DENVER - The Boulder County Business Report on Friday received four awards in the 2013 Colorado Society of Professional Journalists' Top of the Rockies competition.

BCBR, competing against news organizations from Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah with circulation between 30,000 and 75,000, was given two first-place awards and one second-place award. BCBR has a circulation of less than 10,000, but through an SPJ clerical error was placed in the second-largest circulation class.

First-place awards were given to reporter Beth Potter in the Science: General Reporting category, and publisher Christopher Wood won for Editorials. Editor Doug Storum placed second in Personal/Humor Columns.

The staff was awarded a second-place award in Special Sections for "Discoveries: Universities, labs & the economy," a 56-page publication produced by BCBR and its sister publication, the Northern Colorado Business Report, that was judged in the 10,000-and-fewer circulation class.

Potter's winning story, "Biotech on quest to market 'gel bandage,' " explained Boulder-based Mosaic Biosciences Inc.'s quest to commercialize a gel that, when injected into a deep wound, fills the gap and helps the wound heal. The water-soluble substance is made of polyethylene glycol, and scientists at Mosaic said it can regenerate tissue in bone and repair cartiledge, and be used on patients with bed sores, or as stem-cell therapy.

Judges said Wood's winning editorial, "Hickenlooper falling short on promotion of clean tech," was "a public service in the form of a direct appeal to the new governor to build on the record of his predecessor. Direct and to the point. Nicely done."

Storum's winning recurring personal column, "Observations," was judged on three submissions: "Carroll Shelby's legend lives on," "We have excess ad negativity" and "Is our health-care system beyond repair?"

Top of the Rockies is sponsored by the Colorado chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, a volunteer board. The contest had more than 700 entries this year from the four states that make up SPJ's Region 9. Entries were judged by journalists from the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists. Awards were handed out Friday evening, May 17, at the Denver Press Club.