Rusty Perry: ex-lawyer pushes greener cleaner.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: Executive Edge - Revolution Cleaners

Rusty Perry now cleans and presses the same kind of pricey suits and dress shirts he used to wear to work every day when he practiced law in Denver.

But he's not complaining. Perry hopes to clean up in the business world with Revolution Cleaners--the first dry-cleaning company in Colorado to use a nontoxic and environmentally friendly carbon-dioxide system to clean clothing. The green-technology company has stores in Denver's Washington Park neighborhood and in Boulder and a plant in an industrial section of Northeast Denver. It plans to open two more metro-area stores, as well as stores in Aspen and Steamboat Springs, by year's end. Founded last year by Perry and his partners, Revolution Cleaners also is in talks with investors in Seattle, Dallas and Baltimore who want to introduce the technology to their states.

"The plan is to go national," said Perry, noting that Kroenke Sports in Denver's Pepsi Center recently signed Revolution Cleaners as its official dry cleaner, not only for its administrative staff but for its sports teams--the Denver Nuggets, Mammoth lacrosse team and the Colorado Avalanche.

"We can clean everything from the expensive suits of the Nuggets players to those smelly hockey pads using this technology, because it is gentler on clothing than traditional dry cleaning and doesn't use heat," said Perry.

A 1996 graduate of the University of Denver College of Law, Perry never dreamed he'd land in the dry-cleaning business. Growing up in New York, he'd sit by his lawyer grandfather's side, watch him work and talk legal matters. Then, as his grandfather's eyesight slowly failed, Perry would read the fine print on legal documents to him--an effort that inspired him to enroll in law school, first at New York University and later to finish up his degree at DU.

"He was a huge influence on me," said Perry. "He was an estate attorney, a pillar in the community who practiced law for 72 years. Even up to a year before he died--when I was in my second year of law school--he was still helping people with their legal matters."

After passing the Colorado bar, Perry handled...