Local business Hall of Famer shares formula for success in life and work

Niwot residents Todd Dutkin and Charles Bell would sit on top of the bleachers watching their kids play basketball and talk business, life and challenges. They became friends and informal business associates.

"He's one of my favorite all-time people," said Bell, owner of Tool Studios. "He's one of those humans that you're like, I wish I could be more like him. I don't know anybody who has met him who says any different."

It's hard not to admire someone who built a business from fewer than 15 people to more than 400, began piano lessons at age 45 and went back to school in his mid 50s.

A "no regrets" approach to life has helped Dutkin succeed in life and business. The owner and chairman of Louisville based Fresca Foods has been inducted into the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame for having a positive impact in business and the community. The 2020 induction was postponed due to the pandemic but Dutkin was inducted along with the Class of 2021 last fall.

Dennis Paul, President of BCBHOF, said in an email, "Mr. Dutkin was selected as an inductee because he represents leadership with character, excellence, and dedication, not only in businesses, but for the betterment of our community. Mr. Dutkin gives tirelessly of his time and resources to guide organizations of all types that truly shape our community."

The awards are given to individuals, but Dutkin says it's about more than personal recognition. "The beauty of Fresca is it's a highly collaborative team-oriented company so when you get this type of award it reflects more on your culture," Dutkin said of the company that manufactures organic and natural foods.

Dutkin bought Fresca 20 years ago. He's proud that the company helped make Boulder a hub for the natural foods industry while helping small start-ups grow into large, successful companies. Fresca also donates to nonprofits working on addressing food security. The company is wind-powered and part of the business-focused Climate Collaborative, and has a multicultural workforce with employees that speak 23 different languages.

"We are as diverse a company as you can possibly get," he said. When people with different backgrounds come together, Dutkin says you get a diversity of ideas that creates a culture of innovation, the cornerstone of his business approach. "It starts with an idea and a good safe space to collaborate and talk about those ideas," he said. "That's the core to what has built our success over the years."

It helps that Fresca is a food company and its people do a lot of eating together. "You are effectively breaking bread all the time. And so it's a great way to get to know people. It's very disarming and calming. We all have an opinion about food. It allows us to get our ideas on the table, literally on the table." he said. "It allows us to communicate and collaborate in a very vibrant way."

Trusting people is another key to his philosophy in business and life. "If you trust people, you create a culture where you can work just about anything out," he said. "I think that, more than anything, pays back in spades."

When Dutkin was 17 he traveled the world for more than two years. He's lived and worked internationally. Travel has helped him learn to embrace uncertainty while leaning on what he has the power to control.

His next adventure is unfolding. He moved from CEO to chairman of Fresca so he could pursue a Ph.D. at Case Western University in business management. Bell says it fits with the way Dutkin has lived his life, "He has this incredible hunger for knowledge," he said. "We all have things we are going to accomplish, but he just does it."

Dutkin is a little more than half-way through the program and looking at a dissertation topic on the relationship between awe and curiosity as it relates to innovation. He doesn't know where his new skills and ideas will lead. He's comfortable with that. "If you don't want any regrets in life, you have to pursue things you've always wanted to do."