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Posted 06.01.2009

50 Colorado companies: Fueling the economic fire

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HYDRO-X LLC
www.H2Xinc.com
SNAPSHOT: Based in the Southwest Colorado town of Bayfield near Durango, Hydro-X uses pressurized water and a vacuum to expose underground utilities, particularly lines that may be dangerous, delicate or expensive, so that client companies can safely excavate the lines with equipment such as a backhoe.
LEADERSHIP: Michael Clark has been CEO since the company’s inception in 2000.
WORK FORCE: The company has grown steadily, from 24 employees in 2006 to 42 last year to a projected 45 in 2009.
MARKET NICHE: Hydro-X was one of the first U.S. companies to build a business around hydro excavation eight years ago. The company’s client list includes some of the world’s largest corporations, including
ExxonMobil, BP, ConocoPhillips, ChevronTexaco and others. It also has operating agreements with major engineering firms and the largest U.S. general contractors. From the outset, Hydro-X’s only major competitor has been Badger Daylighting, a public company based in Canada. The company expects the hydro excavation industry to grow tenfold in the next five to seven years, from the current $100 million per year to $1 billion, and the firm believes it could well be the future outright leader in the industry.
GROWTH CURVE: Hydro-X projects revenue growth of 45 percent in 2009. Previous years were even more spectacular, with a revenue increase of 85 percent in 2008 and 64 percent in 2007.

INTEGWARE INC.
www.integware.com
SNAPSHOT: Fort Collins-based Integware provides systems-integration services and software products for medical device manufacturers that help them with FDA regulatory compliance. Integware enables these manufacturers to deliver their products more safely to market in less time and at less cost.
LEADERSHIP: Chris Kay has been president and CEO of Integware since April 2004.
BACKGROUND: When the company was purchased 4½ years ago by current president and CEO Chris Kay, it had significant debt and had only nine employees. Since then, Integware has become the enterprise-wide primary PLM (product lifestyle management) services provider for leading medical device companies. Integware has been profitable every year since 2005 and has no external investors or long-term debt. Last year, Integware’s employee turnover was less than 1 percent, similar to past years since Kay purchased the company in 2004.
GROWTH: Integware had 66 full-time employees in 2008 and expects to employ 87 full timers in 2009. Revenues increased 84 percent last year, and the company expects a 30 percent increase in 2009.
PIVOTAL POINT IN HISTORY: In 2004, Integware began focusing exclusively on the medical-device/life sciences market. This proved to be a beneficial strategy as demand for Integware’s services (and later products) has continued to expand – even to this day.

JG MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
www.jgmsinc.com
SNAPSHOT: Based in Grand Junction, JG Management Systems offers program and project management, and engineering design and analysis services to government and private-sector clients nationwide.
LEADERSHIP: CEO Jerome Gonzales founded the company in 2001.
WORK FORCE: JGMS had 39 full-time-equivalent employees in 2008 and is projected to reach 49 in 2009.
MARKET NICHE: JGMS has increased revenues consistently over the last four years by aggressively pursuing opportunities in both the government and private sector. The company is projecting 13 percent revenue growth in 2009.
INNOVATION: After studying other companies and processes, JGMS developed a rigorous series of bid/no bid criteria that protected the company from chasing opportunities with little or no realistic return. It allowed the company to save thousands of dollars in wasted business development.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: JGMS donates 5 percent of its net income each year to nonprofits and projects, as well as giving each employee 40 paid hours to pursue volunteer work of their choice. The company funded the development of the Riverside Educational Center (REC), which provides qualifying K-12th grade students facing academic and financial challenges a no-cost, after-school tutoring and enrichment program. In only its third year, the program serves more than 100 mostly Latino students.

JUSTIN’S NUT BUTTER
www.justinsnutbutter.com
SNAPSHOT: Justin’s makes organic and natural nut butters available in convenient squeeze packs and 16-ounce jars.
LEADERSHIP: Justin Gold, a vegetarian, founded the Boulder-based company in 2002. Production began in 2005.
WORK FORCE: Beginning with one individual, the company now employs seven sales and marketing staffers and more than 20 at its co-pack manufacturing facility in Louisville .
MARKET NICHE: Justin’s did not invent peanut/nut butter, nor did it invent the squeeze pack. But Justin’s was the first company to put the two together and package organic peanut/nut butter in a squeeze pack. The company cites a proprietary and trade-secret grinding process for locking in fresh taste. Since operations began in 2005 Justin’s has achieved triple-digit growth every year. The company has taken an unconventional approach to retail success. “We don’t buy shelf space, we earn it,” the company says. “Nor do we pay for advertising; we give away samples for people to taste and experience the difference.”
SOLUTIONS: Initially no manufacturer was willing to undertake Justin’s idea of packaging nut butter in squeeze packs, so the company did it itself. Budget restrained, the company found an older-model squeeze pack machine and spent a year of trial-and-error testing. The company continues to use inexpensive and nontraditional peanut/nut butter equipment in its manufacturing process.

KMLABS INC.
www.kmlabs.com
SNAPSHOT: Boulder-based KMLabs specializes in manufacturing low-cost, minimal maintenance ultrafast amplifier systems as well as oscillators for applications in chemistry, biology, surgery, physics and engineering.
LEADERSHIP: KMLabs was founded in 1994 by University of Colorado professors Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn, who have international reputations in the development of world-class ultrafast laser systems. Murnane is the company’s CEO: Kapteyn is senior vice president.
WORK FORCE: The company expects to employ 21 people in 2009, roughly the same number it has employed since 2007.
BACKGROUND: Before forming the company, Murnane and Kapteyn published a “how-to” guide to spread the influence of new ultrafast laser technology. The response of fellow researchers is, in part, what led the two to found KMLabs.
GROWTH: In 2008 the company enjoyed rapid revenue growth due to increased emphasis on sales/marketing and success of delivered products at customer sites.
PIVOTAL DECISION: By 2007 company growth had flattened, and the founders saw the need to initiate more strategic growth with three measures: renewed focus on established products in current research markets; comprehensive company rebranding; and identification of strategic future markets. Results were dramatic and immediate, with 100 percent growth in 12 months.

LITEYE SYSTEMS INC.
www.Liteye.com
SNAPSHOT: Centennial-based Liteye is a world leader in rugged, high-resolution, head mounted displays and view finders used by a broad range of military and commercial customers. Liteye has the only small see-through optics package in the market place, which has given it a sustainable competitive advantage and opened up military markets in the U.S., Europe and Japan.
LEADERSHIP: The company was founded by Kenneth Geyer and Tom Scott in 2000.
WORK FORCE: The company is projected to employ 28 people in 2009, up from 17 a year earlier. In addition, international distribution agreements give the company more than 35 sales engineers marketing Liteye’s products.
NOTABLE APPLICATIONS: Liteye’s technology provides soldiers with a rugged, low-power, high-resolution display in any area they may be deployed, allowing them for the first time to view such things as video from a thermal camera, interact with a computer to access needed information, view and control an unmanned vehicle, pull up medical manuals in a remote cave to save the life of a downed soldier, or use in the targeting of an enemy. Previously, soldiers would be stuck utilizing a large hand-held screen that at night gave away their location and made them an easy target.
GROWTH: The company increased revenues 136 percent in 2008 over the previous year and is projecting another 133 percent increase in 2009.

LOGRHYTHM INC.
www.logrhythm.com
SNAPSHOT: Boulder-based LogRhythm specializes in enterprise-class log and event management solutions used to empower organizations to comply with regulations, secure their networks and optimize their IT operations. Gartner Group, the leading IT industry analyst firm, has designated LogRhythm as “visionary” among peers in the log and security information management market.
LEADERSHIP: Andy Grolnick has been the company’s CEO since 2005. Chris Petersen is co-founder and chief technology officer. The company was founded in 2003.
WORK FORCE: In roughly two years, the company has more than doubled its work force, jumping from 21 in 2007 to 45 last year to a projected 50 in 2009.
COMPANY STRENGTHS: Since 2005, LogRhythm has achieved a compound annual growth rate of 354 percent. LogRhythm has developed an innovative solution that combines two traditionally disparate sets of functionality (log management and security information management). Many regulations mandate the acquisition and use of both categories of functionality. Thus, LogRhythm offers customers compelling value in a single integrated solution. The integrated functionality combined with exceptional ease-of-use and robust design has led LogRhythm to win more than 60 percent of head-to-head product evaluations, most of which include consideration of at least three vendors.

MICROTEK
www.microtek-co.com
SNAPSHOT: Founded in 1959 and based in Westminster, Microtek started out supplying tool kits, test equipment and other technical products to schools. Over time, it expanded its product offerings and by 1990 was providing computers, computer kits and software to customers, including some of the largest educational chains in the country.
LEADERSHIP: Michael Rozek is the company’s CEO and has held the top leadership post since 1984.
WORK FORCE: The company had 20 full-time employees in 2008 and projected a full-time work force of 22 in 2009.
SOLUTIONS: Microtek has grown steadily, even though the computer equipment it sells today costs 50 percent of the 2005 price, by continuing to expand its customer base and product/services offerings.
COMPANY STRENGTHS: In 2008 Microtek saw a need in schools and businesses for affordable, enterprise-class IT support services. The company’s vision was to provide the same level of IT services enjoyed by large corporations to schools and small-to-medium businesses. So Microtek invested in the people, software and infrastructure to start a Managed Services Division, which now employs six full time engineers/ technicians and manages nearly 1,000 computers and 24 servers. Growth of this division continues rapidly as more and more people realize the benefits and savings managed IT services provide.

NAMASTÉ SOLAR
www.namastesolar.com
SNAPSHOT: Based in Boulder, Namasté Solar works in Colorado to propagate the responsible use of solar energy and to pioneer conscientious business practices.
LEADERSHIP: CEO Blake Jones co-founded the company in 2004 along with Heather Leanne Nangle, the company’s co-owner and director of marketing and communications.
WORK FORCE: The company has grown from three full-time employees in 2005 to 57 last year and expects to employ 65 in 2009, with the projected increase to come about as the result of expanding customer demand for photovoltaic systems due to legislation, incentives and education.
GROWTH: The most spectacular growth occurred from 2005 to 2006 when the company went from three employees to 21 and increased revenues 502 percent. Namasté Solar is still growing, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 74 percent in 2008 and a projected increase of 25 percent for this year.
COMPANY STRENGTH: Namasté Solar is 100 percent employee-owned with 36 co-owners and no single stockholder owning a majority stake. Thus, everyone is empowered to think and act like an owner in every aspect of operations. This unique company culture has resulted in Namasté being Colorado’s No. 1 solar company with a 25 percent market share and more in-state installations than any other company.

NATIONWIDE FABRICATION INC.
LEADERSHIP: Nationwide Fabrication’s president is Adam Martinez, who founded the company in 1996.
GROWTH: Nationwide Fabrication has experienced growth every year since its inception in 1996. Starting with just two employees at the outset, the company had 52 full-time employees in 2008 and expects to maintain that number this year, working out of a 50,000-square foot facility.
BACKGROUND: President and founder Adam Martinez grew up in the food-service industry, starting out at the age of 12 sweeping the floors and cleaning the restrooms on the weekends for a food-service company his father managed. By 16 he was working in his father’s business, learning the manufacturing side. When his father retired and sold his business in 1989, Martinez worked for the new ownership until 1993.
COMPANY PHILOSOPHY: ”I have always taken the approach that there is no customer too small or too large,” Martinez says. “We have a motto, ‘ETDBW — Easy to Do Business With.’ I believe that all successful companies have this quality.”