Even in outdoor ‘epicenter,’ CEOs say local industry facing challenges

BOULDER — Just because Boulder has the reputation of being the “epicenter of the outdoor industry” doesn’t make the area’s outdoor companies immune from the same challenges other industries are facing here.

Executives on Tuesday at BizWest’s Outdoor-Industry CEO Roundtable discussed challenges ranging from an evaporating labor pool to a dwindling inventory of office and warehouse space to affordable housing for employees, all issues that have come up in other industry roundtables this year.

They also expressed a need for a group effort to create an identity and brand for companies in the area, similar to what the natural and organic food industry in the Boulder Valley has been able to achieve and the state’s recent campaign branding Colorado.

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Steve Sashen, chief executive of Xero Shoes, a maker of sandals for runners, said his company has been growing, but it’s difficult to find employees and space to meet the company’s needs.

“The marijuana-cultivation industry is taking all the employees and warehouse space,” he said.

Jonathan Fox, president of Eco Vessel, a maker of recyclable insulated beverage bottles, said unlike tech companies in the area that plan on attracting funding, growing and then being sold, small outdoor companies tend to want to stay here.

Kent Ebersole, general manager and vice president of Active Interest Media’s outdoor group, which owns Warren Miller films and numerous outdoor publications, said his company is feeling the squeeze of price and availability of office space as the company adds employees. “We can’t get the space we need,” he said. “People who need offices are crammed into cubicles.”

Seth Haber, founder and CEO of Trek Light Gear, a maker of lightweight hammocks and backpacks that can be folded and stored in a pocket, agreed. “Availability of warehouse space is dwindling. … If you make a physical product, you need the space. It’s to the point you’ll need to outsource fulfillment efforts if you want to stay.”

Kimo Seymour recently moved the media and events division of “Minneapolis-based Life Time Fitness to Boulder County to capitalize on the area’s outdoors cachet, but the senior vice president has taken temporary space in Lafayette and will take a permanent home this August at the Colorado Technology Center in Louisville, where it will have about 110 employees. “That’s because of commercial rent and housing prices in Boulder,” he said.

Talk shifted to a topic that has been kicked around for several years — forming a local organization to support the industry, sponsored by large companies that could provide a series of educational workshops on a variety of topics such as financing, staffing, reaching new customers and marketing for smaller companies.

Haber said the current model of different groups offering meetups needs to be consolidated and move beyond just networking.

“There needs to be cohesion among local companies. We need to identify what we want out of a group to help solve our problems,” he said.

Susan Eastman Walton, owner of RecoFit Compression Gear, a home business that sells a compression sleeve made of a special fabric worn on calves to prevent injury and fatigue, said she would like to learn more about direct sales online vs. sales in brick-and-mortar stores to generate more profit. “I’d like to know what that silver bullet looks like,” she said.

Seymour said, “A group isn’t going to solve the real estate problem … but you rarely see something bad come from good collaboration.”

Fox suggested a partnership with the national Outdoor Industry Association based in Boulder.

David Secunda, former head of the OIA, and founder and chairman of Avid4Adventures, which organizes summer camps for mountain games and outdoor education programs, said there “needs to be a lightning-bolt issue” for a group to form from within the industry.

Participants in Tuesday’s CEO Roundtable included: Kent Ebersole, general manager/vice president outdoor group, Active Interest Media; Jonathan Fox, president, Eco Vessel; Seth Haber, founder/CEO, Trek Light Gear; Steve Sashen, CEO, Xero Shoes; David Secunda, founder/chairman, Avid4 Adventures; Kimo Seymour, senior vice president, Life Time Fitness; Susan Eastman Walton, owner, RecoFit Compression Gear. Moderator: Christopher Wood, BizWest Media LLC. Sponsors: Bob Bond and John Devore, EKS&H; Heidi Potter, Berg Hill Greenleaf & Ruscitti. Location: EKS&H’s accounting office in Boulder.