Ska brewing company: beer/skabrewing.com/durango.

• Position: Beverage

Dave Thibodeau and Bill Graham started brewing as underage students at Wheat Ridge High School in the 1980s, landing on Thibodeau's lather's recipes and making a few batches of no-frills "prison beer."

Fast-forward to 1995: Graham and Thibodeau lived in Durango and resolved to turn pro after "we realized how much our jobs sucked," jokes Thibodeau.

Though the Small Business Administration rejected their "comic-book business plan," the pair persevered and started brewing in tanks from shuttered dairies. Steady growth led to a stand-alone brewery south of Durango in 2008.

"We're fortunate we have a great head brewer [Thomas Larsen]," said Thibodeau. "We also have a huge focus on quality control ... beers that are stable on the shelf is crucial."

Production jumped from 15,000 barrels in 2009 - the year Ska started canning - to 30,000 in 2013. Thibodeau projects...