State rep’s solar firm is bankrupt, will liquidate the last of its assets

Years after it installed panels for the final time, a Denver politician’s solar firm is bankrupt.

EcoMark Solar, which is owned by Alex Valdez, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy April 17. Chapter 7 requires a company to liquidate its assets and hand them over to creditors.

Valdez has been a Democratic state representative since 2019 and briefly ran for mayor of Denver in 2023. He founded EcoMark in 2010 and grew it to 150 employees.

The company brought in $6.1 million in revenue in 2022 before closing in late October of that year, last week’s bankruptcy paperwork reveals. The closure was sudden and a surprise to the solar company’s employees and customers, according to past media reports.

“EcoMark, like so many small businesses in Denver, was forced to close due to the effects of COVID, supply-chain issues and labor shortages,” Valdez said then. “However, all employees received final paychecks and all outstanding work is paid when completed.”

The abrupt shuttering led the state to seek back taxes and two contractors to sue for payments. One case is still ongoing. In it, the Denver company SunTalk Solar seeks $389,000 for allegedly unpaid work. EcoMark and Valdez deny owing that money. An April 28 trial was recently canceled and will not be rescheduled until EcoMark’s bankruptcy cases play out.

The three companies that make up EcoMark each filed for Chapter 7. They report a total of $110,000 in assets and $2.2 million in liabilities, some of which is intercompany debt. They owe $270,000 to Chase Bank, $77,000 to the Internal Revenue Service, and the remainder to dozens of vendors, insurers, lenders, customers and lawyers, the filings reveal.

The company resolved two disputes last year. Filings show that it settled an ex-employee’s wage case for $28,000 in August and a vendor’s claim for $15,000 in December.

EcoMark’s bankruptcy attorney, Jamie Buechler at Buechler Law Office, declined to discuss her client this week. A spokesperson for Valdez also declined to comment on his behalf.

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