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Success Stories

colorado-safety-supply

Colorado Safety Supply

Starting out as a dream in 2012, Valerie Boyd developed her knowledge and contacts within the safety equipment industry to move forward with confidence in 2014. Valerie started to make the dream a reality. Coming from a family working in the structural steel industry, Valerie’s top priority is to keep families safe by keeping workers safe. Colorado Safety Supply does just that, providing safety training and equipment for construction job sites.

Located in Aurora, Colorado Safety Supply sells a variety of safety products, from fall protection to ladder climbing systems, from roofing kits to rescue and recovery devices. Colorado Safety Supply’s online store makes it convenient to find the right product for the job, and pride in customer service is the hallmark for every product sold and every training experience.

Valerie grew the business by 50% in sales between 2014 and 2015, then by 200% the next year. Valerie was able to grow the company on the profits. Now, in 2017, Colorado Safety Supply works with companies of all sizes and is growing to the point of needing more space to hold both a retail store and training facilities.

The new Aurora facility is under construction near the current location and expected to be completed in 2018. The office site will include a retail store, a supply warehouse and safety training facility for contractors and their employees. She has added an administrative staff member, an internal sales representative, two outside sales reps, and contracted providers for bookkeeping, marketing and web design. Working together, sales have increased by 67% over the past year, obtaining government contracts and increasing her product line.

Starting from scratch with personal funds and a line of credit, how did Valerie go from the start-up to expansion phase in just three years? She explains. “As a small business, I met with consultants at the Aurora-South Metro SBDC and was offered guidance in not only starting my business but giving me direction to grow my business. I attended the LEADING EDGETM Strategic Planning Series in the spring of 2015 and completed my business plan. By doing so, I realized the tremendous opportunity for expansion. The greatest challenge at this time is to complete the new facility from which we can provide more services in safety training and equipment rentals and sales.”

Colorado Safety Supply Company is 100% woman owned, with WBE, DBE, SBE, WOSB certifications. Although not veteran-owned, Colorado Safety Supply Company has tremendous respect and passion for veterans, working with many companies who employ and focus on the growth of veterans who are becoming educated in this industry through training and job exploration. Visit her updated secure website, https://coloradosafetysupply.com, for both products and classes.

Launch Pad Brewery

The end of an unexpectedly volatile 2020 is a great time to tell the success story about one of Aurora’s prized businesses.  David LeVesque spent about a decade perfecting his technique of home brewing with some help from The Brew Hut and visiting Colorado breweries.  The idea of opening a business location started ‘brewing’ about six years ago, and Launch Pad’s mission came together after working on the start-up’s financials over several meetings with an

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Vintage Theatre Productions

Starting out 15 years ago in a basement as a touring theatre group for small audiences, Vintage Theatre has grown from that “tiny” beginning to currently reaching over 20,000 patrons each production season. “It has been amazing to see the growth,” beams Cr aig Bond, Founder. Since moving to Aurora in 2012 into an existing black box theater, Vintage immediately added a second more intimate theatre to augment the season’s offerings. Creating a greater draw

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Cranelli’s Italian Restaurant

In the restaurant world a successful business often begins with family. When Cranelli’s Italian Restaurant, a new hotspot in Lone Tree, opened, the whole family pitched in to help owners Jim and Lasinda Crane make their dreams come true. Hours after the ink was dry on the restaurant lease, the couple began updating the décor and kitchen with the help of friends and family. Lasinda’s father David, a retired electrician, helped build a bar and

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Rustic Nomads

Starting a business in 2020—during the COVID-19 pandemic—has been a journey to say the least, but the owner of Rustic Nomads, Nathan Wiersum, will have bragging rights for life.   “The support received from the SBDC is why I continue to move .” With a loan from DreamSpring to purchase a food truck, the rest of the business has been self-funded.  Originally, the plan was to grow into a restaurant as soon as possible.  With the pandemic, goals were reevaluated.  The

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Pirate Chef LLC

“Aurora-South Metro SBDC gave us the empowerment, guidance, and connections to realize our dream of owning our own business with sustainability.” Ian and Vanessa Reeves believe that sharing good food is the best way to show love.  Pirate Chef specializes in bespoke catering, private parties, in home, and corporate dining. Taking experience from lives well-lived, they bring their clients a gastronomic encounter unlike any other.   Their business venture has been a longstanding dream, and they can’t wait to share it with

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Havana Street Tattoo and Legacy Tattoo Collective

Havana Street Tattoo opened 15 years ago in Aurora.  The tattooing industry has shown its potential for significant growth in the past 10 years and continues to do so, because the customer base and artists offering the service have evolved past an old stereotype into a market of true professional artistry and serious collectors. In mid-2019, business partners and co-owners, Larry Foussat and Gilbert Ledesma decided to open a new location in Aurora to expand the shop’s client base and

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