Made in Colorado

While attending Metropolitan State University, Kevin Davis and girlfriend (now wife), Ginny designed posters and T-shirts for local bands as a side gig. After graduation, Kevin and Ginny worked different graphic design jobs but continued to do their own designs at night, hand printing their designs on apparel and glassware.

"I know who I am," says Garry Alpheus Rudd, the 74-year-old proprietor of Alf's Blacksmith in Buena Vista. And that's a blacksmith, through and through.

Aircraft and wind turbines require similar manufacturing skill sets. Both are all about precision and aerodynamics.

Blue Canyon grew from 30 employees in early 2017 to about 125 today. The driver? The adoption of small satellites and constellations over the larger legacy spacecraft launched in much smaller quantities.

A Vail-based ski apparel company has successfully used Kickstarter to fund production of a new product for the third time, hitting its $15,000 goal in just eight hours.

Tortilla savant Rich Schneider runs the venerable tortilla factory with his brother, Raul Delatorre, and Raul's wife, Mari. The brothers have worked together for 40 years. Their father, Sal Delatorre, bought the company, then known as La Popular, in 1960.

Founder Brandon Capps opened New Image in Olde Town Arvada in 2016 after working for the world's largest brewer, Neheuser-Busch Inbev.

"The Gates Biomanufacturing Facility really came about from a vision from Charlie Gates," Director Ryan Crisman says. The late patriarch of the Gates Corp. family "really saw that regenerative medicine was the next pillar."

William Mathewson – the WM in WMDevices, or WMD – ​ started making musical-effects pedals as a side hustle in 2007. Previously a hobbyist pedal-maker since high school in Longmont, he'd been working at a recording studio in Boulder and doing graphic design for bands.

"We moved from New York with not much in the way of furniture or much of anything," Jon says. "We started making furniture we liked ..."

In 1981, Eagle Upsetters of La Junta was in the oilfield business threading pipe, and the company's leaders realized it would be more efficient to manufacture their own couplings.

Ross Reels has manufactured fly reels in Montrose since the early 1980s. After acquiring the brand from Orvis in 2013, parent company Mayfly also brought in manufacturing of sister brand Abel Reels from California in 2016.

Twenty years ago, then-ColoradoBiz Editor David Lewis commissioned a monthly column from me called "Cool Colorado Stuff," thumbnails of four products made by Colorado-based companies.

Innovators across the state are coming up with inspired solutions to meet market challenges and demands – including some we never knew existed.

Hand made guitars, crayons, eco-friendly handbags and pine needle bowls from four Colorado makers.

Made in Colorado: Apres Ski Jewelry; Colorado Classic Games; Decadence Gourmet; Viola Studio Dolls

Colorado-born, bred and built products cover a wide range of uses and processes.

Products manufactured around the state, from Boulder to Fort Collins

Products manufactured around the state, from Grand Junction to Fort Collins.

Starting March 31, Montanya Distillers launched a celebration of their 10th anniversary rum with a series of events that will last throughout the rest of the year.

Making things here makes good economic sense, and a large and diverse cadre of companies in the state is riding a wave of demand for all things local.