COLORADO BUSINESS AWARDS.

• Author: COLIAS, MIKE
• Position: Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry - Statistical Data Included

California's Silicon Valley may seem an odd place for the owner of a Colorado-based whitewater rafting company to search for clues on running his business. But that's where Joe Greiner of Wilderness Aware Rafting in Buena Vista found himself last year, touring the corporate campuses of technology heavyweights such as Oracle and listening to experts speak about the future of technology.

"Being a small business, I'm at the user end of technology -- I buy software off the shelf," said Greiner, who joined six other Colorado companies on a tour of Silicon Valley last year as part of ColoradoBiz's annual Company of the Year awards. "But it was really helpful to see where the big picture is going, and that the Internet will become an increasingly large part of businesses like mine. It convinced me not to get locked into my own little world."

The seven recipients of the 14th annual Company of the Year awards -- sponsored by ColoradoBiz, UMB Bank and accounting firm Deloitte & Touche -- will embark on a similar tour of Silicon Valley in January.

"The whole idea is for these companies to take a peek at the future of technology," said UMB Bank Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer Jim Matteoni, who is coordinating the trip. "Even for smaller companies, the message taken away last year was that businesses really must change to adapt to the evolution of technology."

This year's winners were chosen from 60 nominees in seven categories (no winner was selected in the communications/media services category). Partners from Deloitte & Touche chose three finalists in each category, selecting each based on financial performance and contributions to the community. Companies also were judged on a chosen area of emphasis: product innovation, operational efficiency research & development, quality of management or marketing innovation.

"It was difficult to narrow the field in a lot of categories," said Jim Vaughn, managing partner at Deloitte & Touche. "Colorado's economy has been so strong, and we're fortunate to have a lot of outstanding companies."

Competition in some sectors has become fierce: E-business consultant Interlink was chosen from among 15 services firms. A dozen companies vied for the top spot in the burgeoning Internet/e-commerce category.

"It's a big honor to be recognized for our hard work, especially considering the tough competition among technology companies in the state," said Evoke Communications President and CEO Paul Berberian, whose company was chosen as the Internet/e-commerce company of the year.

The Colorado Council on Education's Enterprising Teacher of the Year, the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry's Business Leader of the Year and ColoradoBiz's Top Company of the Year Awards, all part of the Colorado Business Awards, were distributed at the Colorado Business Awards luncheon early this month. All these award winners are profiled on the following pages.

WILL NICHOLSON JR.

CACI Business Leader of the Year

Longtime Denver-area businessman Will Nicholson Jr. was caught off guard when he heard he had been awarded the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry's Business Leader of the Year award. "It's surprising at this stage of my career, but I'm honored and flattered," Nicholson said.

Yet the award doesn't come as a surprise to those who know Nicholson, including hundreds of business leaders from around Colorado and the United States. At 71, Nicholson is as active in the business community as most executives half his age.

Last summer, he completed a one-year term as Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents 3 million businesses and 3,000 state and local chambers nationwide. "It was a fascinating experience, talking to various businesspeople around the country about what's going on in their areas," he said. His chief aim during his term was to lessen the regulatory...