Last week the Boulder Chamber made history, probably, when it presented a major award to locally based Terrapin Care Station.

The chamber gave Terrapin Care Station, its Innovative Business of the Year Award, the first recognition of that significance from a non-marijuana industry business organization in Colorado and perhaps in the country, the company said.

“One of the most innovative things that Terrapin Care Station did was join the Boulder Chamber eight years ago,” Chris Woods, founder, owner and chief executive of Terrapin Care Station, said in a statement. “Today, we are active with chambers of commerce in every city we operate in. Every day, more and more people acknowledge the cannabis industry’s contributions to communities, and so fewer people are viewing it as a fringe business that is different than any other.”

The company has five stores on Colorado, as well as one in Eugene, Ore. and a medical marijuana grower and processor in Clinton County, Pa.

“This is the first time a marijuana business has been recognized by the Boulder Chamber and I imagine it’s one of the first times such a business has been recognized by a major chamber organization in Colorado,” John Tayer, president and chief executive of the Boulder Chamber, said in a statement.

“Terrapin Care Station has demonstrated its innovative spirit in its successful navigation of the risks and challenges associated with an entirely new industry, as well as through its demonstration of responsible business practices and positive corporate citizenship in an industry that suffered from early stigmatization.”

Senate President Kevin Grantham, R-Canon City, signed an official commendation congratulating the company for the chamber award, as well, thanking the company for “making such a positive impact in the Boulder business community.”

The Senate commendation was requested by the Sen. Stephen Fenberg, D-Boulder, according to a press release.

“I’m happy to show my support for Terrapin Care Station as an important contributor to the thriving business community of Boulder,” Fenberg stated. “Terrapin has become a well-known and well-trusted place of business that the people of Boulder frequent because they know they’ll be taken care of.”

Separately Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan, members of the City Council and the Aurora Chamber of Commerce attended a ribbon-cutting March 1 for a 4,500-square-feet retail space for a remodeled store on Mississippi Avenue on March 1.