Prior to the pandemic, Spinster Sisters was considering discontinuing some of their product lines and had earmarked their hand sanitizer as one possible candidate. As Kelly watched the news roll in from China, however, she realized that it would be better to double down rather than eliminate the sanitizer in anticipation of what might be coming our way. In her words, “we had better be ready for this!”

Started by an avid inventor named Brown Abrams, FiberLok holds over 100 patents and boasts such clients as the National Hockey League, Pepsi, and Major League Baseball. Even if the name of the company isn’t familiar, their work has been showcased on some of the world’s largest stages, including on uniforms worn during the World Series and the Superbowl.

Warming Trends makes the best outdoor fire feature system available on the market. The all-brass, jetted system provides unmatched fuel efficiency as well as superior flame performance. In essence, customers get big, beautiful flames with a fraction of the gas used by competitors’ products. What also sets Warming Trends apart, is the ability to customize any design down to a 2” – 3” adjustment. So, for example, if a homeowner wants a simple round fire pit, Warming Trends offers a variety of standard sizes and shapes of burners to choose from. If, however, like a recent customer, someone wants to fill a 50’ wide 125’ opening with fire and surround it with a steel bamboo forest, there is really only one option available – that is to call Warming Trends.

In mid-March, Ready Foods was one of the first companies in Colorado to implement social distancing and work-from-home accommodations. Despite not being able to meet in person, the team was inspired by the results they were seeing from Kata and wanted to continue their journey. Since then, they have conducted thousands of Katas over Zoom.

Located in Centennial, CO, Crown Seating is a small, niche manufacturing company that offers a wide variety of ergonomic stools and chairs catering mainly to the medical and dental industries. When Steven Knight purchased Crown Seating in 2003, they were on the brink of bankruptcy. A self-described “risk-tolerant businessman,” Knight was up for the challenge as he had been performing large-scale turnarounds for a variety of organizations since the 1980s and knew he could do the same for Crown Seating.

Armed with years of endurance training, a wonderful community of athletes willing to act as guinea pigs, a curious and self-proclaimed “geeky” nature, and a familiarity with medical nutrition terminology thanks to being raised by physicians, Jeff set out to develop a delicious supplement that allows people to run at peak performance without wreaking havoc on their digestive systems.

“We are a continuously learning company and we push ourselves to grow in size and scope without sacrificing quality. The goal is to keep improving and pushing forward. You go from 85 to 90%. Okay, now how do you go from 90 to 93%?”

Ready Foods is not a household name in Colorado. However, after 47 years of selling soups and sauces into restaurants, supermarkets and other foodservice outlets, you have probably eaten their food on multiple occasions. Ready Foods was founded in 1972 by Luis Abarca, a Mexican immigrant. Their first kitchen was located in a small meat plant located under the Colfax viaduct. In 1992, the reins of leadership were passed onto his children Marco and Adrianna. They have been able to grow the business from a small facility to four modern food plants with over 200,000 square feet of combined production and storage space. The company now employees over 300 people.

Since obtaining the ISO certification, Deltech has seen a number of improvements, including an expedited approval process. Potential clients no longer need to find alternative resources for vetting Deltech’s quality. Even international organizations accept the ISO certification as a universal indicator allowing Deltech to be automatically qualified. Additional outcomes include improved manufacturing processes, higher product quality, fewer errors, and a complete overhaul of the procurement process. As a result, Mary reports that Deltech experienced their best year ever in 2018.

Named the “18th fastest growing small company in America,” by Fortune Small Business Magazine, Mesa Laboratories, Inc. is a Denver-based public company that was founded in 1982.