Kurt Culbertson's lifelong appreciation for the outdoors continues at Design Workshop, a 130-employee landscape architecture firm that has made its mark on mountain resorts throughout Colorado and urban projects across the country. Get to know Culbertson and nine CEO of the Year finalists.
Spinster Sisters gained a fast following with its lines of natural soaps with ingredients like lavender, pomegranate and oatmeal, and expanded into moisturizers, bath bombs and other products made at the company's "Microsoapery" in Golden. After a solid 2019, sales are up 70% in 2020 with a big uptick in hand sanitizer sales and the launch of a new mask spray.
After a flurry of grant-making, the foundation switched over to recovery mode, advocating for paid family leave, collaborating with Bonfils-Stanton Foundation on relief for artists and launching the Black Resilience in Colorado Fund to double down on racial equity. Soto and the Denver Foundation are committed to continued action in these tough times.
One of his first moves as CEO was to start hiring people with disabilities. arc is now one of the largest integrated employees in Colorado: 350 of 1,400 employees have intellectual disabilities. The move contributed to a big growth spurt.
With 27,000 owners at four resorts and annual revenues north of $100 million, Breckenridge Grand Vacations is the largest year-round employer in Summit County, with a staff of 650, and a philanthropic anchor.
Benefiel's "road map" charts a course to grow beyond traditional manned security into adjacent value-added services. HSS is broadening its technology portfolio. One new product, Spotlight, helps secure medical devices.
Before the 2008 launch of Blue Canyon, Stafford and his co-founders thought the coming micro-satellite boom would be hampered by a lack of mass production. The company started making navigation and power systems, then began manufacturing entire satellites. Now, their new factory is projected to output about 20 satellites a month in the next two to three years.
Heinrich, 60, came to the Denver Art Museum as a curator of contemporary art in 2007 and stepped into the director role in 2010. He has since helped elevate the century-old institution by shepherding a number of gifts to the permanent collection.
James worked on Gov. Jared Polis' Congressional campaign and President Barack Obama's finance committee in 2008. But it was her brother's 10-year prison sentence that led her to align her entrepreneurial and political inclinations. James morphed her political consulting career into another venture, the Cannabis Global Initiative, then moved into cannabis edibles and opened her second dispensary, Simply Pure, in 2015.
