Presenting the BizWest 500 for 2022

Steve Sashen and Lena Phoenix like to put their best feet forward, and that’s just what they did in this year’s Mercury 100 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the Boulder Valley.

Their company — Feel the World Inc., better known as Xero Shoes — captured the No. 1 spot in Flight I of the Boulder Valley list, with two-year revenue growth of 177%. Xero Shoes, which produces performance and casual footwear, saw revenues surge from $12 million in 2019 to $33.6 million in 2021. Flight I includes companies with revenue in excess $14 million.

That growth sets a high bar for the Mercury 100, which features five flights of 10 companies for the Boulder Valley, with the same for Northern Colorado.

Those combined 100 companies make up part of the BizWest 500, a massive research project that includes:

• 100 companies ranked in the Mercury 100.

• 50 top public-sector employers.

• 25 public companies.

• 25 highest-paid executives (from public companies).

• 300 of the region’s largest private-sector employers.

Click here to view the BizWest 500 supplement.

For Northern Colorado’s Flight I — featuring companies with revenue of more than $18 million — Hayden Outdoors LLC  of Windsor led the way, with two-year growth of 208%. Revenues jumped from $12.4 million to $38.2 million for the company, which specializes in rural real estate, including farms, ranches and land.

Leaders of other flights in the Boulder Valley included Creative Alignments LLC, a Boulder-based recruitment agency; Green Alpha Advisors LLC, a Louisville firm that invests in companies enabling solutions to climate change; Colorado Crafted LLC of Longmont, which produces gift baskets with Colorado products; and Studio Blue Design LLC of Boulder, a custom-home-building company.

Leaders in other flights for Northern Colorado included Awakened Foods LLC, a Loveland-based natural-snacks company; Senior Helpers, based in Laporte, which provides home care for seniors; Western Hardwoods LLC of Wellington, which distributes specialty lumber; and Journey Franchising LLC of Fort Collins, a franchise service for payroll services.

Public companies

A ranking of public companies headquartered in the Boulder region or Northern Colorado saw a lot of change.

Several companies that were previously listed have relocated their headquarters to the Denver area, including Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc., Global Healthcare REIT Inc. and SOBR Safe Inc. Another company, Viridian Therapeutics Inc., is now based in Massachusetts.

But the list includes a wave of new entrants, including recently public Solid Power Inc., SomaLogic Inc., Sovos Brands Inc., Gogo Inc. and others.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., based in Greeley, remains the largest publicly traded company in the region, with $14.77 billion in revenue in 2021.

It’s followed closely by Westminster-based Ball Corp. — which owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. — with the company posting $13.8 billion in revenue last year.

Highest-paid executives

BizWest combs through proxy statements filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to collect data on the region’s highest-paid executives, with Crocs Inc. CEO Andrew Rees claiming the top spot from Ball Corp. CEO John Hayes.

Rees topped the list with $15.79 million in total compensation, driven largely by stock awards.

New to the list this year is SomaLogic CEO Roy Smythe, with $14.3 million in total compensation, including $12.4 million in options.

Check out the list for more new entrants, driven largely by new companies going public.

Public-Sector, Private-Sector

Rounding out the BizWest 500 is our list of the 50 largest public-sector employers and a whopping 300 private-sector employers, both ranked by number of employees.

Should your company be on one of our lists? Contact Chris Wood at cwood@bizwest.com to receive a survey.

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