English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Lakewood, CO

A publicly traded Lakewood Ranch-based tech company that increased revenue by 12% year-over-year is nearing $8 billion in annual revenue, attributing the growth in part to acquisitions.

Roper Technologies — which trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker ROP — posted $7.9 billion in revenue last year, according to the 2025 financial report it released Tuesday. Acquisitions contributed to a 7% increase in revenue in 2025, while organic revenue was up 5%, the report says.

With more acquisitions on the horizon and AI capabilities leading innovation, Roper officials are forecasting more growth in 2026.

The 2025 results provide a “clear demonstration of Roper’s durable long-term cash flow compounding model," Roper Technologies President and CEO Neil Hunn says in a statement. “Relative to our M&A strategy, we deployed $3.3 billion toward high-quality vertical software businesses, highlighted by CentralReach, Subsplash and several bolt-on acquisitions.”

Over the summer, Roper acquired Subsplash for $800 million. The company provides AI-enabled, cloud-based software and fintech solutions to more than 20,000 faith-based organizations and churches. In the spring, Roper closed a $1.65 billion deal to acquire CentralReach, a software provider specializing in services for those with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“Additionally, we opportunistically repurchased 1.12 million shares for $500 million through our recently initiated share repurchase program,” Hunn says in the statement.

In 2026, Roper Technologies is “well positioned to continue deploying capital, with significant M&A capacity, a large pipeline of attractive acquisition opportunities and the flexibility to utilize our share repurchase program,” Hunn says in the statement.

The company plans to move forward with a focus on artificial intelligence, after announcing in November it created two new leadership roles centering around AI.

"Roper enters 2026 with a fundamentally stronger foundation, following meaningful enhancements last year to our leadership talent, AI technical capabilities, capital deployment discipline and operating model,” Hunn says. “We remain focused on accelerating innovation and commercialization to capture the significant AI opportunity across each of our businesses.”

Lakewood’s long-debated zoning code changes will be heading to a vote this spring.

The Lakewood City Council on Monday unanimously voted to send four of the new zoning code’s ordinances to a special election on April 7, putting the fate of the city’s zoning changes in the hands of the citizens — a concept thousands of people fought for last year.

Lakewood City Clerk Jay Robb confirmed the sufficiency of four referendum petitions against Ordinances 2025-27, 28, 29 and 30 on Jan. 12.

The Lakewood Home Rule Charter requires “at least 3% of the total number of registered electors of the city of Lakewood on the date of the last regular municipal election” to deem a referendum petition sufficient.

All four of the petitions had at least 3,600 signatures, with three stretching past 4,000, and 3% of the around 117,000 Lakewood residents is just about 3,500.

The council had two options: repeal the petitioned ordinances or put them on a special election ballot. They all decided on the latter.

The ordinances were included in the nearly 400-page zoning code update that was officially approved by council between separate meetings last fall, with official approval of the entire update on Oct. 13.

The updates were debated for months, with vocal groups like Lakewood Citizens Alliance and Lakewood Stronger Together speaking out on social media and gathering petition signatures. Groups like Make Lakewood Livable fought to promote it.

The biggest issue raised by the opposition was the changing of the term “single-family zoning,” which does not appear in the new document. Instead, the city will use the term “residential dwellings.” A residential dwelling could be a single-family home, duplex, tri-plex or townhome in an effort to create more affordable housing.

Lakewood has never had single-family-only zoning, with all areas allowing some type of different usage like group homes or duplexes, but now all areas will allow the usage of multi-family residences.

Sophia Mayott-Guerrero, Make Lakewood Livable campaign manager and a former councilmember, told The Denver Gazette that the groups that started the petitions used fear-mongering and incorrect information regarding the changes.

She added that the updates are working to legalize starter homes in residential neighborhoods, creating stricter limits on large structures in order to preserve existing neighborhood character and allowing a more livable housing options.

“Too many things, from making rent to ever owning a home, feel out of reach for most people in Colorado,” she said. “Right now, Lakewood residents can’t afford to go backwards or waste any more time debating the importance of sustainability, accessibility, and affordability.”

Both sides of the issue, including Mayott-Guerrero and Karen Gordey, head of Lakewood Citizens Alliance, agree that sending the issue to a special election is the right move for transparency.

“Major land-use decisions should reflect informed public consent. A special election provides the transparency and voter participation necessary for the community to decide the future of its neighborhoods and the city as a whole,” Gordey said, adding that more than 6,000 unique registered Lakewood voters signed the petitions.

And now the vote will occur.

“I hope that everyone will come out and vote because this is an important issue and everyone deserves to weigh in on this,” Councilmember Roger Low said during the Monday meeting, noting that a special election does worry him because they often see less participation than normal elections.

“I hope that it’s not a low turn out election because I think it’s a matter of great consequence,” he said.

Ballots will be mailed to all active registered voters later this spring for the April 7 election.

One of the most ridden trail networks in Colorado got its first directional, bike-optimized trail in November. The Prairie Plunge trail, in Lakewood’s Bear Creek Lake Park, has both a green-blue rated trail and a blue rated trail that parallel each other for a tenth of a mile and roughly 35 feet of drop. Both trails swiftly pull riders from side to side, and though there’s no jumps, riders can experience a rush of speed and plunge from the top of one berm, down to the bottom of the gulley, and up to the next.

The scale of these trails is small compared to the steep and rugged trails across the Front Range of Colorado, but it’s still a win for an area lacking in beginner trails. Prairie Plunge is the first trail in the park designed with mountain biking in mind, though it remains open for hiking too.

“That’s why this Prairie Plunge trail is the first of its kind for Lakewood,” said Gary Moore, the Executive Director of the Colorado Mountain Bike Association (COMBA), who worked with the City of Lakewood to design and build the trail.

The City of Lakewood, a western suburb in the Denver metro area, manages Bear Creek Lake Park and Green Mountain, the two most proximal trail systems to Denver for mountain biking. Both are situated between several neighborhoods and thousands of homes, making the two networks a catch-all for people venturing away from the city to ride somewhere close, or residents pedaling out from their homes after the workday to get some exercise in. While Green Mountain has seen more bike-optimized trails in the past decade, Prairie Plunge marks the first meaningful trail upgrade in Bear Creek Lake Park.

How it happened

COMBA began working with the City of Lakewood as a stakeholder in 2024 on the Bear Creek Lake Park master plan. The park was considering everything from infrastructure and fee updates, swim beach expansions, and future trail planning. Lakewood secured about $18,000 in grants for trail construction and renovation, according to Moore, and COMBA took the reins.

A handful of the older trails in the northern part of the park were rerouted as Prairie Plunge was built. These older trails, like many in Green Mountain, weren’t designed with sustainability or the modern mountain biking experience in mind when they were bedded in decades ago. Some of these trails had short, steep sections that drained water poorly and had erosion issues, and were still a crux for beginner-level riders.

The big, sweeping berms of Prairie Plunge are a first in Lakewood’s open spaces and, for a segment of riders, likely a new feeling, if they haven’t yet experienced COMBA’s more advanced works in Jefferson County’s Rutabaga Ride, or Clear Creek’s Virginia Canyon, Floyd Hill, and Maryland Mountain.

Moore has been tempering expectations because the trails are short and riders are still sharing the trail with hikers. “Lakewood has been resolute in keeping things bi-directional and multi-use,” he said.

His experience in working with the City is that both Bear Creek and Green Mountain were intended to have a preservation-first, recreation-second style of management — something important in maintaining green spaces for a major metro area that is still growing.

“There’s going to be a different feel of the experiences you’re trying to create when your overarching goal is conservation first,” said Moore.

The new trails also come while the park is undergoing a major study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine if the reservoir in the park should be expanded, flooding trails, beaches, and riparian habitat in the process, to hold more water as the Denver metro area grows.

Though the land is managed by the City of Lakewood, it was actually leased from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1982, and remains a “flood control project,” according to the master plan.

The feasibility study is ongoing, and stakeholders were “focused on land use improvements in areas of the park that are not owned by the Army Corps,” says a section in the master plan.

Pitching in with conservation

The last piece of work for COMBA trail builders and volunteers on Prairie Plunge might come as a surprise to many, but it involved laying down native seed, planting plants, and mitigating noxious weeds. Some parties may not think of mountain bike trail organizations as aiding in ecological restoration, but Moore admits the necessity.

“It’s hugely important,” he said. “The noxious weeds are problematic for a number of reasons, but putting in the right plants and flowers and things that are going to support the ecosystem at the very bottom of the chain — you start with the bugs and insects that feed the birds, that feed the foxes and hawks, you work right up the ecosystem. It really is the building blocks.”

Moore and COMBA have learned that once the scarification process happens, and soil from former trails is turned up, noxious plants start growing and can choke out other plant life, in turn spoiling the entire ecosystem. It’s a step he’s happy to take to ensure a healthy ecosystem, along with improved trails for mountain bikers to play on.

This past summer, COMBA helped install three miles of new, flowy, approachable trails on the Conifer High School campus, just 25 minutes west. They are open to the public outside of school hours and will potentially be connected to another few miles of trail at the Flying J network.

Prairie Plunge and the other trail re-routes in the northern portion of the park are likely the only new trails on the docket in Bear Creek Lake Park for some time, says Moore. But it’s adding some weight on the beginner side of the trail scale on the central Front Range, and gives new riders the modern experience they need to eventually progress to more challenging trails.

“We just haven’t had that in the Front Range,” said Moore.

Know about a new trail project we should cover? Whether you’re breaking ground on the next must-ride destination or putting the finishing touches on a neighborhood flow trail, we want to hear about it. Drop us a line at greg@singletracks.com with high-quality photos of your build, plus details like trail mileage, location, difficulty, and what makes it special. We’re always on the hunt for the next great trail story, and there’s a good chance your project could be featured in an upcoming article.

Lakewood, CO (Dec. 9, 2025) – Today, Whole Foods Market opened a new 49,500-square-foot store located at 14225 W. Colfax Ave. in Lakewood, Co. The store is a relocation of the existing Colfax store (14357 W. Colfax Ave.), which has served the community for more than 27 years. The Colfax’s store’s product assortment includes more than 800 locally sourced items from Colorado, each meeting Whole Foods Market’s rigorous quality standards.

“Opening our new Lakewood store is an exciting moment for our team and this community,” said Robert Crouse, Store Team Leader at Whole Foods Market. “With a larger footprint and hundreds of Colorado-made products, we’re opening our doors with our same commitment to delicious food, great service, and a welcoming space for both our longtime customers and new neighbors alike.”

Opening morning, customers enjoyed complimentary juice from Big B’s, herbal coffee alternatives from Rasa and sweet bread bites from Outrageous Baking. The first 300 shoppers in line were given a limited-edition tote bag and a Secret Saver coupon, featuring offers of up to $100.

Additionally, on opening morning, Whole Foods Market provided a food donation to The Action Center, which makes regular surplus food pickups from local Whole Foods Market stores to help prevent food waste and serve the surrounding community. The donation is part of Whole Foods Market’s Nourishing Our Neighborhoods program, which aims to enhance the ability of local food rescue organizations to transport surplus food to areas facing the greatest need. Whole Foods Market is also donating to local organizations Denver Rescue Mission and Giving Heart Englewood.

Whole Foods Market also presented Denver-based supplier Lentiful with a low-interest loan through the Whole Foods Market Lending Program, to support their national expansion into approximately 390 Whole Foods Market locations. Through the program, Whole Foods Market lends money to small-scale, local or emerging producers to help them grow their businesses. To date, the retailer has provided 430 loans, representing roughly $39 million in capital for recipients.

Find more information on the features and product assortment in the new Colfax store here.

About Whole Foods Market

Founded in 1980, Austin-based Whole Foods Market is the world’s leading natural and organic foods retailer and the first certified organic national grocer in the United States. Part of Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores, Whole Foods Market serves customers in more than 545 stores across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. To learn more about Whole Foods Market, please visit https://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/.