Congratulations to Jill Layton of SURPstone, winner of the People’s Choice Award at the 2025 NextCycle Colorado Pitch Competition. The award was sponsored by the CEDC.
SURPStone repurposes plastic waste into high-quality concrete pavers, decorative stones, benches, and flowerpots. Operating from Grand Junction, they’ve been selling locally since October 2024 and plan to expand to landscapers and developers in 2025. Learn more about Surpstone:
The NextCycle Colorado program is designed to promote circular economy-based ventures and foster innovation in sustainable design, reuse, repair, compost, recycling or material recovery solutions for end markets in Colorado.
Applicants are selected for a six-month business accelerator program to advance their ventures. Companies included in Cohort 6 for the 2024-2025 season were:
- SURPStone, Grand Junction
- The Source Zero, Fort Collins
- Refound Goods, Denver
- Maple Ridge Rubber Paving, Saskatoon, SK
- High Plains Biochar, Laporte
- Driven Plastics, Pueblo
- Cold Spark, Longmont
- Blazin’ Joe, Golden
The 2025 NextCycle Colorado Pitch Competition winner was Blazin’ Joe. According to NextCycle Colorado staff, Madison Cataldo and Maya Nefs impressed the panel of judges with a compelling pitch that not only showcased a strong value proposition but also demonstrated clear potential for investment. Their women-owned business transforms coffee waste into eco-friendly fire logs and starters. By repurposing chaff from coffee roasters—-a byproduct that contributes to CO₂ emissions equivalent to 10 million cars annually and poses significant fire hazards—-they create a cleaner-burning, sustainable alternative to traditional fire products.
Congratulations to all of this year’s participants for their passion, creativity, and commitment to a more circular economy.