LOVELAND — Front Range Laboratories is doing more than testing drug compounds with its expensive machines and shelves full of test tubes and beakers.

It’s also been cooking up some growth.

The company, which tests compounds for pharmacies, employed six people in 2010. Today, it has eight people on staff, including a chemist, chemical engineer, a microbiologist and compounding technician.

Front Range Labs operates in a fairly specialized niche. It has no competitors regionally and says it competes with only four other companies of its size in the nation.

It also claims an advantage over the few competitors that do play in its space.

“When you look at what our competitors are doing, they aren’t making the commitment to some of the pieces of equipment we have here,” Front Range Labs CEO Michael Travis said.

Front Range is still very much a small company, but that “commitment” has paid off. The company saw nearly 50 percent growth last year when revenues climbed to $970,000 compared to $652,000 the year before.

The company’s relatively expensive technology – one machine costs $90,000 – has helped it decrease