BOULDER - A fitness club in South Boulder was purchased by about a dozen employees and members to help keep it afloat.

Mountains' Edge Fitness LLC, formerly The Mountains Edge Fitness Center Inc., located at 693 South Broadway, suite K, had been mismanaged since last fall, said Shannon Derby, the fitness center's managing partner.

The former owner, Donald "Scott" Carew, left the area around that time to work with his family's business on the East Coast, Derby said.

In June, the Colorado State Grand Jury indicted Carew and another man from Erie for allegedly swindling $10 million from people throughout the country in a Ponzi scheme. Carew, who was charged with three counts of securities fraud, is still going through the court process.

Derby, who has worked at Mountains' Edge since it opened in 1999, said she thought about buying the fitness center every time the former owner thought about selling it. Now it made more sense.

"I got together a group of members and staff people, and we all contributed various amounts of money," she said.

Nobody owns a majority share of the company. Derby said each investor owns a different amount based on how much they invested, ranging from less than 10 percent to more than 40 percent.

Derby said she signed a five-year lease for the 13,000-square-foot gym and hopes to not only make needed repairs and equipment purchases, but also increase membership and revenue.

"We'd like to up our membership probably in the next two to three years by about 50 percent," she said. It currently has about 900 members.

As part of the growth, she anticipates revenue being about $573,000 with a net income of about $40,000 by the end of 2010. By the end of 2014 she anticipates revenue being about $1 million and net income between $400,000 and $500,000.

Derby said having an onsite manager, or group of managers, will help reach those goals. She said each co-owner is not only invested financially, but has ties to the gym.

"We're all involved at a whole lot of levels," she said. "There's not one of us who doesn't teach something, or isn't capable of teaching something."

And by having the owners interacting with members on a daily basis, needed changes will surface faster and adjustments can be made.

"I think that gives us a huge edge on the competition," she said.