has allowed to relocate," Fischbach said. North Castle is headquartered in Greenwich, Conn., and New York.
"We were in Golden before at EAS, but we made a conscious effort to be in downtown this time," Fischbach said.
Jim Kircheimer, director of economic development of the Downtown Denver Partnership, called Atkins "a great fit" for downtown.
""What we are all about is healthy, active people," Kir cheimer said. "For downtown Denver, that is the whole image we project. And we're pretty jazzed that an East Coast company has moved here."
Atkins had been based in Melville, N.Y., Fischbach said.
The company went into bankruptcy in 2004, shortly after the death of founder Dr. Robert Atkins. It emerged from bankruptcy a year ago.
The Denver Atkins office employs about 25 people, and the company plans to hire 10 more, including people in finance and marketing, Fischbach said.
Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., said Denver rarely gets a company from east of the Mississippi River, so landing Atkins is a real coup.
"Maybe we can use Atkins as the poster child to pull other companies from the East Coast to Denver," Clark said.
rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207
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npokxlp writes:
John Fischbach is a Fat piece of $ HIT..
Considering he worked at EAS and now at Atkins, one would think he was in shape, and lean. DOES your product even work? You are fat, and more than likely the embarassment of Atkins....Practice what you preach, and stop squeezing twinkies in between your gapped teeth....NASTY I bet he has Bed Sores...