Top Companies: Excellence Across 14 Industries.

• Author: Taylor, Mike
• Position: EDITOR'S NOTE - Editorial

This issue of ColoradoBiz represents the 31st year of the magazine's Top Company Awards, and the 17th year that I've been involved in the program as a judge, editor and/or writer, yet working on the "Top Company" issue never gets old. That's because while the judging criteria have changed little, if at all, the stories of the companies and their journeys are always unique.

This year's winners in 14 industries range in size from Rose Medical Center, with 1,200 employees, to Atlas Real Estate, with 29 workers. They range in age from Johnson Storage & Moving, founded in 1900--just 13 years after Henry Ford rolled out the first Model Ts--to Velocity Global, an employment-solutions firm in business just four years.

Top Company nominees are judged on outstanding achievement, financial performance and community involvement. That last category is important, and one that all nominees take seriously. But for most companies, the biggest contribution often seems to be overlooked or taken for granted: the meaningful jobs and careers they create, not only within their workplace, but for vendors and other service providers whose ability to generate jobs grows as a result of a Top Company success. I think you'll be inspired and emboldened by the stories of this year's winners and finalists.

Of course, there are reasons besides work that people flock to Colorado, and in this issue's Travel/Tourism report, Eric Peterson attempts to put a monetary value on our public lands, which include 14.5...