CO MFG Awards finalists, part II: industry stars, innovative supply chains and MFG Woman of the Year

There are signs that the cross-industry manufacturing surge we report on every week is developing on a scale that's beginning to impact national metrics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week that 28,000 new manufacturing jobs were added in February, led by the non-durable sector including food, which led all categories with 8,800 new jobs reported.

That's not a surprise to us. We've chronicled the food manufacturing boom in Colorado, and it's been the fastest growing manufacturing employment sector in the state for the past two years. Food will be a poster-child for the new manufacturing brand in the future. And the Food & Beverage finalists in this years Colorado Manufacturing Awards are the vanguard of this innovative, growth-minded sector.

The second group of finalists listed below (here's last week's first wave) also features a new award and a subtle change to another based on this year's theme of Innovation in Product Manufacturing. CAMA will present the Innovation in Supply Chain award at the event next month, a nod to manufacturers using the supply chain to establish competitive advantage. We're also excited to host the Colorado Women in Manufacturing association's first Manufacturing Woman of the Year award. Finalists in both categories are deserving.

Here’s the remaining finalists for this year’s Colorado Manufacturing Awards. We’ll announce winners April 13 in Denver.

Food & Beverage

Claremont Foods, Longmont

MycoTechnology, Aurora

Coda Coffee, Denver

Built Environment

Prescient, Arvada

Raw Urth Designs, Fort Collins

Watson Mills, Lafayette

Bioscience & Medical

Evergreen Research, Golden

WilMarc Medical, Fort Collins

PharmaJet, Golden

CBDRx, Boulder/Golden/Pueblo

Innovation in Supply Chain -- presented by CAMA

Zolo Technologies, Louisville

Ardent Mills, Denver

Integrated Beverage Group, Denver

Manufacturing Woman of the Year -- presented by Women in Manufacturing™

Marcia Coulson, Eldon James

Heidi Hostetter, Faustson Tool

Erica Easter, Easter-Owens

Mickele Bragg, Geotech Environmental Equipment

We'll gather in a month to announce winners. For those who didn't nominate or did and weren't selected, thanks for all you're doing to strengthen the innovation undercurrent in manufacturing. If not at the Colorado Manufacturing Awards, our commitment is to shine a light on companies like yours year-long.

Bart Taylor is publisher of CompanyWeek. Contact him at btaylor@companyweek.com.