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Early Years: 1990 – 1993
In the summer following his graduation from the University of Kansas,
Steve Savage and his father Kent were hiking together in Rocky Mountain
National Park when Kent decided to pitch a simple business concept to
his son. The general idea was to provide products manufactured from
recycled content to businesses around Denver and Boulder. With an idea,
a garage, and a few grants to write a business plan, Kent and Steve
officially founded Eco-Products on October 1, 1990. Steve and
Kent first turned their attention to businesses that used large
quantities of paper products including office paper, toilet paper, and
paper towels. While the demand for these products was consistent, the
two found that many of their competitors already offered products
manufactured with recycled content. This precipitated a shift toward
foodservice disposables and janitorial supplies in 1993. The move was
solidified when the team landed their first “big” account: Denver based
Peaberry Coffee. |
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From Retail
Distribution to Wholesale Manufacturing: 1993 – 2005 For the next 12
years, Eco-Products would grow at a slow yet methodical pace by
purchasing recycled content products from companies like International
Paper and Georgia Pacific, and distributing them to businesses in the
greater Denver/Boulder area and beyond. During this time Kent and Steve
never experienced an unprofitable year, as awareness of environmental
issues in America grew rapidly. It was also during this time that Kent
Savage, in 1999, officially retired from the company, and turned the
reigns over to his son. For the next six years Steve worked to grow
Eco-Products into one of the leading distributors of environmentally
friendly products in the country.
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In 2005 Steve introduced a new
wrinkle into the business model. Rather than operating strictly as a
distributor for other firms, Eco-Products invested for the first time in
the manufacture of its own products. These products would utilize a new
technology that replaced traditional petroleum based plastic with “corn
plastic”, and traditional styrofoam with sugarcane. The result of this
shift was a new and unique value proposition never before seen in the
marketplace – one that would offer customers compostable products made
from renewable resources, equal in quality to traditional plastics, and
competitive in price. |
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High Growth: 2005
– 2009 With the shift towards wholesale manufacturing came rapid
growth. Between 2005 and October of 2008, the number of employees
increased from 10 to just under 70. A retail arm selling organic
homewares called “Ellie’s Eco Home Center” was spun off in December of
2007. The business takes its name from Steve’s daughter, Ellie. The
grand opening of its new Boulder location happened on November 15th,
2008. Around the same time, Eco-Products moved into a new corporate
headquarters just east of its present location on Walnut St. On the roof
of the new building is the largest solar power installation in Boulder
County — a 49 kilowatt system that offsets a portion of the building’s
energy needs. |
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