Baxa going strong at 30: med-device maker's growth rooted in compassion.

AuthorCarpenter, Courtney

Brian Baldwin has a knack for business. With more than 30 U.S. and international patents to his name and having started about a dozen successful health-care related businesses before he and a partner started Englewood-based Baxa Corp. 30 years ago, it's no surprise Baldwin won the regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the medical and health-sciences category this year. He's due recognition for a career well served.

Baxa Corp., a medical-device manufacturer that is ranked No. 40 on this year's ColoradoBiz list of the state's Top 250 Private Companies, is approaching $100 million in revenues now. Not bad for a company that was moved here from the Midwest because Brian, as a young man, always wanted to live in the state. But it was in a suburb of Chicago where two entrepreneurs, Brian Baldwin and Ron Baxa, had an idea that would change forever the medical-device industry to improve the dispensing of oral liquid medications--with the safety of children especially in mind.

Baxa's and Baldwin's Baxa Corp. was the first company to market drugs in pre-filled dispensors. "The pre-filled syringes were perfect for children because it dispensed the medicine accurately, preventing unnecessary deaths," says Greg Baldwin, Brian Baldwin's son and now chairman and chief executive officer of the company.

In 1981, six years after it got started, Baxa Corp. relocated to Denver with eight employees and annual revenues of $1 million. Throughout the next two decades, Baxa grew to $10 million in sales, 100 employees and a product line of more than 200 items. It also added two grown-up additions to the family business--Brian's sons Greg and Jeff.

Greg Baldwin joined the family business in 1993 as vice president of sales and marketing. Before joining Baxa, he worked at several telecommunications companies including Sprint and PictureTel for 10 years. "When I worked in the telecommunications industry, the experiences I gained were helpful in giving me a view of what it's like for a company to grow fast," Baldwin said.

And he took that experience home to Baxa.

He was appointed president and CEO of Baxa in 1997, and since then has guided the company's growth from $26.5 million in sales that year to a projected $90 million for 2005. Today, the company's ranking on the ColoradoBiz private-company list is based on 2004 revenues of $74 million, which itself represents an increase of 29 percent from 2003.

In addition, Baxa has expanded sales offices worldwide to more than 45 countries, and the company now has more than 350 employees. In 2003, Greg also became chairman of the company, and his brother Jeff became president and COO. Their father, now chairman emeritus, remains active with the company helping the product-development team, his specialty from the beginning. Ron Baxa, the company's namesake, was Brian Baldwin's first employee, and a designated founder of the enterprise. He left the company about the time it moved to Colorado, but was hired back in 1995 to work in sales. He retired from Baxa Corp. last year.

"The most important thing is to have a great management team," said Greg Baldwin. "Focus on 'who', and the 'how' will take care of itself. We're very fortunate to have great people here--they've helped us get to the next level."

When Baldwin travels, instead of attending sales conferences, he chooses to visit some of Baxa's 7,000 customers face-to-face. "We have a policy here that our customers are the boss, and they demand the best," says Baldwin. "Our customers aren't disposable--we want to have a lifetime relationship with them. I tell them, 'It's not important if you do or don't buy anything today; what's important is what you buy in 20 years.'"

Greg Baldwin's goal is to take Baxa to more than $200 million in sales within the next 10 years. The company recently expanded its now-61,000-square-foot facility in Englewood to accommodate increased sales, marketing and technical-support staff.

But Baldwin's goals go beyond company sales and size. He wants to make volunteering a second career. He personally is involved with Family Homestead, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency and transitional housing to homeless families and children. He'll put on jeans and grab a hammer and work on Saturday with other volunteers building homes for Family Homestead clients. He also serves as a trustee on the board of Denver Academy, a grade school for children with learning difficulties, and leads a Baxa team of riders in an annual bike ride benefiting Children's Hospital.

In doing that work, Baldwin also sets an example for his workforce. "Here at Baxa," he says, "employees can take time off work to volunteer." What he doesn't tell you is that the company pays those employees a full day's salary while they do the work for free. It's company policy.

_TOP 250 PRIVATE COMPANIES Ranked by revenues '04 Gross Revenue % Change (000's) '03 2005 2004 Company Revenue Rank Rank (000's) 1 1 CH2M Hill $3,100,000 $2,600,000 19% 2 Vistar Corp. 2,639,000 2,521,000 5% 3 Great-West Life 2,600,000 4,100,000 -37% & Annuity Insurance Co. 4 2 Hensel Phelps 2,041,086 2,005,239 2% Construction Co. 5 3 Burt Automotive 1,922,508 1,629,605 18% Network 6 PCL Construction 853,673 775,867 10% Enterprises Inc. 7 Phil Long 739,000 685,000 8% Dealerships 8 4 Professional 496,000 438,000 13% Paint Inc. 9 IHS Inc. 395,000 346,000 14% 10 Rocky Mountain 355,574 347,106 2% Health Plans 11 5 American 313,000 305,000 3% Furniture Warehouse 12 6 Mike Shaw 275,439 211,402 30% Chevrolet Buick Saab 13 Xanterra Parks & 247,681 244,384 1% Resorts 14 13 G.E. Johnson 230,032 137,727 67% Construction Co. 15 9 Village Homes of 216,000 184,000 17% Colorado 16 8 Ralph Schomp 205,330 191,755 7% Automotive Inc. 17 16 Alpine Lumber 168,000 102,000 65% Co. 18 Alternative 154,000 118,000 31% Technology Inc. 19 Shaw 150,000 103,000 46% Construction 20 11 FCI Constructors 143,161 149,700 -4% Inc. 21 10 Haselden 142,000 170,000 -16% Construction 22 Gerald H. Phipps 130,600 159,600 -18% Inc. 23 15 Roche 130,571 119,434 9% Constructors Inc. 24 Holland & Hart 124,000 100,000 24% LLP 25 Republic 115,799 77,299 50% Financial Corp. 26 14 Policy Studies 109,057 134,317 -19% Inc. (PSI) 27 20 McClain Finlon 101,000 82,000 23% Advertising Inc. 28 20 Vitamin Cottage 99,215 82,000 21% Natural Food Markets Inc. 29 23 FMH Material 97,916 91,515 7% Handling Solutions Inc. 30 Cigarette Store 95,517 87,570 9% Corp. dba Smoker Friendly/Gasamat 31 Peerless Tyre 95,000 92,600 3% Co. 32 Terra Firma 94,446 84,650 12% 33 27 RK Mechanical 93,313 59,737 56% Inc. 34 17 Alpine Banks of 92,540 86,100 7% Colorado 35 22 Red Hawk 91,972 81,648 13% Industries LLC 36 24 Noodles & 89,000 67,000 33% Company 37 19 Agland Inc. 86,460 77,753 11% 38 Neenan Co. 86,000 82,000 5% 39 Brannan Sand & 82,000 77,000 6% Gravel Co. 40 28 Baxa Corp. 74,000 57,400 29% 41 Guy's Floor 70,000 50,000 40% Service Inc. 42 Merrick & Co. 61,700 63,400 -3% 43 32 Hercules $61,453 $45,850 34% Industries Inc. 44 26 Andavo Travel 60,000 55,000 9% Inc. 45 30 Calcon 59,000 51,000 16% Constructors Inc. 46 31 Fresh Produce 54,800 49,000 12% Sportswear Inc. 47 Polk Majestic 51,000 40,500 26% Travel Group 48 36 Peak Resources 50,406 41,238 22% Inc. 49 29 Frederick Ross 50,400 53,000 -5% Co. 50 41 Drahota Inc. 48,000 30,000 60% 50 43 Palace 48,000 30,500 57% Construction Co. Inc. 52 Golden Triangle 43,800 50,900 -14% Construction Inc. 53 Heating & 43,000 33,796 27% Plumbing Engineers Inc. 53 New Global 43,000 32,000 34% Telecom 55 34 Johnson Storage 42,164 42,193 0% & Moving Co. LLC 56 44 Publication 40,000 30,004 33% Printers Corp. 57 47 Alliance General 39,800 24,900 60% Contractors LLC 58 Joyce Homes Inc. 38,054 31,091 22% 59 Regal Plastic 37,283 32,626 14% Supply Co. 60 40 PRACO Ltd. 35,576 31,432 13% 61 Lockton 35,000 29,000 21% Companies of Colorado Inc. 62 Global 30,000 17,700 69% Technology Resources Inc. 63 49 Craters & 28,866 25,895 11% Freighters Franchise Co. 64 H&L Architecture 27,475 25,700 7% 65 55 Pharmaca 26,180 22,556 16% Integrative Pharmacy 66 53 James 24,600 22,600 9% TravelPoints Inc. 67 63 M-E Engineers 24,500 18,800 30% Inc. 67 73 Portable 24,500 12,500 96% Computer Systems Inc. 69 56 EON Office $24,000 $22,000 9% Products 69 48 Nexus Corp. 24,000 25,600 -6% 71 Tebo Development 23,500 21,500 9% Co. 71 62 Thayer Media 23,500 18,500 27% Inc. 73 57 CoCal Landscape 22,100 22,200 0% 74 58 RNL Design 21,987 20,434 8% 75 59 Image 21,800 19,800 10% Projections West Inc. 76 64 Interlink Group 21,501 16,950 27% 77 50 Pacific Western 20,708 25,441 -19% Technologies Ltd. 78 46 Micro Analysis & 20,100 28,700 -30% Design 79 41 DSP Builders 20,000 29,000 -31% Inc. 80 60 Amber Homes Inc. 19,031 19,235 -1% 81 Configuresoft 18,975 12,749 49% 82 Builders 18,620 16,964 10% Appliance Center LLC 83 66 Breakthrough 18,070 14,580 24% Management Group 84 Good Day 18,000 18,000 0% Pharmacy 84 65 Rocky Mountain 18,000 16,800 7% Desk Corp. 86 69 ViaWest 16,900 13,800 22% 87 71 Slifer Designs 16,859 13,897 21% Inc. 88 All Copy 16,800 11,800 42% Products Inc. 89 Alpine Access 15,748 10,817 46% Inc. 90 75 Accent Windows 15,464 13,337 16% Inc. 91 68 Best-Value 15,200 14,200 7% Textiles 91 79 Highland 15,200 12,250 24% Management Inc. 93 Intelligent 15,000 11,000 36% Office 93 81 PrimeSource 15,000 12,000 25% Staffing LLC 95 67 Travel 14,500 14,300 1% Connections Inc. 96 Silicon Mountain 13,835 8,504 63% Memory Inc. 97 82 United Banks of 13,668 11,637 17% Colorado Inc. 98 72 Swingle Inc. 13,497 13,697 -1% 99 88 DTJ Design Inc. 13,200 9,900 33% 100 97 Statera Inc. 13,100 8,200 60% 101 74 RMH Group Inc. 12,877 14,271 -10% 102 88 EnviroTemps Inc. 12,820 9,940 29% dba ETI Professionals Inc. 103 Intelligent 12,747 6,047 111% Software Solutions Inc. 104 87 Design Materials 12,000 10,000 20% Inc. 105 83 Mile Hi Tours 11,974 11,244 6% Inc. 106 iSatori 11,900 3,100 284% Technologies LLC 107 86 Sounds True Inc. 11,100 10,500 6% 108 Summit...

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