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Now in its 36th year, ColoradoBiz magazine’s Top Company Awards program recognizes businesses and organizations based in Colorado or with a significant presence in the state that are leading the way in their fields, as demonstrated by financial performance, notable company achievements and community engagement.
To be considered, Top Company entrants submitted applications throughout the year online at ColoradoBiz.com. From those entries, which numbered in the hundreds, the magazine’s editorial board narrowed the field to three finalists (in most cases) in each industry category. A judging panel made up of area business leaders and ColoradoBiz staff then met to compare notes on the finalists and decide winners in 14 industries plus the Startup category, for companies in business four years or less.
Congratulations are in order not only to the 41 winners and finalists profiled on the following pages, but to all the companies that took the time to tell us about their achievements and obstacles surmounted over the past year that make them worthy of Top Company consideration.
WINNER
GoJo Auto
Denver, CO
Website: gojoauto.com
GoJo Auto is a dealership that specializes in educating underserved communities through the car-buying process. The company’s mostly minority staff is a reflection of the customer base.
Founder and CEO Amanda Gordon has broken a number of barriers in the industry. She is the first African-American woman in Colorado to own a dealership on record and the first Black woman to serve on the Colorado Motor Vehicle Dealer Board.
GoJo has also spawned multiple nonprofits. One is WOCAN, The Woman of Color Automotive Network, an organization centered around attracting and placing women of color within the different sectors of the automotive industry. It now has more than 500 members.
Car Class, which helps educate students about purchasing cars, is another. It has helped 25 kids buy cars to date, and Gordon says she has ambitious plans for the program. “We are working on multiple locations and more schools to host our Car Class in an effort to make the curriculum mandatory in all high school classes,” she says.
There’s a reason for the focus on community involvement. “Our culture is only as strong as the community we serve,” Gordon says. “We are all about education through car buying. If we have more educated consumers, they can help boost our economy and have confidence in other areas of their lives.”
She added, “We see our buyers as more than just customers. We see them as a part of our entire ecosystem. Education is our gateway to impact and build wealth directly.”
The strategy is working. The company had four employees in 2019, its first full year in business. That has increased to 16 employees (along with a tenfold jump in revenue) for 2022.
FINALISTS
Fast Fit Foods
Colorado Springs, CO
Website: fastfitfoodsco.com
Fast Fit Foods makes fresh, fully cooked single-portion meals with both nutrition and flavor in mind. The company sells meals and protein snacks online and at three retail locations in Colorado Springs.
It’s also gotten into food service: In 2023, Fast Fit Foods secured contracts to operate the cafeteria at a 780,000-square-foot office complex and to provide healthy lunches at two schools.
Under the leadership of CEO Tillman Huett, the company’s head count increased from 12 employees in 2019 to 18 in 2022, as revenue nearly doubled in that same time span.
In that time, Fast Fit Foods survived the COVID-19 pandemic and the closing of a Florida branch. “We circled the wagons and did what we do best: work earlier, harder and faster,” says VP of Business Development Nicholas Bonvini. “With fewer staff, we personally made thousands of meals each week. Our customers never felt supply chain crunches, inflationary pressures or drops in service because we all showed up to the kitchen at 4 a.m. and did the work ourselves, and then covered the retail stores over the weekend.”
Fast Fit Foods donates all unsold meals to a charity called Food to Power, giving away around 10,000 meals to date. The business plan calls for expansion to more schools as well as more retail locations.
“We lead by example,” Bonvini says. “We have hard conversations early and often, and we’ve learned to grow from them. We have high standards but always explain why and how they came to be.”
American Outdoor Products
Boulder, CO
Website: backpackerspantry.com
Whether eaten in the backwoods or outer space, the freeze-dried foods of American Outdoor Products have been on the cutting edge for more than 70 years.
The 47-employee company creates freeze-dried meals for outdoor adventurers with its Backpacker’s Pantry brand. In 1974, it developed the original freeze-dried ice cream with NASA and launched it into the consumer market under the Astronaut Foods label.
Culture is key: The company has always been 100 percent family-owned, and 30 percent of employees have been with the company for more than a decade. Philanthropic giving always exceeds 1 percent of sales, and the office and manufacturing facility are entirely powered by 391 rooftop solar panels.
In 2019, owner and CEO Rodney Smith passed away in a skiing accident. Soraya Smith, Rodney’s wife and the company’s president/head chef, weathered the storm and led the company to growth with the help of longtime employees. The company’s new CEO (and Smith family neighbor), Duane Primozich, has a long career in the Boulder-area natural foods sector.
The outdoor boom during the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed demand for Backpacker’s Pantry products, stretching the company’s supply chain to its limit; then a fire destroyed the ice cream factory in 2022. American Outdoor Products adapted to both challenges with the help of partners and relying on the strong foundation of the company’s culture.
