Nancy Phillips, ViaWest CEO, Contributes $25K to BEN Colorado Sustainability Initiative

DENVER - March 29, 2017 - PRLog -- The Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network Colorado (BEN Colorado) today announced that Nancy Phillips, president and CEO of ViaWest, Inc., and a member of the BEN Colorado Steering Committee, has contributed $25,000 to the Network's Sustainability Initiative.

Ms. Phillips becomes the organization's first Entrepreneur Partner for the BEN Colorado Sustainability Initiative. The initiative was launched to ensure sustainability of the organization beyond the initial $3 million gift provided by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation. BEN Colorado is a beneficiary of the Foundation's mission to support entrepreneurs, create jobs, and stimulate economic growth in Colorado, as well as other targeted regions around the world. To date, the network of BEN Colorado companies has generated more than $3.7 billion in revenue and provided employment to more than 8,400 people in Colorado.

"Nancy Phillips demonstrates the kind of leadership that makes the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network Colorado impactful. She has been a long-time leader in the Colorado business community and donates her time, talent, and resources to helping entrepreneurs, and particularly women entrepreneurs, gain the skills and connections they need to succeed," said Greenwood. "Her leadership and financial contributions to the organization help us in our mission to develop and expand a sustainable, dynamic network of peer-to-peer relationships that support entrepreneurial growth" he said.

The BEN Colorado Sustainability Initiative has described five Partner levels:

●          Cornerstone Partner—$100,000 or more

●          Visionary Partner—$50,000

●          Innovation Partner (Institutional)—$25,000

●          Entrepreneur Partner (Individual)—$25,000

●          Scale Up Partner—$10,000

Other Partners include Brad Feld, Cornerstone Partner, well-known venture capitalist and philanthropist, and CBRE, Innovation Partner and the world's largest commercial real estate services firm.

Dedicated Community Leader
Ms. Phillips has been a leader in the telecommunications and IT infrastructure community for more than 30 years. In 1999 she co-founded ViaWest, which was acquired by Shaw Communications in 2014. ViaWest today has more than 550 employees and annual revenues of nearly $300 million.

Ms. Phillips serves on a number of boards and is the recipient of the inaugural Colorado Governor's Citizenship Medal for Growth and Innovation, and the Canadian Governor General's Medallion in recognition of her service and support of the economic ties between Canada and the United States. She also has been selected as the 2016 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Technology Services for the Mountain Desert region and has received the Bob Newman Lifetime Achievement Award from the Colorado Technology Association.

"Being able to partner with an organization that so directly supports the bold entrepreneurial spirit of Colorado is such an honor," Phillips said. "ViaWest has been fortunate enough to find a home here in Colorado and we believe it is important to give back and support the thriving economic scene that we are lucky to be a part of and grow with every day."

About the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network Colorado
The Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network Colorado (BEN Colorado) is funded by a $3 million gift from the Blackstone Charitable Foundation to the University of Colorado's Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. Its objective is to identify promising Colorado companies and provide meaningful connections to help these companies scale. Learn more at:www.bencolorado.org.