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Business Extra, June 5

Marisa Ware

Published June 4, 2008 at 5:03 p.m.

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Oogie's Gourmet Popcorn

* Gourmet popcorn in a variety of flavors

Price: $2.99-$3.99

Where you can get it: Whole Foods, Vitamin Cottage, Tony's Meats, Marczyk Fine Foods

Business owners: Eric Thier, Darrin Foster, Matt Mansi

Location: Denver

Tidbits: What started as a humble operation of three college friends in Eric Thier's kitchen has become a nationally distributed line of gourmet popcorn that boasts the largest kettles in the country.

"We looked around and realized that nobody was treating popcorn as a premium high-end snack," said Thier, president of the company. "It was either an untapped niche or there wasn't a market for it - we didn't know, but we decided to find out."

The three friends soon realized they were on to something. They shipped their first products at the end of 2005, and by the end of last year they were in all 50 states, as well as Canada and the Caribbean.

"It looks like our instincts were right," Thier said. "It just keeps growing."

In addition to creative flavors such as Spicy Chipotle, Lime, Romano, Pesto and Smoked Gouda, the creators are most proud of their all-natural, non-GMO ingredients.

"We wanted natural, and we wanted healthy. So many companies, especially in snacks, will cut corners and add nitrates or preservatives," Thier said. "We're really proud of the fact that we don't do any of that, and we still get this great tasting product."

For more information: oogiesnacks.com

Innovative Water Technologies

* Portable, solar-powered water purification systems

Price: starts at $21,500

Business owners: Carmen and Jack Barker

Location: Headquarters in Denver, manufacturing facility in Rocky Ford

Tidbits: Although IWT's new product, the Sunspring, was launched only last week, it is receiving international attention. The solar-powered water purifier has been designed for remote locations without access to electricity and is the perfect fit for places such as the Congo, which has ordered 31 of the systems.

"The unit can basically be placed anywhere, and the water can be pulled out of a lake, a river, a pond, or even recycled rain water," Barker said. "Once it filters through the system, it's bacteriologically safe to drink."

Barker, who has been in the water business for 25 years, designed the Sunspring to produce 5,000 gallons of clean water per day through a membrane filter.

"We thought, 'Wouldn't it be neat to get this technology to the people who need it most?' " Barker said.

Barker said that the Sunspring is ideal for campgrounds, work sites, national parks and developing countries such as Cambodia, where the company may send a Sunspring for a school.

"We've put one in an orphanage for 500 girls in India, and now they have bacteriologically safe water," Barker said. "They've sent us some great pictures of them toasting us with glasses of clean water."

For more information: innovativeH20.com, 303-567-9310