Business Excellence Award Winner Spotlight

New Business of the Year: Echo Adventures

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the 2026 Business Excellence Awards!  We're proud to spotlight our winners and share their successes.

ECHO Adventures was born from years of hands-on experience working with kids across Summit County and Colorado. While leading camps, coaching teams, and running programs for local organizations, we consistently saw long waitlists and parents searching for high-quality childcare options. That clear need inspired us to step away from stable municipal careers and build ECHO from the ground up. It has been one of the most rewarding decisions we have ever made.

At the heart of ECHO is a simple promise: create daily WOW moments.

Whether kids are standing on a mountain trail taking in sweeping views, diving into hands-on science experiments, learning new skills, or discovering passions they never knew they had, these are the experiences that spark curiosity, build confidence, and stay with them long after the day ends.

Many people don't know that ECHO is an acronym. It stands for Exploration, Community, and Helping Others, and those values guide everything we do.

Exploration brings our days to life through themed weeks, hands-on activities, and unforgettable field trips across Colorado. From hiking new trails to archery and outdoor skills, kids are constantly trying new things. You'll often see Explore time built into our schedule, which means we intentionally leave space for curiosity to lead. Whether that is following a new trail, asking questions, or diving deeper into something that sparks interest, we want kids to experience, not just observe.

Community is equally important. We offer flexible weekday camps with long hours, weekend adventures, and year-round options designed around the realities of a tourism-driven community. We listen closely to our families and respond to their needs and requests by expanding camp capacity, growing our outdoor adventure programs, and launching Summit FLAG, our official NFL FLAG football league. We have also loved partnering with The PlayGarten to host high-energy festivals filled with connection, creativity, and fun.

Helping Others shapes how we support every child and family. We make our programs accessible with flexible payments, scholarships, and practical solutions like shuttles. Through partnerships with local organizations, we offer tutoring, outdoor education, and service projects that teach kids the value of looking out for one another and contributing to something bigger than themselves.

Behind it all is an incredible team of high-energy, caring staff who truly love working with children. We are especially proud that this upcoming summer, a few of our counselors are former campers, young leaders we have watched grow from participants into mentors.

At the end of the day, what truly sets ECHO apart is the genuine relationships we build with every child and family. Kids feel supported by mentors who become trusted role models, while still having the freedom to be themselves and have fun, and parents quickly feel part of a welcoming and supportive community.

This is just the beginning. As ECHO continues to grow, we’ll keep listening, innovating, and showing up for our community. At its core, ECHO Adventures creates days kids look forward to and memories families treasure—experiences that echo far beyond childhood. 

Click here to learn more about ECHO Adventures.