Business and Philanthropy
Polis along with his parents founded bluemountainarts.com, an online greeting card website, which he sold to Excite@Home three years later in a deal worth $780 million. In 1998, he launched the online florist company ProFlowers that expanded to become Provide Commerce, Inc., acquired in 2006 by Liberty Media Corporation.
In 2000, Polis founded the Jared Polis Foundation, whose mission is to "create opportunities for success by supporting educators, increasing access to technology, and strengthening our community." Its main programs are the annual "Teacher Recognition Awards"; the "Community Computer Connection" program, which refurbishes and donates more than 3,500 computers a year to schools and non-profit organizations; and the semi-annual "Jared Polis Foundation Education Report". Polis has also founded two charter schools for at-risk students. In 2004, he established the "New America School", which primarily serves older immigrant youth ages 16–21 and has three campuses in the Denver Metro area and one in New Mexico. In 2005, Polis co-founded with Urban Peak the Academy of Urban Learning in Denver to help youth at risk of becoming homeless or living in unstable living conditions.
Polis was named Outstanding Philanthropist for the 2006 National Philanthropy Day in Colorado. He is a recipient of many awards, including the Boulder Daily Camera’s 2007 Pacesetter Award in Education; the Kauffman Foundation Community Award; the Denver consul general of Mexico “Ohtli”; the Martin Luther King, Jr. Colorado Humanitarian Award; and the Anti-Defamation League’s inaugural Boulder Community Builder Award.
At the time of his election, Polis had founded a number of companies and is one of the 10 richest members of the United States Congress, estimated to be worth at least $65.91 million.
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