Business as usual is comforting.
But, oh, so boring!
As observers, we’re attracted to change and the excitement a company like Sphero experienced in 2015. The Boulder robot toy maker was catapulted to a new galaxy — and record sales — after a gamble that landed it a Star Wars toy deal.
Or the heady price rise of property in Denver’s River North Art District, where some commercial property hit more than $100 a square foot — but still looks nothing like the gentrified Larimer Square or revitalized Denver Union Station neighborhoods.
But big changes also made for a breathtaking year for Chipotle, still reeling from reports of foodborne illnesses and a tanking stock price.
Rewind 12 months and few would have predicted that Breckenridge Brewery would end the year in Anheuser-Busch’s The High End stable.
Three major ski resorts gained new owners or management. Frontier Airlines made a profit — and its passengers complained less.
And plunging oil prices actually turned into a bright spot for Colorado’s oil and gas production.
“(Sphero) just blew the doors off in the last 12 months,” said J.B. Holston, who made his own big change from scouting the next-big Colorado company for the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network to becoming dean of the University of Denver’s engineering school in May.
“There were pockets that did really well but were boring,” he added. “And other categories where we might have completely lost, like aerospace, but the work that has been done here is extraordinary.”
These companies and topics transformed their 2014 selves by changing their trajectory. Some out of necessity. Others by a lucky coincidence.
Not all may like where they ended up, but one thing’s for sure: We’ve got change covered.