2006 finalists.

• Position: Rankinns of the enterprises according to their performance

The 27 companies profiled in the following pages are Colorado's best-of-the-best. They are the finalists of the 2006 Top Company awards program, Colorado's most prestigious business award.

Top Company is a difficult competition to win. Companies must first self-nominate, as dozens of Colorado companies do every year. Deloitte, a long-time event sponsor, then evaluates all nominations and selects finalists in nine business categories based on:

1. Financial performance.

2. Excellence in one or more operational aspect of their business.

3. Community involvement.

A panel of business and civic leaders then convenes to sort through information provided by Deloitte--and vote to select winners from the companies profiled herein. The 2006 panel:

* Ralph Peterson, Chairman & CEO, CH2M Hill

* Dana Crawford, Chairman, Urban Neighborhoods

* Brian Vogt, director, Office of Economic Development & International Trade, State of Colorado

* April Thayer, president, Thayer Media

* Bowen Banbury, president, Docuvault

* Greg Baldwin, president, Baxa Corp.

* Robin Wise, president and CEO, Junior Achievement

* Bart Hammond, vice-president, EMC Corp.

Winners will be announced Sept. 21 at an awards luncheon at the Denver Center of Performing Arts. Call (303) 662-5308 for more information.

TOP COMPANY FINALISTS

REAL ESTATE/CONSTRUCTION

ARCHSTONE-SMITH

Englewood-based Archstone-Smith owns 254 apartment communities totaling 86,513 units. CEO Scot Sellers says the 40-year-old company has created some important innovations in the apartment rental business. "We thought, there's no reason we can't use innovations from other industries," he says. "But people said, 'Don't do that, that's silly.'"

One "silly" idea, from the mortgage industry, was to update the tenant credit-approval process from a manual system to an online application. Another idea came from the hotel industry: Archstone-Smith uses revenue-management software that adjusts rent prices as apartments in a community get booked. Also, tenants and landlords can execute leases online now.

Archstone-Smith also owned office and retail buildings until 1991, when the company made the strategic decision to own and manage apartment buildings only. The $17 billion portfolio consists of buildings in Washington D.C., Southern California, San Francisco, New York and other built-out metropolitan areas. The shortage of land keeps vacancy rates down and rents up. The company recently bought an apartment company in Germany, where the home ownership rate is lower than any other European country except Switzerland.

Archstone-Smith's community-service work has an obvious tie-in to the business: Employees have helped build 45 homes for Habitat for Humanity since 1999. "It's housing, it helps people, and it's national," Sellers says. "It does fit very well."

RETAIL/WHOLESALE

CROCS INC.

Lyndon V. "Duke" Hanson III, co-founder and vice president of Crocs shoes, says not much has changed since the company went public this year. "While the core DNA is the same, people realize the tremendous group they are part of and the mindset has shifted from being part of an exciting local phenomena to building an enduring global brand," Hanson says.

Over the past year the Niwot-based company gained distribution in 300 more stores for a total of 7,600 nationwide. There are also 4,000 international stores that sell the colorful shoes. The company was launched in 2002, when three founders intended to create a boating shoe. The slip-resistant shoes became popular quickly, so management responded by expanding the product line, adding warehouses and hiring a senior management team.

"The challenge before was getting people's attention, and now the challenge is sustaining the momentum. While Crocs are not necessarily a household name everywhere, the brand has achieved significant recognition and so now we are focused on growing the brand to respond to this interest," Hanson says.

Revenues for the first six months of 2006 totaled $130.5 million compared with $36.7 million for the same period the year before. The company donates money to The Boulder Community Auxiliary, Brent's Place and others, and also donates thousands of pairs of shoes to the community.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

COMMERCE BANK

There are many Commerce Banks nationwide, but there is only one Commerce Bank Colorado. The 30-year-old bank has one branch in Aurora. "It's in a very visible high traffic intersection," says CEO Jim Lewien. "We have clients all over the Denver metro area."

The bank's customers are mostly small to medium-sized businesses. According to the FDIC, Commerce Bank has $96 million in assets, up from $90 million in 2005. The growth has not been due to any aggressive sales efforts, Lewien says. Tellers don't try to talk customers into opening a home equity line while they're trying to deposit checks. "We don't employ that tactic because when people come to the bank they come with a specific purpose in mind. They don't wake up in the morning and say, 'I think I'll go to the bank today and see what's going on there.'"

Commerce Bank does little advertising, and instead builds its customer base with its "real people, real service" theme. There are no toll-free numbers, and customers talk to one of the 45 employees who work in the building (not at an offshore call center). The bank recently launched E-deposit, which means customers can deposit checks from their offices by running it through a special scanner. "You don't have to leave your office and burn up gas at $3 a gallon," Lewien says.

HEALTH CARE

DELTA DENTAL PLAN OF COLORADO

In 2005 revenues for the million-member Delta Dental Plan of Colorado totaled more than $204 million, an increase of 2 percent over 2004. "That's modest actually," says CEO Kate Paul. "We like to see it higher than that." She adds that some of the growth has been due to higher pricing, which she attributes to higher costs of care.

More growth won't be easy, she says, because as client companies pay more for health insurance for their employees, they try to cut back on dental insurance. "We do get requests for very low-cost products," Paul says. "It's very competitive." Companies also elect to offer employees dental plans with very high deductibles. The company has launched new insurance products designed to keep costs down.

Delta Dental is a nonprofit dental-benefit organization that began in 1958. Today the company has 120 employees, many of whom volunteer for events such as the 9Cares/Colorado Shares Food Drive, and also helped renovate rooms at the Brandon Center, a shelter for battered women and children. Other community work includes Smile-a-Bration, in which 200 dentists, hygienists and other staff provided dental exams and other services to 2,300 children. Delta Dental also provides financial support to the Colorado Women's Chamber, American Heart Association and other organizations.

TOURISM/HOSPITALITY

EXCLUSIVE RESORTS

In 2002, brothers Brad and Brent Handler were traveling with their families. Although they were staying in luxurious accommodations, they decided they'd outgrown their quarters, and they realized other families felt the same way about hotel rooms and suites. So the brothers launched Exclusive Resorts. Members pay from $225,000 to $425,000 in membership fees, then $10,500 to $27,500 annual dues, and stay in multi-million dollar homes when they travel. Members can stay in the homes 15 to 45 days each year.

The Denver company is more country club than timeshare. "With timeshares, owners purchase an interest in a particular plan and specific property and typically have a designated time of year to use their share," says Brent Handler, who is president. (His brother is vice chairman.) "Members of Exclusive Resorts can vacation whenever they want and at any one of our 35 destinations around the world."

Handler says American Online co-founder Steve Case called them several years ago because he was intrigued with the business model and wanted to invest. Today Case is the majority owner of Exclusive Resorts, which has 2,000 members. Last year some of Exclusive Resorts' 200 employees formed the Philanthropic Committee, which gave blood to Bonfils Blood Center, coats to Coats for Colorado, and gifts to families at the Arapahoe House.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

FIRST DATA CORP.

First Data has been moving money since...