42 firms vie for Colorado's most competitive business award.

• Position: TOP COMPANY FINALISTS

Since its inception in 1988, the ColoradoBiz Top Company Awards program has spanned booms and busts--and ultimately, recoveries--in oil and gas, in real estate, in dot-corns and telecoms, to name a few In some years, a business' mere survival has constituted a notable triumph. But always, some firms manage to stand out. And when on top of that they extend a hand in their communities so that others may also succeed, they earn the chance to be deemed a Top Company.

Now in its 25th year, the Top Company Awards program continues to live up to its moniker of "Colorado's most competitive business award" by putting companies through a rigorous gauntlet of scrutiny. Firms are judged on three criteria: financial performance, community involvement and outstanding achievement in areas such as product innovation, operational excellence or marketing effectiveness.

Three finalists in each industry category are chosen from evaluations by longtime sponsor Deloitte. A panel of business professionals and policy officials then selects the winners. Competing companies must be headquartered or have a significant presence in Colorado.

This year, three industry categories have been added to better reflect Colorado's business landscape: Consulting and Professional Services; Energy/Natural Resources; and Software.

Winners from each of the 14 industry categories will be announced, and the finalists recognized, at the 25th annual Top Company Awards celebration Sept. 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Seawell Ballroom of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Denver.

For registration information, contact Katie Ciurzynski at kciurzynski@cobizmag.com or (303) 662-5222. Or register by going to www.cobizmag.com and clicking on the "Events" tab.

Download the Top Company finalists list, along with all other ColoradoBiz business lists at www.cobizmag.com/sourcebook-lists

Resources

CONSULTING AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Global Technology

www.gtri.com

Years in business: 14

Location: Denver

CEO: Greg Byles

Company snapshot: GTRI is one of the leading Cisco Systems solutions providers in the country

Notable practices: The company is one of only three companies out of Cisco's 4,500 partners to hold the Cisco Gold Certification, Cisco Cloud Builder Certification and all three Master Certifications, which include Unified Communications Specialization, Security Specialization and Managed Services Specialization. GTRI employees have invested countless hours and resources to gain in-depth knowledge of all certified areas and have proved their masterlevel capabilities to meet customers' rigorous information technology requirements.

Community involvement: Employees receive a fixed amount of paid time off each year to participate in a charitable endeavor. GTRI's Matching Gifts Program doubles employees' community contributions up to $250 per employee annually.

LT Environmental

www.Itenv.com

Years in business: 20

Location: Arvada

CEO: Thomas Murphy

SOL Language Services

www.sdl.com

Years in business: 20

Location: Superior

CEO: John Hunter

Company snapshot: SDL Language Services enables companies to engage with their global customers - in the language, the media and at the moment they choose. Supported by an expansive global infrastructure of in-house, in-country translation offices and market-leading technology, SDL works with cross-industry leading companies to accelerate global time to market for products and decrease translation costs by delivering innovative language solutions for every stage of the product

Company snapshot: LT Environmental specializes in compliance, engineering and remediation for a diverse range of industries and markets including oil and gas, manufacturing/industrial, real estate, government, and public and private property owners.

Notable practices: LTE is designing a windpowered remediation system for remote locations. By constructing a small wind generator capable of producing sufficient power to operate the subsurface remediation system, LTE, has again been able to reduce the capital and life-cycle costs to clients in an environmentally friendly way.

Community involvement: LTE supports Food Bank of the Rockies, Arapahoe House, National Sports Center for the Disabled, American Red Cross and St. Jude Children's Hospital, among others. It also supports the RTD FasTracks projects throughout Denver. and content lifecycles. On average, SDL enables clients to achieve up to 50 percent acceleration in time to market, 50 percent increase in productivity and 40 percent reduction in localization costs.

Notable practices: As a result of tremendous growth, the company created the SDL Apprentice Training Program as a means of offering in-depth and hands-on training to prospective employees, while providing a platform for SDI, to recruit for all disciplines of its growing business.

Community involvement: The SDL Foundation gives employees the opportunity to get involved in working with and supporting charities and deserving causes, preferably close to their own communities. SDL recently implemented a policy to allow employees up to five working clays off per year to do charity work.

CONSUMER BUSINESS

Cross Inc.

www.crocs.com

Years in business: 10

Location: Niwot

CEO: John McCarvcl

Company snapshot: Crocs Inc. is a world leader in innovative casual footwear for men, women and children with more than 300 four-season footwear styles. All Crocs shoes feature Croslite material, a proprietary, revolutionary technology that gives each pair of shoes soft, comfortable, lightweight and odor-resistant qualities.

Notable practices: Crocs' integrated marketing campaign, "Crocs Inside," is the first campaign fully executed by Crocs in-house. Showing the diversity of the brand is a top business priority for 2012 and the focus of this campaign. "Crocs Inside" print and online advertisements communicate this idea by highlighting newer Crocs styles that offer the comfort of the classic clog style that made the brand famous. Already deemed a vast success internally and by industry standards, the "Crocs Inside" campaign will reach 230 million readers.

Community involvement: Crocs Cares was created to make a difference in the lives of children and families in need through initiatives that positively impact the environment, employees and communities in which Crocs does business. Crocs Cares has donated more than 3 million pairs of shoes since the program's inception, a retail value of roughly $20 million, and 70 percent of those donations have gone directly to children.

Maxx HD Sunglasses

www.maxxsunglasses.com

Years in business: 7

Location: Monument

CEO: Rick Milner

Company snapshot: MARX HD Sunglasses is a family-owned business initially operated out of a tent. It now has a 30,000-square-foot facility, 46 employees and more than 14,000 accounts across the country.

Notable practices: Maxx HD has been approved to be an officially licensed supplier of Major League Baseball sunglasses and is in the process of obtaining licensing for the NFL. The company has the technology to customize sunglasses for businesses, teams, organizations, nonprofits, special events and fundraisers. Consumers can choose the style, color and logo on the arm of the sunglasses.

Community involvement: Man HD Sunglasses proactively seeks out nonprofit partnerships to support via in-kind donations, employee volunteers and monetary contributions. MAXX HD Sunglasses sponsors several youth sports teams throughout the U.S. Maxx offers a monetary sponsorship as well as in-kind donations for the teams and their coaching staffs.

New Belgium Brewing

www.newbelgium.com

Years in business: 21

Location: Fort Collins

CEO: Kim Jordan

Company snapshot: The company brews 48 craft beers. It has 424 coworkers in 29 states.

Notable practices: When CEO Kitn Jordan decided to share ownership in the company, she also implemented a policy whereby all co-workers have monthly financial training and all financial information (with the exception of salaries) is presented to the group. This means that all employees can read a profit-and-loss sheet and contribute to sound decision-making.

Community involvement: In 1995, New Belgium's Philanthropy program began donating $1 for every barrel of beer produced to nonprofits where New Belgium is served. It has since donated more than $2.5 million. New Belgium's Tour de Fat, a traveling festival that raises money for local nonprofits, has surpassed $2 million.

ENERGY/NATURAL RESOURCES

DCP Midstream

(formerly Duke Energy)

www.dcpmidstream.com

Years in business: 83

Location: Denver

CEO: Tom O'Connor

Company snapshot: DCP Midstream is the second-largest natural gas gatherer and processor, the largest natural gas liquids producer and one of the largest marketers of natural gas and natural gas by-products in the United States.

Notable practices: DCP ended 2011 with its second-best safety performance ever--19 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable injuries and an incident rate of 0.63. In 2010, DCP achieved its best safety performance with a 0.59 total recordable incident rate--a 42 percent decrease compared with the three-year average rate.

Community involvement: DCP matches the contributions of its employees to eligible charities. Employees may also opt in for payroll deductions and select from six national charities: the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, American Humane Society, American Cancer Society; Susan G. Komen and United Way.

SkyFuel Inc.

www.skyfuel.com

Years in business: 5

Location: Arvada

CEO: Richard LeBlanc

Company snapshot: SkyFuel designs and builds renewable energy equipment that will reduce CO2 emissions to make a cleaner environment.

Notable practices: 'Hie company's solar concentrators can be used to convert a power plant that runs on fossil fuels to run on clean solar energy. The solar concentrators arc built in Colorado for utility-scale solar projects in North America and around the world...