The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control licensed 209 fireworks vendors in the state this year – and more than half of those licenses were granted to one company.
American Promotional Events – or TNT Fireworks – had 114 licenses in 43 cities according to state data provided to 9Wants to Know.
But some cities, including Aurora, have recently passed full fireworks bans, meaning the vendor is not allowed to sell, and that could impact some local non-profit and school fundraisers.
“Most of our operations out there are non-profits. That’s who’s running the operations, mostly churches and schools,” said Brad Burt, an American Promotional Events branch manager. “A lot of youth groups have been cut off at the knees, a lot of them use (fireworks sales) to run their mission trips or fund their youth programs.”
American Promotional Events is a wholesaler, and works primarily with non-profit groups in Colorado to sell the fireworks. Burt said that the company will secure the licenses and provide the fireworks, and schools or non-profit groups will manage the tents and get a share of the revenue from fireworks sales.
“We are a large company, but we want the funds to stay local as much as possible,” said Britton Cottrell, who works for the company in Greeley. “I think local customers enjoy going to places where someone local is benefiting from.”
In 2017, Hinkley High School in Aurora raised money for various teams, including the choir and wrestling team, Cottrell said. This year, Hinkley High School intended to run multiple tents, before the city banned sales.
State data showed American Promotional Events had 11 licenses to sell in Aurora. The company also had five licenses to sell fireworks in Littleton, and seven in El Paso county, where sales are also banned.
“There are several of our groups that are kind of missing out this year that in the past did really well,” Cottrell said.
In northern Colorado, where sales are still legal, fireworks vendors expect to be open all day.
