Successful exec Rysavy backs up his beliefs

LOUISVILLE — Longtime entrepreneur Jirka Rysavy is known for his skill in growing Gaiam Inc., a healthy-lifestyle company based in Louisville, as well as for his philanthropic activities.

But Gaiam is only the most recent in a line of Rysavy’s environmentally and health-oriented startups.

He founded recycled-office products company Corporate Express in 1986 in Boulder. Corporate Express went public in 1994 and grew to become a Fortune 500 company. Rysavy was chairman and chief executive until December 1998, when he became CEO of Gaiam. He remained as chairman until 1999 when, as the largest Colorado-based company with annual sales of $4.5 billion,…