An outdoor venture: Utah's Own Expands to include outdoor product manufacturers.

• Author: Webb, Gaylen

When Steve Henich, president of Utah-based Flat Attack Sealant Company, went to Colorado to market his tire sealant, he hit what seemed like a brick wall with some local outdoor products distributors and businesses in the Centennial State.

"I was amazed at how loyal people were to the 'buy local' philosophy there," Henich says, "and I thought we needed that kind of loyalty in Utah."

The brand loyalty he experienced led Henich to inquire about Utah's buy-local program and how he could put the Utah's Own brand on his tire sealant product, which his family-owned business manufactures in Murray. What Henich found is an initiative currently underway to expand the Utah's Own program beyond food and agriculture products into outdoor products and eventually others manufactured in the Beehive State.

"We feel that since we have some momentum with the Utah's Own program already in place, we should expand from food and agriculture into other areas," says Richard Sparks, deputy director of the marketing and development division for Utah's Own. "We want to expand in an orderly fashion, and in working with the Governor's Office of Economic Development, Utah's outdoor industry appeared to be the right size to include in Utah's Own without overwhelming the program."

Utah's Own Expands Reach

Including Utah-owned and operated outdoor product manufacturers such as Flat Attack in the Utah's Own program is actually the beginning of a carefully planned expansion of the brand being coordinated by Utah's Own and the Governors Office of Economic Development (GOED) to include many other industries.

"We don't intend for the Utah's Own brand to be limited to only a few industries, but the outdoor products industry is just the right size for the transition, to see if we can help Utah's outdoor product manufacturers enhance the sales of their products in the state before we expand into other industries," Sparks says.

Riley Cutler, director of the outdoor products cluster in the for GOED, also sees great potential for leveraging the Utah's Own brand for many Utah-made outdoor products. Consequently, Cutler and Sparks are working closely to facilitate the expansion of Utah's Own by marketing the program to outdoor product manufacturers and by training local business resource centers throughout the state.

While Flat Attack Sealant Company was the first outdoor product manufacturer in Utah to join the Utah's Own program, it is hoped many others will join as well. There are...