Success Stories

“With resources like the Denver Metro Chamber and the Denver Metro SBDC – and a community of entrepreneurs and leaders who are so willing to share their insights – I have to admit, learning how to run a business has been one of my greatest joys.” Naomi Binkley, founder and managing partner of Fireside Production said.

Naomi Binkley and Tom McDonald make their living telling others’ stories through video. They are committed to bringing creativity, leveraging technology and taking a genuine interest in every project. Now that their business is entering its teenage years, they’re focused on sustaining and growing their company.

Their business started out of necessity.

In 2005, she left her full-time career as a journalist to raise her and McDonald’s daughter. When the downturn hit, much of her freelance work dried up: “Suddenly, we were up a baby – down a salary.”

As they were figuring out their next step, people they knew were asking them to shoot projects, script or voice videos. They started by borrowing or renting equipment and slowly saving up money after each project to purchase their own gear.

By February 2006, they decided to name their venture. Fireside Production was born.

As with many entrepreneurs, Binkley and her husband were experts in their trade, but were new to running a business. They had to connect with the right people and businesses and build the right skills and support to build Fireside.

Binkley began to engage with the Chamber and Denver Metro SBDC in 2009, receiving one-on-one consulting and attending programs. They also applied for Emerging Business of the Year Award in 2011 at the Chamber’s Business Awards – becoming a finalist that year and winning the following. Today, they sponsor the event and provide video services for it.

“The relationships that we’ve built through the Chamber over the past seven years have been some of the most powerful – and meaningful – of my life,” Binkley said. “I’ve made friends. I’ve learned about myself and developed my strengths and skills. I’ve gained new insights into our community.”

As the Fireside team – now five strong – looks to the future, they’re focused on smart growth. They’ve recently added drone video to their arsenal of offerings and have developed their own apprenticeship program to grow their team, Binkley said: “We are working to achieve that delicate balance of maintaining the quality and spirit that Fireside is known for – while needing to add (and pay for) new members to the Fireside team to ensure we can continue to turn videos for our clients quickly and meet demand.”

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The concept of Factotum Brewhouse was first imagined when siblings Christopher and Laura Bruns met their other brother and sister for dinner. As it usually goes when the four congregate, several beers were consumed and before long the idea of a homebrewer-driven craft brewery began to materialize.

No strangers to the craft beer scene, Christopher and Laura began racking their minds, trying to think of any brewery—local or otherwise—that truly focused on homebrewers. Was there anybody allowing amateur brewers to create their own recipes on commercial equipment? Was there any place where the everyday man or woman could brew a beer that would later be served to the public? They were drawing a blank; no such establishment existed.

This communal brewery idea remained just that—an idea—for ages until Christopher and Laura finally decided to act upon it. The first obstacle, though, was the lack of a business background. While both Brunses hold several college degrees between them, nary a one had a thing to do with business. As luck would happen, Laura read of another local brewery in the same position, another brewery with a passion for beer but inexperienced in all other facets of the brewing industry. So, they enrolled themselves into a program to help bolster their entrepreneurial acumen. That program was the Small Business Development Center’s LEADING EDGE Business Planning course.

Thinking that, if it worked for them, it’ll work for us, Christopher and Laura signed-up for the 10-week course. There, they learned just about everything they needed to know about running a business from advertising to legal matters to the culminating event: writing a complete business plan. The SBDC made what seemed an insurmountable task an easy, weekly assignment by dissecting each part of the plan, having students focus on one section at a time. To the uninitiated, a business plan seems a daunting tome of statistics and technicalities but, through the SBDC’s guidance, it was a simple, step-by-step process. At the end of the course, the Brunses had a plan they could be proud of; in fact, when their plan was entered into competition against their classmates’ plans, the Brunses won second-place.

Beyond the actual classwork, Christopher and Laura also found the networking between students and between instructors invaluable. Many connections were made through LEADING EDGE and the Brunses feel fortunate to have the support structure that was built for them by the SBDC.

Christopher and Laura further honed their business and brewing skills at the Brewery Immersion Course at the Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery in Ridgway, CO. Since then, they have overcome innumerable hurdles including finding a location, obtaining permits and licenses, and construction but, after years of work, Factotum Brewhouse is, as of February 2015, at last open and sating the thirsts of Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood.

Come visit Christopher and Laura at Factotum Brewhouse where you, too, can drink community-crafted beer.

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Jessica Acosta’s business philosophy is focused on three things: people, planet and profit. The Environmental Consulting Services (ECS) founder and CEO works to bring new jobs to the region while creating sustainable environment and financial stability. ECS, established in 2011, provides services ranging from design and development of stormwater management plans to training.

Acosta launched ECS to serve and address environmental management and water quality compliance needs of private, federal, state, and local clients.

“I’ve been in construction for the last 10 years, and I started at the bottom,” Acosta said. “Owning my business is something I always wanted to do, and when I had reached my level of growth at my current company, I decided to start on my own.”

That’s when Acosta first turned to the Denver Metro Small Business Development Center (SBDC). She leveraged the business training, certification classes and one-on-one consulting to navigate business ownership. “The SBDC partnered with me in creating a road map to where I wanted to go with my company and how I would to get there,” Acosta said.

She also took advantage of the SBDC’s Connect2DOT program, a partnership between the Colorado SBDC Network and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), designed to help small businesses in the transportation industry become more competitive and successful in bidding and contracting.

ECS recently won a contract to participate in a project at Denver International Airport and is expected to participate in the North Metro Rail Line project for RTD, which will enable Acosta to hire more full-time inspectors and provide additional services.

Acosta’s positive attitude, resourceful nature and persistent goal to build a reputable legacy keep her focused on ECS’s growth.

“We provide excellent service and take a vested interest in our clients. This is a growing market and is becoming more regulated. The most important advice I can give clients is to invest in their company’s reputation by hiring ECS,” Acosta said.

Since 2011 ECS has increased revenue by 30% each year and has grown to five employees. ECS is projected to double revenue in 2014.

As the youngest member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Denver and a 2014 member of the Denver Business Journal’s 40 under 40, Acosta strives to be an example to empower Latina women in the Denver community through her professional endeavors as well as her community involvement. A personal goal for Acosta is to establish an annual golf tournament to raise funds for non-profit organizations delivering educational programs to Denver’s youth.

Acosta advises other small businesses who want to gain the tools to create the long term relationships that make a company successful to start at the SBDC. She said, “ECS would not have been possible without the help of the SBDC consultants.”

When asked what advice she has for other small business owners, Jessica’s answer reveals her robust ambition, “Persistence is key.”

When Sara Zessar first began meeting with consultants and attending programs at the Denver SBDC in 2013, she had a company name and not much else. A former high school counselor, Zessar wanted to start a college consulting practice to assist high school students with the college search and admissions process, but she had no experience in the business world. “I knew what I wanted to do, but I needed a lot of help in creating a viable business, especially in regards to marketing,” Zessar said.

Zessar began meeting with consultants at the Denver Metro SBDC in June 2013. Wendy King, a marketing consultant with the Denver Metro SBDC, advised her on developing a website and putting together marketing materials to share with potential clients. Although a friend had offered to teach Zessar how to design a website, the consultant encouraged her to pay someone to do her website – and said Zessar’s time would be better spent building her business.

“I definitely don’t think I’d be where I am today if not for the SBDC consultant – her guidance, assistance, and support have been paramount to helping me build my business, and I look forward to continuing to work with her in the future,” Zessar said.

In order to round out her consulting sessions and build her network, Zessar also took advantage of SBDC classes. She focused on digital marketing through programming.

In the summer of 2015, Zessar brought on an associate college consultant to accommodate growing demand. To date, 90% of Discovery College Consulting’s students have received college merit scholarships of up to $33,000.

Zessar’s company is now four years old, and, with the SBDC’s help, it has become a very successful business. Zessar has worked with over 90 students (and worked with hundreds as a high school counselor) and has helped them gain admission to more than 100 colleges.

The Denver Bouldering Club (DBC) started in 2009 when three local climbers – Thomas Betterton, Lee Payne, and Kevin Brown – decided that Denver’s passion for climbing and the outdoors deserved a better indoor training facility.

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What began as a dream to construct a small training center has now grown into one of the best climbing gyms in Colorado – a gathering place where climbers can learn, train and share their love of climbing. “It’s a place for strong climbers to push themselves and for passionate beginners to learn from the most experienced in the city,” says Payne.

Since its humble beginnings, the DBC has doubled in size and created eight jobs for local climbing enthusiasts. “Listening and responding to members has been a guiding principle for growth and has led to many valued and effective business and facility improvements,” Betterton says.

With incredible training opportunities including expert climbing instruction and classes, the top-notch DBC facility now features over 7,000 square feet of climbing space, 15-foot bouldering walls, a training area and workout equipment, 24/7 hour access for members, free Wi-Fi and a climbing media center.

The DBC has become a preferred place for local climbers to learn and hone their craft. And, the owners, employees and members all take pride in their space. Payne says, “Our members are amazing. They have lent a hand to everything from donated coffee pots and climbing holds to bringing in cupcakes and other baked goods! It’s their gym too, and they take pride in its well-being by giving back in special ways. Which is good, ‘cause none of the owners are very good at baking.”

Throughout the DBC’s journey, Betterton says the expert advice he received from the Denver Metro Small Business Development Center (SBDC) has contributed to his growth and success. “We came into this with a lot of climbing-related knowledge and very little business expertise. [Jim Olp] is a great sounding board and has given me the best business advice I have ever received,” Betterton says.

Thomas says SBDC Business Consultant Jim Olp taught him “not to get discouraged when things don’t go as planned,” regardless of expenses, timing, and workload. Despite any challenges along the way, the DBC is a great example of a local business that was built from the ground up by local entrepreneurs who are passionate about their industry, their community and their energizing workspace.