Point of origin: Utah's distribution infrastructure attracts outdoor Rec companies.

• Author: Webb, Gaylen
• Position: Business Trends

While Utah's recreational wonderland has attracted outdoor sports enthusiasts for decades, the state has also become a magnet for outdoor product companies. The state's unparalleled outdoor recreational opportunities, combined with solid distribution channels, lower costs and a business-friendly environment have made Utah the epicenter for outdoor product design, manufacturing and distribution.

When Gary Heward and his wife purchased Liberty Mountain, a wholesale distributor and catalog company based in Portland, Ore., in 1997, they knew their location in the Northwest didn't make much sense from a distribution standpoint.

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"We are a true distribution company," says Heward. "We ship outdoor gear and accessories to shops all over the United States, so operating from Portland just wasn't smart, logistically."

So the Hewards launched a year-long search for a new distribution location that took them from the California coast to Boulder, Colo. At the time, Boulder was the base for outdoor product companies, but the Hewards chose Salt Lake City for Liberty Mountain's headquarters and Western distribution center. They set up shop here in 1998.

"It just made sense to move to Salt Lake City," he explains. "It costs us less and is faster to ship from here to every major city in the U.S. (other than when we were located in Portland and shipping to Portland or Seattle). Salt Lake is terrific."

Heward notes that other factors, such as lower operating costs, less expensive real estate and a skilled labor force also helped make Salt Lake City the optimum choice.

"It's hard to beat Utah if you are an outdoor enthusiast," he says.

Base of Operations

Liberty Mountain isn't the only Utah outdoor products company enthusiastic about the state. Peter Metcalf, CEO of Black Diamond Equipment Inc., likes to say that "Utah works for Black Diamond." Two of the many compelling reasons Utah is the place for Black Diamond include the state's location, logistically, and the company's easy access to Salt Lake international Airport, according to Mark Ritchie, Black Diamond's vice president of operations.

It also helps that Black Diamond can essentially design and test its outdoor gear in its own backyard.

"We really are a great state for outdoor product manufacturing and distribution," says Riley Cutler, director of the Outdoor Products Cluster in the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED). "We are better than Phoenix, better than Reno and...