Audio By Carbonatix
As we were assembling a recent post about Outside magazine’s best towns in America contest, an ongoing tournament in which several Colorado communities are competing, we realized we hadn’t checked to see how many businesses from our state made the mag’s latest list of the best places to work in the U.S.A.
The previous roster featured 28 Colorado businesses – and it seemed crazy to think that that many would be highlighted again.
But crazy it wasn’t.
The updated Outside list of the best places to work sports an incredible 31 Colorado businesses – nearly a third of the total for the entire country.
And that includes the number-one pick, a Denver biz that was lauded in each of the previous two years.
Continue to see the photo-illustrated countdown of the 31 Colorado businesses that most impressed Outside, featuring their numbers from the top 100 and excerpts from the magazine’s blurbs of praise. To see the complete list, click here.
96. Spyderco
Golden
Known for its ergonomically designed folding knives, Golden, Colorado-based Spyderco provides its 90 workers with gym memberships and regular fruit deliveries….
94. Sphero
Boulder
Robotics developer Sphero, based in Boulder, offers its 92 workers flexible work hours and awards for creative thinking at weekly staff lunches….
Aspen
Going to work is a whole lot easier when your “office” is one of four world-class mountains (Snowmass, Aspen, Buttermilk, and Aspen Highlands) in the Rockies….
71. SmartWool
Steamboat Springs
Merino apparel maker SmartWool supplies its 65 employees with season passes to Steamboat Ski Area in Colorado (near the company’s headquarters) and mandates a powder day whenever it snows more than six inches….
70. Ryan Solutions
Edwards
In the shadow of Beaver Creek Resort and practically on the banks of the Eagle River, this Edwards, Colorado-based tech firm has 17 employees who handle database marketing and customer relationship management services for about 75 ski resorts and a growing list of golf, beach, and hotel destinations….
68. Mondo Robot
Boulder
A creative digital agency based in Boulder, Mondo Robot builds websites for cool companies big and small, from Whistler Blackcomb to Spot Brand Bikes….
Denver
As long as you get your job done at MyRounding Solutions, a digital health company offering software that helps nurses and hospital administrators manage their rounds (hence the name), you’re free to hightail it out of Denver whenever you want….
Boulder
The Brewers Association, based in Boulder, represents 3,800 small and independent craft brewers nationwide….
60. Avid4 Adventure
Boulder
Boulder-based outdoor summer camp operator Avid4 Adventure offers its year-round employees unlimited time off as long as they get their work done during the summer high season….
54. Charles Cunniffe Architects
Aspen
Aspen-based Charles Cunniffe Architects specializes in green buildings – the type that run on photovoltaic solar collectors and geothermal systems. Its employees enjoy flexible hours, particularly during powder days….
47. CCY Architects
Basalt
Sustainability is the core principle of Basalt, Colorado-based CCY Architects, which designed one of the country’s largest passive-heated buildings….
42. ReadyTalk
Denver
You can easily work from home for ReadyTalk utilizing the tech company’s streamlined audio and Web conferencing tools. But why would you when the Denver headquarters has on-site yoga, beer kegs, hula-hoop contests, and a Nerd Lounge with Wii and Xbox?
40. SolidFire
Boulder
SolidFire builds innovative flash-memory storage systems for cloud service providers and large enterprises. With upwards of 270 employees at its Boulder headquarters, the company will soon open an even larger office on Boulder’s Pearl Street….
Crested Butte
The Adaptive Sports Center, a Crested Butte, Colorado-based nonprofit offering a variety of outdoor activities to people with disabilities, gives each of its 16 employees a year-round pass to the local ski resort – so they’re rarely confined to a desk….
36. Tendril
Boulder
Tech startup Tendril offers cloud-based software for personalized home-energy solutions – basically, it helps customers have greater control over their utilities and energy use….
Continue to see more Colorado businesses on the Outside magazine list of the best places to work in America.
35. New Belgium Brewing
Fort Collins
Fort Collins-based beer maker New Belgium Brewing is owned by its 640 employees, who have access to on-site volleyball courts, a cyclocross track, and an in-house gear shed….
34. Namaste Solar
Boulder
In 2011, Namaste Solar became an employee-owned cooperative, meaning all 111 staffers now have stock options. The company, a major installer of residential and commercial solar power systems in Colorado and elsewhere, has solar-powered, LEED-certified offices in Boulder and Denver….
31. Slice of Lime
Boulder
Boulder-based Slice of Lime, a user-experience design agency for Web and mobile apps, employs 15 people, all of whom seem sublimely happy, thanks to staff hikes and camping trips, a $2,500 education fund, and orders to spend 20 percent of their time on passion projects….
Boulder
“Wellness” is a key idea at Sterling-Rice Group, a Boulder-based branding agency. In addition to offering yoga classes, bikes on site for borrowing, and Friday massages, the company wants to keep its 90 employees physically and emotionally healthy….
25. VictorOps
Boulder
Boulder-based VictorOps makes software for people who work at the intersection of development and IT. Its office comes fully stocked with all the goodies that come with being an Internet startup, including a house shuffleboard table, a kegerator, and a rooftop barbecue area….
24. Peaksware
Boulder
Peaksware makes software that helps people train for things-everything from marathons to musical instruments – so it makes sense that its Boulder-based office comes equipped with a high-end gym and a recording studio.
23. Bluetent
Aspen
Bluetent’s offices are in the middle of the Rockies – in Carbondale, Colorado – and with that prime location comes some quality outdoors time. The 37 employees at this digital ad agency go on weekly hiking and biking trips and often fly-fish together….
21. FullContact
Denver
FullContact says it wants to Dropbox-ify your address book. Or, in non-tech speak, it wants to make sure your contact list stays up to date and syncs across all your devices….
20. Cloud 9 Living
Boulder
Cloud 9 Living, based in Boulder, sells “experience gifts” in 51 cities nationwide, ranging from Ferrari racing to whitewater rafting….
16. TeamSnap
Boulder
This Boulder-based tech company creates software to make running a team – be it your kid’s soccer squad or your frat bro’s kickball crew – way easier. As such, TeamSnap treats its 61-person team well….
15. Zen Planner
Highlands Ranch
Zen Planner is a software company in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, that creates online management tools specifically for the fitness industry for tasks like scheduling, automated billing, and website marketing – in an office with a view of the Rockies….
13. Cloud Elements
Denver
Denver-based Cloud Elements makes sure companies’ apps effectively utilize the cloud. But the tech company has a focus on the outdoors: In winter, the 40-person crew will take off for ski Fridays, and group hikes are the norm in summer….
Boulder
Boulder-based Pellucid Analytics helps financial firms make data visual-laden pitchbooks for all manner of deals – and bosses are doing everything they can to nurture an exciting office community.
10. TDA_Boulder
Boulder
Ad shop TDA_Boulder does everything from TV ads to logo redesign and packaging….
5. CauseLabs
Denver
The 17 workers for Denver-based CauseLabs are scattered around the globe, so the tech company fosters over-the-Web collaborations in which employees play games together….
Denver
Public-relations firm GroundFloor Media, based in Denver, offers strategic communications and crisis management services to companies big and small….
