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Buena Vista blacksmith keeps tradition alive
"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.
Local wind power company supplies global clientele
Aircraft and wind turbines require similar manufacturing skill sets. Both are all about precision and aerodynamics.
Boulder-based Blue Canyon Technologies sees rapid growth
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.
Vail-based SYNC Performance makes innovative ski apparel
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.
Raquelita's Tortillas Production Facility is 100 Percent Wind-Powered
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.
From Mega-Brewing to Micro-Brewing
Founder Brandon Capps opened New Image in Olde Town Arvada in 2016 after working for the world's largest brewer, Neheuser-Busch Inbev.
A Unique Bio-Factory is Making Living Cells at the University of Colorado
"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."
In Englewood, New Collar Goods Produces Streamlined Furniture
"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 ..."
Falcon Industries Creates Custom Cylinders in La Junta
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.
Montrose Reel Maker Creates A Destination
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.
2019 Made in Colorado
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.
Special Effects
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.
