Entrepreneurialism entails ups and downs and every emotional state in between.

We see it every day, and we have found that persistence, education, and network development always plays a role in entrepreneurs growing into established successful companies.

Since our inception, we have seen thousands of entrepreneurs launch successful startups, expand existing businesses, or return a business to profitability.

Here are a few clients who have shared their stories with us.

See more statewide success stories here.

Brandon Duarte

StealthHunter Gear

Like that of many others, Brandon Duarte’s energy career in the coal-transitioning rural community of Craig will be coming to an end within the next few years. For Brandon, developing StealthHunter Gear seemed the best way to begin a new phase without leaving the rural Colorado home he loves. With 17 years of experience as a hunting guide in Northwest Colorado, he developed two innovative hunting products and initially sought Northwest SBDC assistance in 2022 …

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Anna Sladek

From Lakes to Mountains

Lake and Company is a socially conscious magazine, carefully curated with a give-back message that supports adventure, innovation, conservation, and community built around lake culture. It has multiple complementary brick-and-mortar retail locations in Colorado and Minnesota selling outdoor clothing and gear. Northwest SBDC was able to help two clients through its work with the company.  Early in 2023, founder Megan Kellin decided it was time to pare down the physical locations and devote more time …

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EcoPoint staff working in the field

EcoPoint

Founded in Rifle in 2017, EcoPoint is a technologically advanced environmental firm specializing in geographic mapping and analysis for large- and small-scale projects. The company employs GIS specialists, botanists, soil scientists, and biologists to complete projects on behalf of a client base consisting of public land users like Oil and Gas, hard rock mines, renewable energy, and right of way in addition to private landholders. All of whom need to meet reporting requirements and restoration …

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Amber Barbella

Diversion Designers

Diversion Designers, an environmental sustainability consultancy firm specializing in diverting solid waste from landfills, was founded in 2021 by Eagle County local Amber Barbella. The company implements sustainable waste systems for large public events as well as identifies and solves weaknesses within waste systems, saving businesses money while helping preserve the environment throughout the state of Colorado.  In only two years, over 150,000 pounds of recyclable and compost waste has been diverted from landfills, contamination …

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Interior of South + West Provisions retail location

South + West Provisions

Mother and daughter team, Rachael and Jordin Bullock are obsessed with the art of conversation, living on mountain time, and introducing their Southern Charm to the Fraser Valley. Growing out of a prior, small online gift box business featuring local products from their first love, Georgia (South), and new home state, Colorado (West), they formed a new partnership in 2023 and opened the doors to a brick-and-mortar bistro and wine bar in Winter Park. Their …

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Dr. Susan Hansen

The Essential Project

Believing the traditional clinic model was missing a big section of the population, Dr. Susan Hansen created The Essential Project in late 2020 during the pandemic. The company’s mission is to deliver health and wellness services to communities across rural Eagle County through an innovative mobile care approach. Providing soft tissue therapy, therapeutic exercise, and chiropractic care, The Essential Project makes quality care accessible. Through her work with the Northwest SBDC, Dr. Hansen completed her …

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North Line GIS

North Line GIS was founded in October 2006 by Mike George and Trip McLaughlin after seeing a need for a GIS business to service the needs of the local community as well as the western slope of Colorado. Both Mike and Trip were employed full-time by others at the time of the start-up, so they were able to start the company with personal funds while building the business. Although both founders have extensive experience as …

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Meier Skis

“The whole idea is to keep it as local as possible,” says Matt Cudmore who started Meier Skis in 2009. “We emphasize home-grown, local wood and a product coming right out of Glenwood Springs.” Matt, who had been making skateboards for several years, began making the skis using primarily Colorado-grown beetle kill pine, working in a one-car garage. As the story goes, he gave up searching for “the next perfect ski” and decided to build …

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Muirgen Publishing, LLC

A lot has happened for Andrea Stein since she launched Muirgen Publishing, LLC, in 2014. Her first award-winning self-published novel came out February 10, 2015, with three more novels and a boxed set scheduled throughout the rest of the year. “Fortune’s Horizon” is currently available in both ebook and paperback formats from Amazon. New York Times bestselling author Cheryl Bolen said of Andrea’s first release: “This sparkling debut novel has it all: action, spies, the …

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Imagine That Creative

A failing national economy, an iffy local tourist industry, businesses being extremely conservative with their marketing dollars…Imagine That Creative, Inc. faced all these obstacles when it opened its doors for business in August of 2008. “We really questioned the wisdom of starting a new business given the local and national economies,” said Eric Ojala, Customer Service and Sales Director. Imagine That Creative is a business-to-business company offering Web and marketing services to small businesses in …

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Dynamic Roots Herbals

Dynamic Roots began laying down roots in 2013 with the SBDC. Dynamic Roots was inspired by 3 very passionate Rocky Mountain herbalists with the goal to grow, teach and share handcrafted herbal remedies that truly work! We now have over 40 products ready for market, a healthy membership, a distributors wait list and impressive first 2 years of sales. The SBDC helped facilitate taking our creative excitement and manifesting it into a business to be …

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Dog’s Next Best Friend

Dog’s Next Best Friend is an in-home pet care company. The owner, Liz Clawson, started running dogs in Michigan four years ago, looking for an early morning running buddy for safety purposes. When she moved out to Breckenridge, CO, in 2007, she continued offering dog walking, running, and pet-sitting services. Due to the increasing demand for in-home pet care in Summit County, Liz established an LLC and hired contract workers to fill in when she …

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