In early 2024, Jill Layton sat at the round table of the circular economy of the Business Incubator Center of Grand Junction with Governor Jared Polis, and then waited for his own future in business.
Less than a year and a half later, Layton welcomed the governor to his own business in the center, demonstrating his work to Polis, as well as Friday of the State’s district, Matt Soper (R-Delta).
Layton’s business, Surpstone, reuses single -use plastics and non -recyclable in durable cobblestones and concrete planters. Layton believes that Surpstone “embodies the ideal of circular economy” by taking garbage that would have found its way to landfills or paths and giving it a purpose.
Layton spoke with the Daily Sentinel about the difference you can do a year.
“It’s very exciting. The business incubators center (BIC) has given me such a platform to show what I do,” Layton said. “It shows me important people in this community and in the state. Everything is thanks to them.”
Surpstone was one of the businesses that Bic highlighted Polis during a tour directed by the CEO of BIC, Dalida Bowl, the director of Economic Development Mike Ritter and the president of the Board of Directors Kimberly Clemmer. The BIC campus is home to 76 local property businesses.
When Polis, Soper and others on the tour visited the exopotence, a company that develops technology to allow mobile robots and, eventually, electric cars are loaded without having to stop, they were treated with a demonstration in the form of a robot that moves around a cargo track that fed on power as it moved.
“We are creating the next generation of wireless load here in Colorado. It is significantly cheaper and safer than the current methods today. The great kicking with him is that it works in motion. We are talking about vehicles that charge while driving. Can you imagine the Hov Lane also duplicating as a recharge lane?
Regensburger, who said that he bases this technology on his studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and Cornell University, said that the company’s first approach will be in the most immediate massive market of store automation. He hopes that, after the pilot meetings and the certification at a mass scale this fall, the company will quickly reach agreements with companies such as Amazon, UPS and Walmart that implement thousands of robots in their warehouses.
“Each Amazon distribution center has about 5,000 of such robots running, but they charge approximately 10% of the time. It is 10 minutes every two hours. That does not sound bad, but 500 of those robots are low and they are charged at any time, so to compensate, they buy 500 more,” said Regensburger. “That is completely inefficient.
It activated a robot provided by intelligence automation, which moved around an area of the room while talking with Polis.
“So could you basically execute this for a day?” Polis asked.
“Absolutely,” Regensburger replied.
Polis asked if the inductive cargo market is competitive. Regensburger replied that the market was competitive, but that the Exopower had an advantage to prioritize the mobile load.
Polis also met with the co -founder of Grand Valley Micro Farms, Phil Strouse, who founded the business with his brother Nate. Both are veterans of the Air Force.
Grand Valley Micro Farms, illuminated by LED lights on several plants, take advantage of the “biosferes” of vertical stainless steel shelves to grow dense green in nutrients such as arugula, sunflower, mustard, broccoli, radish and the collocated, lists to harvest every 10 days throughout the year.
The company prioritizes moisture, light, ventilation and water control in its operations, supplying local chefs, food trucks, specialized markets and a community food bank.
A more prominent business was 579 Construction, a company owned by women specialized in commercial construction and covered construction such as hospitals, community centers, schools and office buildings.
The owner 579 Lori Siegesmund spoke with Polis about his business.
“We are a specialized contractor, but we got on the line (of the general contractor) a little, so we do a lot of metal and insulation frame and ceilings,” Siegesmund told the governor. “At this time, we are working at the Grand Junction Rec Center and many big projects here. We are in the whole state here. We have been here with the incubator from the beginning. They have been incredible. They helped us grow from the beginning.”