The Organizers: The Colorado Companies Getting Things Done Faster, Smarter and Cheaper

In 2018, Colorado Companies to Watch highlights local businesses that provide data and analytical consulting and management tools to improve outcomes

Lisa Ryckman //June 25, 2018//

The Organizers: The Colorado Companies Getting Things Done Faster, Smarter and Cheaper

In 2018, Colorado Companies to Watch highlights local businesses that provide data and analytical consulting and management tools to improve outcomes

Lisa Ryckman //June 25, 2018//

Management and analytics are the two key threads of continuity that unite the following businesses. From camping to fitness, recruitment to investment, these young companies throughout Colorado, and particularly along the Front Range, all use tech tools and deliberate strategies to best utilize the resources – be it people or energy – at their disposal. Take a look:

Blue Margin Inc.

Fort Collins | Since 2014 | Data analytics & consulting

Clarity of service has helped propel growth at Blue Margin, which offers data management and dashboards on the Microsoft stack exclusively. Company founders and brothers Brick and Jon Thompson are the authors of the just-released book, “The Dashboard Effect: Organizational Transformation Through Data,” which shows how dashboards inspire performance across an organization. The authors say the book was written to “give our current and potential clients deeper insights into how data can truly transform a company, from the CEO down.”

The company gives back through Blue Margin Community Works; employees have donated more than 250 hours to organizations such as Homeless Gear, Loveland Community Kitchen and Realities for Children. Over the past four years, Blue Margin has donated a portion of profits to Book Trust, a nonprofit that promotes literacy for underprivileged grade-school students.

zingfit

Boulder | Since 2012 | Fitness management

Fitness management company zingfit has brought digital organization to some of the nation’s best boutique fitness brands, making business bigger and better for studio and gym owners. The company works with Rapid Application Development tools to be fast-to-market, and its innovation process values elegant functionality integration first and foremost. A simple loyalty program feature for studios and gyms to execute with their customers acts as a powerful recruitment and retention mechanism. Because it seamlessly integrates into the digital customer journey and is highly configurable, loyalty can be attached to attendance, sales, social shares, trainer ratings and exercise metrics.

The company “lives fitness,” providing employees with healthy snacks, bi-weekly yoga classes, discounted massage and a Peloton bike with access to world-class instructors. Located at the Mount Sanitas Trailhead, zingfit offers fully paid health insurance, which includes health club reimbursement.

CampMinder  LLC

Boulder | Since 2001 | Web-based camp management

Many people cherish their childhood camp experiences, and CampMinder wants to keep it that way. The company, which offers a web-based way to streamline camp processes, operates with the company’s camp-focused core values, which include “Put Team First,” “Find a Better Way” and “Give Joy.” Efforts to improve its employees’ experience resulted in being named one of Outside magazine’s “Best Places to Work in America” in 2017.

In 2009, the company solidified its reputation as a thought leader in the camp industry with its inaugural CampMinder Camp, the industry's premier conference for camp professionals. The resulting sense of community and collaboration was heightened by the simultaneous launch of CampMinder Magazine, an annual publication dedicated to sharing best practices in summer camp management.

CampMinder’s philanthropic efforts are predictably camp-focused and global, starting with financial support for SCOPE (Summer Camp Opportunities Promote Education), an organization that provides opportunities for underprivileged youth to attend summer camps they would otherwise be unable to afford.

Creative Alignments

Boulder | Since 2010 | Recruiting

Founder Peggy Shell created an innovative pay-for-effort model for recruiting, disrupting the traditional commission-based structure of legacy firms in a $13 billion industry. Creative Alignments’ time-based recruiting model provides an open, honest and transparent client and candidate experience at about half the cost of traditional HR services.

The team-centric and collaborative company has weekly shout-outs for team members and lunches focused on complementing the team's strengths and learning from each other. It offers employees extensive freedom and remote work flexibility and an open concept office. Creative Alignments gives back by volunteering with the Women's Bean Project in Denver, a food production organization that hires chronically unemployed women, working both on-site and with participants with one-on-one job preparation help and interview training.

Juniper Unmanned

Golden | Since 201 | Analytics for land & construction managers

Juniper Unmanned uses robotic technologies and analytics to determine how to get the job done faster, cheaper and better. It estimates that if its technology were to be fully utilized throughout U.S. infrastructure development, the work would cost 20 percent less and be completed 15 percent faster. Juniper Unmanned works with researchers at Colorado universities to study some of the greatest challenges posed by transportation, utilities, mining, and oil and gas.

The analytical algorithms developed through this research inform artificial intelligence to generate insights for project managers that would otherwise be impossible to attain. The company’s analysis of a road construction project, for example, resulted in a 47 percent reduction in the amount of time from ground-breaking to completion. A residential development project analysis saved 12 days on the critical path. A mining exploration project was shortened by more than two months.

The company’s philanthropic endeavors include pro-bono work for nonprofits such as the YMCA and the Boy Scouts. It also provides internship opportunities for students from the Colorado School of Mines, Metropolitan State University of Denver and the University of Denver.

PlanOmatic

Denver | Since 2005 | Photographic services

PlanOmatic's innovative workflow and technology allows it to produce photos and floor plans for real estate brokers with a single appointment, delivered within two business days. “Our focus on technology as a substantial part of our workflow maximizes efficiencies and keeps costs competitive,” CEO Kori Covrigaru says. “We are constantly striving to provide the real estate industry with a low-effort experience, making ordering photos the easiest part of their job.”

PlanOmatic assigns copyright and ownership of listing photos to its broker clients rather than keep the rights, allowing them to use listing photos as they see fit without worrying about legal ramifications. PlanOmatic also released the first mobile interactive photo and floor plan presentation optimized for the iPhone.

“PlanOmatic's mission statement is to ‘Help our people win,’ and it is a core value to our culture,” Covrigaru says. “We embody this statement in every movement the company makes both large and small. We celebrate our people through company-sponsored happy hours, free snacks in the office, office dogs and competitive compensation and benefit packages.”

East Daley Capital Advisors

Centennial | Since 2014 | Investment analytics for oil & gas

East Daley gives an unparalleled edge to investors in the oil and gas midstream sector by leveraging little-known and seldom-used publicly available data to drive transparency. By replacing “investing with feelings” to “investing with facts,” East Daley's clients quickly assess market opportunities and risks, yielding smarter portfolio allocation decisions.

Typically, energy financial analysts examine SEC filings, company presentations and press releases to ascertain the information needed to determine a company's level of risk. In addition, the complex nature of the business often forces management teams to bundle assets together at a high level, diluting the ability to evaluate a company. East Daley has created a way to dissect the market at a very granular level by exposing commodity markets by asset and provides the tools for understanding a company's true risk components. Supported by a team of unbiased, experienced research analysts, East Daley provides its clients revolutionary new insights into how midstream companies operate and generate cash flow.