Colorado Chamber of Commerce Looking for Coolest Things Made in State

According to Cynthia Meyer, vice president of communications for the chamber, the criteria for what makes a product “cool” is intentionally broad because so many diverse things are made in Colorado. A packaged food product can be cool; so can a piece of clothing. “This is a celebration of the industry as a whole,” Meyer says.

Nominations are being accepted through September 9, and the rules are simple: The product must be manufactured in Colorado (which rules out a pair of Crocs or an Otter Box product), but the company making it doesn’t have to be based in the state. Any type of one-off art piece or individually created product doesn’t qualify. Ten finalists will be chosen from the eligible entries, and the winner will be announced at the chamber’s annual meeting in October. The winner will receive a trophy, a “Coolest Thing Made in Colorado” badge for its website and a few other perks. You can nominate a product here.

To get your creative juices flowing, we’ve compiled a starter set of products manufactured in Colorado that could make the cut:

click to enlarge

Two products manufactured in Colorado.

Katrina Leibee

Sleepy Time Tea, Celestial Seasonings
4600 Sleepytime Drive, Boulder
The first herbs used in Celestial Seasonings teas were picked in the Rocky Mountains in 1969. Founder Mo Siegel started selling tea that his crews made from those plants to health-food stores, and by 1972 the company had introduced its most famous versions, Sleepytime and Red Zinger. It’s gone through a few owners since then; after Kraft bought Celestial Seasonings in 1984, the original management and Vestar Capital Partners bought it back in 1989. It then merged with the Hain Food Group in 2000 and became the Hain Celestial Group. Today Celestial Seasonings offers 105 different varieties of tea, all manufactured in Boulder and enough to brew a billion cups of tea a year. The classic Sleepytime, which inspired the infamous Sleepytime bear that acts as the mascot for the tea. Visitors to the Celestial Seasonings facility can even sit in his chair and take pictures.

Noosa Yoghurt
4120 North Colorado Road 25 East, Bellvue
Koel Thomae got the idea for Noosa Yoghurt while visiting Noosa, Australia. She tried a yogurt and fruit puree combination there and fell in love with it. Back in Colorado, she reached out to local dairy farmer Rob Graves, who manufactured a similar product at his farm in Bellvue. The first version of Noosa Yoghurt was sold at Whole Foods and farmers’ markets in 2010; since then, its expanded both its line of flavors and its reach to include grocery stores around the country. The company merged with Advent International’s Sovos Brands in 2018.

Mellivora Leggings
Mellivora, 339 Bronco Court, Berthoud
Chris Gerardi, a photographer, wanted an original way to showcase his photography and came up with the idea of printing his photos of the mountains, water, sunsets and urban landmarks like Union Station on leggings. When Gerardi started his business in 2016, he knew he wanted to manufacture locally both in order to control quality and conditions and pay for workers. Today, Mellivora leggings are made in Berthoud. Mellivora means honey badger and Latin and it’s known to be a tough animal. Mellivora is a nickname Gerardi got due to his tenacity.

Bobo’s Original Oat Bar
4501 Viking Way, Loveland
On a rainy day in in 2003, Bobo and her mom Beryl Stafford looked around their Boulder kitchen for ingredients they could use to bake something warm and comforting. They made their first batch of oat bars from whole grain oats, vegan cane sugar, vegan butter and brown rice syrup, and they were a hit when Bobo took them to school. Today the bars — made from the same ingredients, and gluten- and soy-free, non-GMO and kosher — are made at a bakery in Boulder. The company also sells bites and toaster pastries.

Mt. Massive Colorado Teardrop Trailer
1780 55th Street, Boulder
Colorado Teardrops has been manufacturing small camping trailers at its 20,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Boulder since 2014. Established in 2014, the company originally rented the trailers, but it now has seven models that it sells around the country. The Mt. Massive is the lightest four-person camper it produces, designed to hold a queen-size mattress and two bunk beds. In a state filled with outdoor lovers, this camper certainly qualifies as cool.

M.C. Squares Reusable Sticky Notes
550 Thornton Parkway Suite 208, Thornton
In 2016, Colorado entrepreneur Anthony Franco launched M.C. Squares, a company based on hand-held dry-erase boards that could be added to larger white board to increase collaboration in classrooms and offices. Franco pitched M.C. Squares on Shark Tank in 2020 and businessman Kevin O’Leary ended up giving him $50,000 for 11 percent of the business. By then, M.C. Squares had launched the reusable sticky note, which sticks to any shiny surface; a cloth or tissue can erase the text. The product is manufactured at a wind-powered factory in Thornton, and the company estimates that it’s kept two billion paper sticky notes from going into landfills.