Timber Age Wins Colorado NextCyle 2020

Colorado NextCycle, a program of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), is a business incubator designed to improve the end markets for recovered commodities and organic materials in Colorado. The phased-program helps cross-sector teams to make connections across the state, find partners, understand industry and economic data, and to make business plans more attractive to potential investors.

This month four teams from the Colorado NextCycle program pitched their recycling end market ideas to compete for the opportunity to meet one-on-one with two eminent leaders in sustainable investing: Closed Loop Partners and the Colorado Impact Fund.

We are proud and excited to say that on of our 2020 cohorts, Timber Age, was the winner of the 2020 pitch session!

“We are thankful for the opportunity provided to us by the Colorado NextCycle program including the mentoring and support in refining our approach to grow Timber Age,” said Kyle Hanson, co-founder and CEO of Timber Age Systems. “Finding ways to use the unused to benefit the community is part of our mission of elevating communities.”

Timber Age Systems, headquartered in Durango, CO, is utilizing previously unused and unwanted local timber in Southwest Colorado to produce cross laminated timber (CLT). Currently, 90% of the building lumber in Colorado is imported from out of state. Timber Age Systems aims to develop small scale, agile, local manufacturing for CLT.

“Colorado forests are suffering from overgrowth, insect damage, and increased risk of high intensity wildfire,” said Andy Hawk, co-founder of Timber Age Systems. “We can utilize this unused material to create a building product that is stiffer and straighter, more fire-resistant, and produces more energy-efficient structures than traditionally framed systems.”

Watch their winning pitch >>