Partners in the Great Outdoors

04 Nov, 2015

Caption: Vista Outdoor is on an aggressive expansion schedule, which includes acquisitions including Jimmy Styks’s, which makes paddleboards. Photo: Vista Outdoor

Superior business costs and quality of place are must-haves for outdoors industry.

By Rachel Duran

When former U.S. Olympian and four-time world champion kayaker Eric “E.J.” Jackson turned his passion for the sport into a business, he selected White County, Tenn., after having traveled most of the United States throughout his years as a professional athlete. Jackson was attracted to the beauty of the area, the temperate weather, and of course, great kayaking opportunities.
“White County was my favorite place to visit when my family and I lived in an RV for eight years,” Jackson writes in an email correspondence. “We bought land here to live first, the business came second.” He began Jackson Kayak in 2003.
The company manufactures kayaks, coolers, and kayak-related accessories from an 110,000-square-foot factory in White County. The company primarily produces whitewater and fishing kayaks, as well as recreational kayaks, and performs OEM custom molding. In April, the company announced expansion plans due to the international popularity of the brand and the launch of the Orion high-performance cooler. The company expects sales to double over the next five years.
“We are at capacity at our current facility,” Jackson writes. “We purchased a new factory to expand into and are working now on getting it ready for action.” At the time of the expansion announcement the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development said Jackson Kayak will invest $6.5 million in the expansion, and create 250 new jobs.
Jackson is an active participant in competitions around the world; however, he can’t imagine a better business environment than White County where he can work with officials to ensure that the community and the business can succeed together. He says he has found an “awesome workforce and a very gracious and accommodating county, region and state.”

Eric “E.J.” Jackson, founder, Jackson Kayak, based in White County, Tennessee. Photo: Jackson Kayak

The company is looking forward to its next chapter in White County “with our new 300,000-square-foot facility where we intend to continue to grow our business and our workforce,” Jackson said when announcing the expansion.

Source of Inspiration
In Oregon, a snowboarder with a love of the outdoors had an “aha moment” when engaged in a woodworking project. Eric Singer envisioned frames for eyewear while working with a limb from a madrone tree. An experimental brand from the beginning, Portland-based Shwood Eyewear has set the stagnant world of eyewear on fire, where companies such as Ray-Ban are now offering wood frames for eyewear.
Shwood Eyewear, the originator of wood-framed sunglasses, keeps true to its tagline, “experimenting with nature,” as it expands into producing frames for prescription eyewear using a variety of

Portland is seen on the national stage as being a creative, progressive and innovative place. “There is brand value for us to say we are a Portland-based brand because we are tied to outdoors and innovation.” – Ryan Kirkpatrick, Shwood Eyewear

materials. “Since we came out of the standard wood line, we have made eyewear out of whiskey barrels, baseball bats, slate, records and newspapers,” says Ryan Kirkpatrick, president, Shwood Eyewear. “We just released our first women’s collection. We use innovative materials to tell the story of ‘hey, if we see something, we can make a cool pair of eyewear with it.’”
Kirkpatrick says Shwood Eyewear sources its wood from a company in Portland, which procures wood from all over the world from plantations, and which is sustainably harvested. The company benefits in several ways by operating in Portland, including unintended benefits.

Portland, Oregon-based Shwood Eyewear, the originator of wood-framed sunglasses, uses a variety of woods, whiskey barrels, baseball bats, slate, records and newspapers for its frames. Photo: Shwood Eyewear

Shwood Eyewear is located in a building in an up and coming neighborhood in southeast Portland. The company moved from a Portland suburb in order to address the quality of life needs of its 35 employees. Most of the workforce lived in the city and preferred to ride bikes or take the bus to work. By moving operations to the city, Shwood Eyewear has reduced the net commute time for its staff by 60 percent.
“An unintended benefit of being here [in the city] is how close we are to other people doing the same thing,” Kirkpatrick says. “We are friends with a lot of people in our space. The meetings and conversations happen more naturally and organically because we are so close. I have a standing lunch with one of my friends who is an entrepreneur and he is three blocks from here. He is in optics as well and we talk about growth and strategies in the business.”
Portland is seen on the national stage as being a creative, progressive and innovative place, Kirkpatrick says. “There is brand value for us to say we are a Portland-based brand because we are tied to outdoors and innovation.”

Build, Test and Play
The rewards of operating from a location that experiences all four seasons bodes well for outdoor recreation companies. This scenario is seen in Utah’s recreation cluster, which features leading clusters for skiing related boutique companies (Park City) and cycling companies (Ogden.) “We have a great landscape and outdoor space for our customers and ourselves to enjoy and test out the products that we make — it is right here in our backyard,” says Amanda Covington, vice president of communications and government relations, Vista Outdoor Inc., which spun off from ATK in February.

Utah’s officials created the Office of Outdoor Recreation three years ago, the only such agency in the country at the time, to elevate the state’s outdoor recreation cluster, a component of which is outdoor products and services companies.

Vista Outdoor is a publically traded $2.3 billion company with more than 40 brands in its portfolio. The company is divided into two segments: shooting sports and outdoor products. In addition to other manufacturing locations, the company manufactures its Gold Tip Arrows in Orem. “We also serve the snow skiing market with Bollé ski helmets and goggles,” Covington says. “And we serve the golf market with the Bushnell laser range finder.”

Vista Outdoor is a $2.3 billion company with more than 40 brands in its portfolio. Photo: Vista Outdoor

Vista Outdoor is underway with an aggressive strategy for growth, both organic and acquired. “This summer we acquired two companies,” Covington says. “The first, Jimmy Styks’s paddleboards, entered us into the watersports market; and the other, CamelBak, is a hydration systems provider.”
The company is building its corporate headquarters at Station Park in Farmington, which is a mixed-use development located close to the airport in Salt Lake, a commuter rail station, and freeways. “It provides ease of access for customers, employees, our board of directors and shareholders,” Covington says.

“We feel we picked an epicenter to put our headquarters in and it supports all of the activities we participate in. Utah is a great place to enjoy all of the activities that our products support.” – Amanda Covington, vice president of communications and government relations, Vista Outdoor Inc.

Vista Outdoor expects to open next spring or summer. “We feel we picked an epicenter to put our headquarters in and it supports all of the activities we participate in,” Covington says. “Utah is a great place to enjoy all of the activities that our products support. You can go skiing within 20 or 30 minutes, be on a golf course within five, and start hiking in the foothills within several minutes.”
“Having Vista Outdoors, one of the largest players in the country within the outdoor space, locate to Utah is an advantage for us because it continues to highlight the overall strengths of outdoor products in Utah, and the desire to locate here,” says Brad Petersen, director, Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation. “It is exciting to see them build their headquarters here. And we hope to continue to work with them to even locate some of their businesses and manufacturing to Utah over time.”

Jackson Kayak produces whitewater and fishing kayaks, as well as recreational kayaks, and performs OEM custom molding. Photo: Jackson Kayak

Utah’s officials created the Office of Outdoor Recreation three years ago, the only such agency in the country at the time, to elevate the state’s outdoor recreation cluster, a component of which is outdoor products and services companies.
Petersen espouses the advantages of testing products out immediately from a Utah location. He points out the relocation of Armada Skis Inc. from California to Park City. “They want to design a ski, manufacture that ski in their own facility, and take it up on the hill within that same week or the next day, and test it out to see if it has the characteristics they built into it,” Petersen says.
A cycling industry cluster centered in Ogden is self-fulfilling in regard to its expansion, Petersen says, as companies clamor to take advantage of the industry synergies found in the area. Quality Bicycle Products, a distributor, has located a number of its suppliers to the Ogden area to fill its supply chain. “I just came back from Interbike [trade show] in Las Vegas and Ogden is known as a destination for cycling, where companies are looking for synergies,” Petersen says.
Petersen says when it comes to talent, Utah’s universities are fulfilling outdoor recreation companies’ needs by training students in design, for example. “And you have employees who are willing to move to the state because they know if things don’t work out at one company, there are others around,” Petersen says.
Covington says Vista Outdoor’s headquarters operation will employ 90 people when fully operational. “We have recruited heavily in Utah to fill our professional roles,” she says. “The talent is here. There is a great education system here for the families of our employees. It is a draw if we need to recruit from out of state or other areas to come to Vista Outdoor.”
In a nod to Utah’s quality of place assets, Armada Skis officials guaranteed employees if they didn’t like living within Utah and/or Park City in the first year, the company would pay to move them back to California.
“That is a big commitment from any business, but I think you see that in particular in the outdoor industry, where they are committed to their overall core mission,” Petersen says.

For complete details about the organizations featured in this article, visit:

Jackson Kayak

Shwood Eyewear

Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation

Vista Outdoor

Rachel Duran

Rachel Duran is the editor in chief for Business Xpansion Journal. Contact her at rduran@latitude3.com.

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