Made in colorado.

• Author: Peterson, Eric

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ECOENCLOSE CORRUGATED BOXES

Made in Louisville, EcoEnclose's boxes are greener than most. "Our product is 100 percent recycled material," says co-owner Kyle Wente. "Most of the folks in the industry are 30 percent for quote-unquote recycled." Beyond boxes, the company also sources and sells a wide range of other green packaging materials to customers nationwide. "Almost everything is 88 percent recycled or above,"Wente says.

The market is responding: EcoEnclose has grown by 40 percent or more for several years running. Wente, who bought the company in 2015 with his wife, Saloni Doshi, says two factors underpin the company's success. "Eco-friendly is about waste, but it's also a marketing decision," he says. "Number two, eco-friendly doesn't necessarily mean more expensive."

Prices vary by product and volume

Louisville

Made by EcoEnclose

www.ecoenclose.com

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HYPARS

Retired nuclear engineer Denny Newland invented HyPars--short for hyperbolic paraboloids--in 2010 after researching the potential of the shape in civil construction projects. "I was actually trying to make something that would replace the common two-by-four," Newland says. "You can get a stiffer structural pieces using less material."

Facing imposing barriers to entry in construction, he shifted his focus to toys and protototyped, refined and patented the design before launching in 2016. HyPars are now available in kits to make swords, robots, octopi and many other shapes. Open-ended "Inventory Builders"include 450 parts"and the user is free to create," Newland says. "These HyPars can be put together in an infinite number of ways."

Newland is based in Washington state, and his son and daughter-in-law, Isaac and Mitzi Newland, help run the business from Longmont, where HyPars are manufactured by toymakerZometool.

Kits: $10 to $50 retail Inventory Builders: $90

Longmont

Made by HyPars

www.hypars.com

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MOTOMINDED MOTORCYCLE ACCESSORIES

A mechanical designer by trade, Chris Vestal found inspiration for MotoMinded racing motorcycles in Baja, Mexico, in 2012. He prototyped what became MotoMinded's Pillbox to protect spare parts for his bike's fuel injection system, 3D printed it, and soon went into business. It's now Vestal's full-time gig, and he now has two employees and six,--and...