Made in Colorado.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: Merfs Condiments services offerings - Alchemy Bicycle Co. services offerings - Becky's Buttons services offerings

1

MERFS CONDIMENTS

When Kelly Schexnaildre moved from Louisiana to Denver in 2010, she concocted hot sauce as a hobby. "I just ate a lot of hot sauce growing up," she says of her passion for fiery foods. Schexnaildre turned pro in early 2014, naming the company for her basset hound, and now makes five kinds of hot sauces, including the original Peaches & Scream (peach-habanero) and her best-selling Sriracha Hand Grenade. "It's super approachable and delicious," Schexnaildre says of the latter. She's now in the process of launching a line of mustards this spring, with four varieties to start. "It's really just exploded," she says of the business. "It's been a lot more profitable and busy than I thought it would be."

About $5 to $9 retail

Made by Merfs Condiments, Denver, merfscondiments.com A store locator is on the website.

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ALCHEMY BICYCLES

After launching in Austin in 2008, Ryan Cannizzaro moved his bike-building business to Denver in 2012. "We needed to expand," he explains. "We were bringing all carbon fiber production in-house." Two and a half years later, Cannizzaro says the relocation to a shop/factory off the Cherry Creek Trail was a good move. "Growth has been great. Colorado's been treating us very well." In 2014, the 10-employee company made about 400 bikes. "This year we plan on making a lot more," he says. A good number of them will be new carbon-fiber hardtail mountain bikes that hit the market in March. Cannizzaro says his are the only bikes of their kind entirely made in the U.S.

$3,900 to $6,400 retail

Made by Alchemy Bicycle Co. Denver, alchemybicycles.com

3

BECKY'S BUTTONS & DIORAMAS

Becky Wareing Steele started collecting buttons from her favorite bands in high school and the hobby "blossomed into a business" while she attended Colorado State University in the early 2000s. By the end of the decade, her button-making operation evolved to include dioramas. "I'm an organized and obsessive person, so I like to...