Punch lines, driving machines and attitude; Wende Curtis (comedy works) and Lisa Schomp (Schomp BMW) launch expanded businesses in a tough climate.

• Author: Cote, Mike
• Position: COTE'S [colorado]

Wende Curtis and Lisa Schomp come from slightly different perspectives.

Curtis, the owner of two comedy clubs and related booking and marketing businesses, counts herself among the bleeding hearts and was ecstatic when Barack Obama won the presidential election Nov. 4.

Schomp, the owner of three Ralph Schomp Automotive dealerships and Fay Myers Motorcycle World, had the honor of introducing John McCain to a roomful of Republican women when he stumped in Colorado.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The two entrepreneurs probably could find some common ground: Over the past month, both launched expanded businesses during shaky economic times.

On Oct. 9--following the worst week for the stock market in Wall Street history--Curtis hosted the grand opening of Comedy Works South at the Landmark, a three-story restaurant and nightclub complex in Greenwood Village near Orchard Road and Interstate 25.

A few weeks later, on Election Day, Schomp officially opened her new BMW dealership off of E-470 and Lucent Boulevard in highlands Ranch. The $20 million, 86,000-square-foot showroom is touted as one of the 15 largest BMW operations in the United States.

Both projects were several years in the making and represent major efforts to build upon previous success and grab greater market share for the future, the kind of long-term thinking that renders a recession just another obstacle--especially when it's too late to turn back.

BRINGING THE LAUGHS DOWN SOUTH

Just a week away from its October opening, dozens of construction workers scrambled to finish the 21,000-square-foot Comedy Works South complex, and Curtis was there with them, cooking lunch from a barbecue grill outside.

Finance and construction issues had already pushed the opening date back an entire year, and she wouldn't - and couldn't - wait any longer. She had top-drawer comics like George Lopez, Bob Saget and Kathleen Madigan coming to town, and she couldn't afford to lose those bookings, especially after she had called in favors to get them.

"The fall is the worst time to book comedy acts. Anyone who can sell tickets is booked," Curtis said during an interview at the new club, a comfortable four weeks after the complex opened. That day its restaurant, Lucy - named after Curtis' French bulldog--was opening for lunch for the first time.

So far, business at the club has been brisk-local comic Josh Blue even packed the 400-seat showroom on a Wednesday night-and the upscale cuisine at Lucy is beginning to draw...