Building a Better Colorado with CCTW Winners
Maggie Maxwell believes that the secret to success in business can be a delicate formula.
It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, smart implementation of available resources, serious planning and a whole lot of passion and vision.
Understanding those challenges, Maxwell, a financial planner, joined the organizational ranks of Colorado Companies to Watch in 2014 with the goal of helping Colorado’s 2nd Stage businesses make it to the top.
“I think what is really instrumental to helping in the growth and development of our state is making sure 2nd Stage companies are well-equipped for the next level of growth for their own organization,” said Maxwell, who now serves as the Chair of the CCTW Development Committee. “It can be very hard to achieve without support.”
To create that vital support, Maxwell regularly meets with potential sponsors, volunteers and board members to explain the CCTW program and connect them into the network. Once they’re on board, Maxwell makes sure that they are always in the loop and always active in the CCTW community. She coordinates monthly sponsorship meetings, sponsors lead seminars for winners and alumni, organizes networking events twice a year and works with prospective board members and sponsors to integrate them fully into the CCTW community.
Earlier this month, Maxwell organized the first CCTW new member orientation event, in which she collectively welcomed new sponsors, board members and volunteers to CCTW, giving everyone a better opportunity to meet each other and stay connected.
“I do my best to drum up that energy. I let the potential sponsors and members know about our history and work, and how this year we’ll be welcoming our 451st through 500th winning companies,” she said. “It’s a great milestone because the most important thing when working with CCTW is bringing those new winning companies into the fold.”
In her professional career, most recently with Principal Financial Group in DTC, Maxwell has helped numerous small and medium-sized businesses figure out their financial goals and map a way to get there.
So, when she gets the opportunity to do the same in a volunteer capacity for CCTW winners, it’s particularly rewarding.
“I love just learning who they are, more about them and where they come from,” she said. “I love that spark of energy and vision that our winners have for their organization – it’s different for everyone but it’s also the same because it’s their passion, and that’s my favorite part.”
Sponsors serve as ambassadors to CCTW winners, helping to walk each new member through the program and ensure that they make the most of their award year. In her lead role as Chair of the CCTW Development Committee, Maxwell ensures that each ambassador does an exemplary job of integrating the winners into the CCTW community.
“It’s wonderful to see so many of our winners fully embrace all that CCTW can really do for them,” Maxwell said. “It’s really fun to see unfamiliar faces at our first event, and then to know many of them extremely well by the end of the year. And I have relationships with many of them. I go to their restaurants and their businesses and help them on the business side.”
Those good memories and connections are almost too many to count for Maxwell, but there are some standouts. Most recently, a 2017 CCTW winner, Maria Empanada, owned by Lorena Cantarovici.
“Lorena and I have met numerous times,” Maxwell said. “She moved her 11 years ago from Argentina with $300 in her pocket and she spoke no English, and now she’s planning to open a third location.”
She said Maria Empanada also holds community Spanish classes on Tuesday evenings, dance classes on Wednesdays and they also air every Argentinian soccer game in the restaurant, in Spanish.
“It’s a niche market for that community and she’s helping them come together to celebrate,” Maxwell said. “To have that kind of growth, to now be able to put the product in people’s homes or in a restaurant is truly amazing, and it’s what Colorado Companies to Watch is all about.”
Thank you for all that you do to make Colorado Companies to Watch a successful and sustaining program, Maggie!