Finalists in the inaugural Colorado Manufacturing Awards are uber-competitive

One reason we waited to develop an awards program for manufacturers is because business is awash in awards. But with knowledge gained from writing about 400-plus manufacturers in two years, and a big push from Manufacturer's Edge, the NIST manufacturing extension partner in Colorado, we think the time is right for the inaugural Colorado Manufacturing Awards .

And we're well underway. The theme of the 2016 awards is U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. Following are three finalists in nine industry categories and the supply chain, selected from nominations received in November and December 2015. What sets these companies apart? They're game changers in their respective sectors, uber-competitive companies reimaging how we make things but also teaching us again why it matters.

Join us April 6, 2016 from 5-7 p.m. at Denver's ART Hotel for the Colorado Manufacturing Awards reception, where category winners will be announced.

Contract Manufacturing

Faustson Tool (Arvada)

NFT/Paradigm (Golden)

Primus Aerospace (Lakewood)

Supply Chain

Arrow (Centennial)

Colorado Malting Company (Alamosa)

Primeflex Labels (Englewood)

Industrial

Reynolds Polymer (Grand Junction)

Wolf Robotics (Fort Collins)

Woodward (Fort Collins)

Food & Beverage

Fresca Foods (Louisville)

Infinite Monkey Theorem (Denver)

Noosa Yoghurt (Bellvue)

Beer & Brewing

Avery Brewing Company (Boulder)

Ska Brewing Company (Durango)

Wild Goose Canning (Boulder)

Lifestyle & Consumer

Never Summer Industries (Denver)

Otter Products (Fort Collins)

Voormi (Pagosa Springs)

Energy & Environment

PureVision Technology (Fort Lupton)

Tri-State Generation (Denver)

Vestas Towers (Pueblo)

Bioscience & Medical

AlloSource (Centennial)

Mountainside Medical (Boulder)

Spectranetics (Colorado Springs)

Electronics & Aerospace

Modular Robotics (Boulder)

Seagate (Longmont)

Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Space Systems (Louisville)

Built Environment

GE Johnson Construction Co. (Colorado Springs)

Prescient (Denver)

RK (Denver)

We'll expand on why these companies were selected in the winter issue of MFG, CompanyWeek's quarterly print companion, to be published in early February and online at www.companyweek.com.

Category winners from this select group will be announced at a reception in early April -- and everyone's invited. We'll celebrate the 10 companies who win but more than that the makers and manufacturers in our midst. Time to convene. More information will be forthcoming.

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