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Big Sky Outdoor Advertising

Big Sky Outdoor Advertising

Caleb Hebel, 25
www.bigskyoutdoor.com
Wheatridge, Colo.

Caleb Hebel tried to start his own billboard company while he was a student at the University of Denver, but restrictions on outdoor advertising doomed the venture. Instead, at 21, he purchased Big Sky Outdoor Advertising, a 10-year-old company that installs and maintains bus shelters, benches, and other street furniture for the city of Denver in exchange for the right to advertise on the equipment. He bought the company in 2005 for $150,000, financed by loans from a bank and from the previous owner.

The company has since expanded from Denver to more than 40 cities and towns, including Salt Lake City, and Hebel says revenue increased from $120,000 his first year to over $2 million last year. He has acquired three similar companies in other cities, and his staff has expanded from one person to more than 30 full-time workers.