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Top Company 2020: Financial Services

Top Co Elevations Credit Union Colorado Biz Top Company 3 Jpg Ygeagh6z
Elevations Credit Union

In its 33rd year, ColoradoBiz‘s Top Company honors the Colorado companies that have drive, determination, a vision and a plan and are ultimately making the state a better place to live and work. These three companies – one winner and two finalists –represent the 2020 Top Companies in Financial Services. 

Winner

Denver Community Credit Union

Denver 

Co-CEOs Tessa Bonfante and Shane Silvernale describe Denver Community Credit Union as being built for people, not profit. The member-owned credit union creates products and services to empower the financial decisions of its more than 31,000 members in Adams, Arapahoe, Jefferson and Denver counties.

“Our size allows us to be large enough to provide traditional products like mobile banking, but small enough to develop products in response to our local community’s needs,” Bonfante says. “We are able to keep our deposits local, because of our structure, with about 85% of all deposits being returned directly to our local economy in the form of loans to members and local businesses.”

The 86-year-old credit union provides financial education for its members through the Clear Money Program, which features financial coaching sessions and online courses. Other resources include such things as an alternative to payday lending for members in need of a small dollar emergency loan, hoping to keep people out of the cycle of debt.

“Our credit union’s purpose is not profit, but advancing the financial opportunity of our members, our staff and our community,” Silvernale says. “We ask ourselves with each decision if this choice is in the best interest of our member-owners.”

Its #DenverCommunityGives initiatives gave back to the community through giving drives, service projects and volunteerism, including donations of 1,617 pounds of food to a local anti-hunger organization and 1,281 volunteer hours with area nonprofits in 2019 alone. Team service projects included building outreach kits for homeless veterans and making 30 fleece blankets for those in crisis.

Finalists

Elevations Credit Union

Boulder 

Member-owned, not-for-profit Elevations Credit Union empowers its members with financial education and solutions while creating a safe and supportive environment for its employees.

In 2019, its more than 550 employees participated in diversity and inclusion training, a key part of Elevations’ strategic plan. It also launched an employee-led innovation portal to allow a sharing of ideas on ways to improve the credit union’s products, services and culture.

To help members during the COVID-19 pandemic, Elevations has deferred payments on 2,168 loans and 677 mortgages and instituted senior hours. It also gave $150,000 in matched Elevations Community Relief Fund donations to community partners supporting first responders and their families.

The Elevations Foundation has donated more than $1.5 million in community resources since its founding in 2010, including more than $539,000 in 2019. The Foundation focuses on awarding scholarships to graduating seniors for higher education and community grants to local nonprofits.

First Western Trust

Denver 

First Western Trust helps clients create customized financial plans through services including wealth planning, trust and estates, investment management, private banking, risk management/insurance and mortgages, along with a wide variety of business programs.

In the last decade, the FW Connects committee has helped coordinate a wide range of opportunities and involvement with more than 60 different charitable organizations. As a result, First Western Trust has been named an honoree of The Civic 50 Colorado by CSR Solutions of Colorado in partnership with Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service. It also was recognized during the 2019 Civic 50 Colorado Awards, which honors the state’s 50 most community-minded companies.

Top Company 2020: Energy

Shutterstock 603025976

In its 33rd year, ColoradoBiz‘s Top Company honors the Colorado companies that have drive, determination, a vision and a plan and are ultimately making the state a better place to live and work. These three companies – one winner and two finalists –represent the 2020 Top Companies in Energy.

Winner

Blue Raven Solar

Orem, Utah 

Take 354,000 cars off the road for a year, and you’d have the equivalent of the carbon emissions Blue Raven Solar has offset with renewable energy. And the company hopes eventually to offset the footprint of three times that.

“Our product is more relevant now than ever,” CEO Ben Peterson says. “Americans are looking for ways to protect and invest in their homes; they need additional ways to save money, and they are increasingly interested in protecting the environment.”

Blue Raven Solar has shifted from using outside installers to doing all the work in-house, a strategy that fueled a three-year growth rate of 1,600%. It now handles everything from first point of contact to the installation/energization and beyond, with installs within 60 days. The company fosters trust by offering a 10-year workmanship warranty, a 25-year equipment warranty and a production guarantee.

The Blue Raven team, which has grown to more than 1,200 in just six years, abides by three main values: Develop a high trust culture; be efficient; and continuously improve. “Every employee spends time with me learning about our values,” Peterson says. “Each month, employees nominate each other for living our values. We also ask employees regularly how they have seen our values exemplified. Comments and feedback have been essential for determining and implementing meaningful improvement.”

Blue Raven has donated more than $200,000 worth of solar systems to families, and for every customer who goes solar, Blue Raven Solar donates $20 to Givepower, which provides access to clean drinking water for one person for 20 years. As of March 2020, Blue Raven Solar had helped more than 5,000 people gain access to clean drinking water, and the company expects to double that number by year’s end.

Finalists

East Daley Capital

Centennial 

As the oil and gas industry faces unprecedented challenges, East Daley Capital’s energy data and market insights have become even more valuable. Employees adjusting to working remotely found themselves working nearly around the clock to serve clients who often were ill-prepared for the situation. The outcome has been a more-than-ever unified team that fulfilled client needs and helped make the company a market leader within the industry.

EDC develops products that provide micro-level data paired with macro-level insights to clients from the entire oil and gas supply chain, including many of the largest oil and gas companies, capital market participants and investment firms.

To give back during the pandemic, EDC sponsored lunches for frontline workers at Sky Ridge Medical Center and Swedish Hospital and invited its employees and their families to write letters, make cards and draw pictures for quarantined residents of two nearby senior living facilities.

Colorado Geothermal Drilling Inc.

Brighton 

CEO Dan Rau’s engineering background and childhood on a Midwest dairy farm have made him passionate about building safer and more efficient equipment. That helps family-owned Colorado Geothermal Drilling install its cost-effective heating and cooling systems with less equipment and manpower.

“Because of geothermal’s unique heating and cooling benefits, the industry is really growing,” says co-owner and Vice President Kari Rau, Dan’s wife, noting that it can reduce peak loads for utilities and reduce fossil-fuel dependence. “As more thought goes into developing our homes and communities to be more energy efficient, geothermal is truly a natural way to do this and works well with other renewable energies like wind and solar.”

The company belongs to Brighton Business Builders, the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association and the Greater Brighton Chamber of Commerce. It contributes to area schools and the Richard Lambert Foundation, a local nonprofit that provides bereavement support to families that have lost a loved one.

Top Company 2020: Consumer Business

Top Co Doug And Jason Barrow Luna Coffee

In its 33rd year, ColoradoBiz‘s Top Company honors the Colorado companies that have drive, determination, a vision and a plan and are ultimately making the state a better place to live and work. These three companies – one winner and two finalists – represent the 2020 Top Companies in Consumer Business. 

Winner

Luna Coffee & Tea Company

Denver

In March, a fire destroyed Luna Gourmet’s North Denver roastery and historic 1927 schoolhouse café. But one month later, Luna was back in business — thanks to its employees, customers, vendors and even its competitors, who stepped up to share their facilities.

“We are now knee-deep in the rebuilding process – not only in light of what the world is experiencing, but also as we make strides to get back to where we were before the pandemic – all the while looking for ways to be better and stronger as we grow,” says Luna President Jason Barrow, who co-owns the company with brother Douglass. “Our amazing community not only allows us to survive challenging times, but to thrive beyond.”

The state’s largest family-owned roaster and its oldest coffee company at 55, Luna has a simple mission: to make a difference in the world through a commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. Luna buys much of its green coffee beans through Direct Trade and Fair Trade relationships to help support economic growth in developing coffee-growing regions. Additionally, Luna is committed to environmentally responsible farming, offering an extensive lineup of organic coffees.

“Coffee is the second-most traded commodity in the world behind oil, yet the farmers who live and grow the prized beans in 80 countries around the equator live in near poverty,” Douglass Barrow says. “It’s not always cheaper to do the right thing, but we believe it’s the right way to do business.”

The Barrow brothers are passionate about giving back. Luna’s “Coffees for a Cause” supports Project CURE and the USO, among others. Its “The School That Coffee Built” program uses proceeds from all participating Luna Gourmet Peruvian coffees to support school projects in their partner Peruvian farm communities.

Finalists

Xero Shoes

Broomfield 

Top Company Op4

At Xero Shoes, they literally walk the walk. “Once people experience the benefits of natural movement, they want to share it,” CEO Steven Sashen says. “All our employees — from the warehouse to the C-suite — are evangelists.”

The company prides itself on creating shoes that are both feather-light and durable enough to be backed with a 5,000-mile warranty.

“We think that the entire company is responsible for its success, so we have a profit-sharing inspired bonus plan where all employees get an equal bonus amount,” Sashen says. At quarterly team meetings, the company shares all financials so people understand the business and their role in it.

Xero sends shoes to communities around the world where a lack of footwear can prevent people from attending school or working. “We also support the community that inspired our initial product, the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico, by contributing a percentage of that product’s sale price to the Tarahumara Childrens Hospital Fund,” Sashen says.

Rowdy Mermaid Kombucha

Boulder 

At Rowdy Mermaid, one of the five brand pillars is “daring.” The company considers itself a passionate disruptor set on blazing trails and creating the unexpected. Its take on 2,000-year-old kombucha features beneficial acids, B-vitamins, probiotics in functional flavors using only what nature created: plants, fruits, roots, mushrooms and botanicals.

Rowdy’s party and sustainability committees unite team members across all departments: The party group plans regular team outings, breakfasts and potlucks, while the sustainability group finds ways to positively impact communities.

In 2019, Rowdy moved from bottles to cans, resulting in a 100% recyclable product. Among other advantages, the change allowed the company to ship 48% more product per truck, saving about 500 gallons of water a day and shrinking its carbon footprint.

Top Company 2020: Aerospace

In its 33rd year, ColoradoBiz‘s Top Company honors the Colorado companies that have drive, determination, a vision and a plan and are ultimately making the state a better place to live and work. These three companies–one winner and two finalists–represent the 2020 Top Companies in Aerospace. 

Winner

York Space Systems

Denver 

York allows its customers to access space efficiently and affordably through a platform that can be customized to suit any kind of mission.

York’s main product is the S-CLASS spacecraft platform, an industry-leading, high-performance, standardized satellite platform. The company can currently produce 10 to 12 satellites per year and will be able to produce 50 satellites by 2021.

The company was recently awarded a contract by the U.S. Air Force to further the mission of the military branch and continue innovating on next generation space technology solutions.

York CEO Dirk Wallinger belongs to the Colorado Space Business Roundtable Advisory Board, a nonprofit focused on promoting the growth of space and space-related industry in Colorado. Wallinger acts as a mentor for the Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator, which focuses accelerating growth of the next generation of commercial space technology companies and related frontier technologies.

York Space Systems belongs to the SmallSat Alliance, a group of companies championing renewed U.S. leadership in the burgeoning commercial space economy. It also is a member of the Colorado Space Coalition, a group of industry stakeholders working to make Colorado a center of excellence for space.

Finalists

AdamWorks LLC

Centennial 

Engineering and manufacturing firm AdamWorks was founded in 2007 to serve the aerospace and defense industry. AdamWorks won contracts to build space vehicles, including the first two Sierra Nevada Corp. Dream Chase Commercial Crew vehicles, and the first two New Shepard capsules currently flying with Blue Origin.

The AdamWorks team designed, tooled and manufactured a unique airborne pod that can accommodate any sensors and mount on most any military airframe, thereby employing the latest technology to protect the American warfighter. The company also is recognized as a key supplier of airborne WiFi hardware components, currently flying on commercial airliners around the globe.

The company hires veterans, taps into the local educational institutions for engineering talent and hosts popular educational tours.

Stella Air

Denver

Stella Air has only two employees and has been in business for only two years, but it is already making a mark. The veteran-owned business brokers and distributes aerospace components and does subcontracting for foreign and domestic military.

“We are emerging in a very competitive market,” co-owner and President Casey Anderson says. “My business partner and I have overcome hundreds of thousands of dollars of startup costs and losses to be able to get to where we are now.”

Stella donates to “angel flights” that ferry medical patients from hospitals and emergency situations. It also is a HUB Zone business, promoting growth in a historically underutilized area of Denver.

Top Company 2020: Advertising, Marketing & Digital Marketing

Top Co Insight
Insight Designs Web Solutions LLC

In its 33rd year, ColoradoBiz‘s Top Company honors the Colorado companies that have drive, determination, a vision and a plan and are ultimately making the state a better place to live and work. These three companies – one winner and two finalists –represent the 2020 Top Companies in Advertising, Marketing and Digital Marketing. 

WINNER

Old Town Media Inc.

Fort Collins

They’re quirky. They’re talented. And they’re passionate about both great design and a well-crafted cocktail.

Over the past 13 years, Old Town Media—which now calls itself OTM—has evolved from a small web shop into a full-service creative agency with a client list that includes some of Northern Colorado’s top businesses.

Clients participate in the OTM Strategy Deep Dive, which results in a brand story, a customer journey map and “Discovery” – a complete analysis of the organization, opportunities, goals and customers.

“As a bespoke creative agency, we are relationship driven and our clients can speak to that,” OTM founder and CEO Miles Kailburn says. “Our largest client currently is also one of our very first clients, starting our long-standing partnership 13 years ago. We understand that when clients can truly trust you with their brand, it creates a solid relationship that can withstand and adapt through it all.”

OTM has achieved an average annual growth of 27% year over year, success it attributes to a strong team, strong relationships and a strong commitment to philanthropy.

Outside of work, OTM gives back as long-time supporters of Animal House Rescue & Grooming, The ARC of Larimer County and the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, launching websites and offering design services. OTM partners with Project Self-Sufficiency to provide holiday gifts to Larimer County single parents and their children every year. In 2017, OTM created the marketing materials and website for Rancho Sahuarita’s walk to raise money for brain cancer, then flew out to Sahuarita, Arizona, to participate.

FINALISTS

Insight Designs Web Solutions LLC

Boulder 

Journalists Beth Krodel and Nico Toutenhoofd founded Insight Designs in 1999, imbuing their web design and development venture with a commitment to deadlines and clear communication. “Both of these things have kept our existing clients happy and coming back for more,” Krodel says. “We constantly hear praise from our clients about how responsive we are, how good we are at defining complex issues in simple terms, and how we always deliver on time.”

A low-stress office environment and plenty of perks help keep employees — and subsequently, clients — happy. The company offers remote work flexibility, dogs in the office, mid-day staff hikes and bike rides, happy hours, birthday parties, group breakfasts and volunteer events. Those have included planting trees in Boulder city parks, preparing sack lunches for homeless people, and building and restoring trails throughout the state with Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado.

Insight Designs gives financial support to a wide range of local and international charities, such as Bridge and Action Against Hunger. “In 2019, in honor of our 20th anniversary, we gave $20,000 to Western Resource Advocates, a Boulder-based organization that has been protecting the West’s land, air and water for 30 years,” Krodel says.

Revenue River

Golden

Digital marketing firm Revenue River builds “total customer experiences wrapped around modern marketing and sales machines,” Managing Partner Eric Pratt says.

“In our corner of the world, we’re a market leader,” he says. “We’re a top global partner with a host of large mar-tech companies.”

Revenue River has been a ColoradoBiz Top Company finalist before, as well as a finalist for Colorado Companies to Watch and a Best Companies to Work for in Colorado winner. The company supports its employees’ charitable efforts, everything from Inside the Orchestra and The Epilepsy Foundation, to events and sponsorships with Wings Over the Rockies, Habitat for Humanity and the Prader Willi Foundation. It also hosts free educational events and workshops sponsored by Google Small Business Week and HubSpot User Groups.

Among its many perks is a profit-sharing plan.

“It’s built to hand over the control and reward to our team as they grow and succeed together,” Pratt says.