Gene Milstein purchased five pounds of blue Columbine seeds from a local in 1965. Now, his company sells around a million pounds of seeds each year across the world.

Applewood Seed Company celebrated its 60th year on Friday, making it one of the longest-running businesses in Arvada and a global success, producing wildflower, garden flower, native grass and herb seeds to wholesale markets across the world. Those seeds help to decorate golf courses, government land, highway and park departments.

The company started humble, with Milstein and his wife, Doloris “Dee” Milstein, buying seed from specialty growers and putting together horticultural products for gift and garden shops, like greeting cards with seeds and growing jars.

In the 1970s, they created a research program to dig into every part of growing wildflowers, including adaptability and site preparation.

By the 1980s, they began marketing wholesale seeds to the landscape industry, kickstarting global success.

“They did a lot of research. They knew it would work. They knew it would be happy if they grew it,” CEO Norm Poppe said of the Milsteins. “They had a lot of innovation over the years. They were always on the lookout for something new.”

Poppe took over as CEO and general manager in 1988. Milstein passed away in 2024; Doloris died earlier this year.

Even into his 80s, Milstein always told the company to fill itself with workers who complement each other — and now those coworkers have a place at the table, with the company becoming fully employee-owned by 2020.

“(The Milsteins) did not want the company to leave Arvada. They didn’t want it to be sold off,” Ryan Guilford, chief operating officer, told The Denver Gazette. “They really thought of the employees as their children. So, ultimately, it was settled to do an employee stock ownership plan, and now we’re 100 employee owned and thriving.”

“Who knows best than the people who work here?” Gov. Jared Polis said at the celebration. “Not too many companies make it to 60. That history starts with Gene and Dee. But now you’re all grown up and ready to take the helm for the next 65 years.”

The owners worked closely with Polis’ parents’ company, Blue Mountain Arts, with greeting cards and other gifts.

Now owned by employees, the company looks toward the next 60 years.

“My role in the company now is communicating that culture and institutional knowledge,” Poppe said. “Let’s keep all those traits that Gene and Dee had as far as being entrepreneurial and innovative.”