Mountain Momentum: Southwest Colorado Startups Scale New Heights
Launching a company is difficult, but launching and scaling in a rural and mountainous region is even more difficult, as most resources for startups are concentrated in the Denver metro area or on the Front Range.
With the help of SCAPE and a robust network of business support and entrepreneurial individuals and organizations, our companies can launch and scale—and here are some inspiring examples from our own back yard.
Farm to Summit: Fueling Growth for the Outdoor Market
Farm to Summit is proving that premium, lightweight dehydrated meals can be produced at scale right here in rural Colorado. What started as a vision shared between two founders operating out of the back of a house, is now a thriving operation with a crucial new facility and a growing team.
Team Expansion: The team has doubled its core staff since last winter! They now have six employees (up from three), including dedicated roles for an Operations Manager, Kitchen Manager, and Sales Manager. They plan to continue this growth with two more production hires in late winter/early spring.
Massive Traction with REI: This year, Farm to Summit executed one of REI’s largest new brand onboards, launching their product in 35 flagship REI stores nationwide and online. The crucial move into their new operations building proved instrumental in meeting this demand and sets them up for future success. They are also rapidly expanding their independent retailer network.
Focus on Efficiency and Visibility: The company's immediate focus is to increase production capacity and efficiency through the purchase of advanced machinery. And they recently launched a completely revamped online presence to significantly drive B2C traffic to their website.
Timber Age Systems (TAS): Building a Sustainable Future
Timber Age Systems is disrupting the construction industry by producing high-performance, structurally insulated Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) panels from sustainably sourced local wood. Their recent moves are laying the foundation for massive, high-impact growth.
Major Investment and Relocation: TAS received a significant boost with a $3.8M low-interest loan from the state's Innovative Housing Incentive Program (IHIP). This award supported their strategic move to Mancos, CO, where they purchased property and equipment that will enable them to increase production by 300-400% into 2026!
Production Powerhouse: Their new facility is already seeing huge operational upgrades, including the crucial addition of a kiln to quickly dry wood, drastically accelerating the production rate. The factory is currently producing 1,000 square feet of high-performance housing per month, with the capacity to scale to that volume every 3-4 production days.
Explosive Growth: The company has seen its team grow from just three in 2020 to 17 members (14 FT, 3 PT) today. This talent is fueling a remarkable growth rate, with revenue increasing an average of 117% year-over-year since 2020 and a current potential business pipeline of $30M. The current backlog is now five months.
Future Focus: To manage this expansion, TAS is developing a larger library of repeatable designs and working on the pro forma for new facility construction. They are also focused on building a stronger, more diverse Board of Directors to guide their ambitious expansion plans.
The success of Farm to Summit and Timber Age is a powerful demonstration that our robust, collaborative entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southwest Colorado is not just supporting individual companies, but actively driving collective success—a success highlighted by Farm to Summit's recent fulfillment partnership with fellow local food producer, Mighty Mike's Foods, which you can read more about here.
