VF boosts outdoor industry’s critical mass

When Fantic’s owners contemplated a move to the U.S., Ken Miner knew where to send them: He wanted them in his backyard.

Fantic sells electric mountain bikes, and Miner couldn’t think of a better place to go than in Colorado, where he’d lived in Jefferson County for 20 years. It was easier for Miner to say where he hadn’t mountain biked than the places he had. He loved the opportunities his home presented to go outside, especially because, for his outdoor recreation company, that translates into opportunities for business.

That’s why his company plans to move its Italian headquarters to Denver, Miner said in a phone interview a week or two before the official announcement. Some states, even those with an extensive population such as New Jersey, have banned electric bikes, but Colorado led an effort to have them classified as regular bikes, one of the many ways the state promotes outdoor recreation.

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“They are here to support you,” Miner said of Colorado. “It doesn’t matter if you’re hunting and fishing, hiking, trail running, whatever. We aren’t just operating from the void. We’ve got support from the state if we need it.”

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VF Corporation

Based in: Greensboro, North Carolina
Employees: 10,000+ worlwide
Ticker: VFC (NYSE: VFC)
Industry: Textile – Apparel Clothing
Sector: Consumer Goods

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The news comes on the heels of the state’s biggest outdoor industry development in recent memory: VF Corp. is moving its headquarters to Denver as well, along with its five big outdoor brands, which include Altra, Icebreaker, North Face, Smartwool and Timberland.

VF’s move was a major grab for the state and for Denver, but it also follows a trend of Colorado as a growing mecca for outdoor industries. That industry accounts for $28 billion in consumer spending, according to the Outdoor Industry Association’s 2017 research, and nearly $10 billion in wages. More recent state numbers have that at more than $60 billion in consumer spending. In 2017, consumers spent almost $900 billion nationwide.

“It reinforces Colorado as one of the leading locations for prominent companies in the industry,” said Clif Harald, executive director of the Boulder Economic Council. “It’s an affirmation of Colorado and Denver’s leadership in that industry”

Boulder already knew that, of course, given that the outdoor industry is a huge part of the city’s economy, Harald said. The biggest reason seems to be because Colorado is a really cool place to live if you like the outdoors. Even VF admits that was part of the reason for choosing Denver after an exhaustive search.

“When you’re trying to recruit passionate, performance-driven employees we like to hire, being located in a ‘cool’ place like Colorado helps,” said Craig Hodges, vice president of corporate affairs for VF. “You can get them in other places, but it’s clear those employees are gravitating to Colorado.”

There were a couple of reasons for the move that didn’t have much to do with Colorado’s mountains. When VF decided to spin off its jeans business last August, it meant VF had no brands in North Carolina and, therefore, no reason to stay. The company also noticed many benefits from locating its brands with its offices in its international markets.

“They were dynamic environments,” Hodges said. “There was a lot more collaboration. Things just got done a lot faster. It just made sense for our five outdoor brands to put them in the same area and gain those same benefits.”

There really wasn’t much question that Icelantic Skis would be located in Colorado after Ben Anderson founded the business in 2006 with three of his best friends who went to middle school together, and skied together, in Colorado. But other cities have since courted Icelantic, places from Utah and even the east coast, and they won’t budge.

“So many people are moving to Colorado to live this active outdoor lifestyle,” said Annelise Loevlie, one of the four who calls herself the CEOhhhhhh of the company. “It’s just the right place and right situation.”

VF’s move may mean more leverage for Colorado, and that can spread to all companies, including Icelantic, even if they aren’t located in Denver.

“There’s going to be more activity,” Loevile said. “We will have this behemoth located in Denver now. A rising tide floats all ships.”

That’s the kind of attitude that reflects the Colorado culture, said Nathan Fey, acting director of the Outdoor Recreation Industry Office.

“It’s informed by the ethic the state is advancing,” Fey said. “It’s the shared values that we hold here in the state.”

Those values include conservation, stewardship, public health and wellness, pillars that the state office promotes, and that gives Colorado an edge but also helps it be a leader to other outdoor offices in other states, which, in turn, will help the industry.

“I see our state now as being a base camp,” Fey said. “We are aligning with other states with those core principles that guide our work. What we’ve created is catching on with other states.”

That gives the industry more power to make a difference, especially when it comes to measures such as the conservation of public lands, or the environment, or improving access to the outdoors for underserved communities. Outdoor offices haven’t been consulted on policy, but that will change, Fey said.

“Now we have a team of states, a collective voice,” Fey said, “and we can be more effective changing those policies as a group.”

The state wants to help Colorado outdoor companies get noticed internationally and will subsidize costs to make that happen, Fey said.

“VF is a big deal for us,” Fey said, “but it won’t be the last one in Colorado.”

That’s what areas not in Denver, but with their own reputations as players in the outdoor industry, are counting on. Smartwool left Boulder and Steamboat Springs to move to Denver, but that won’t be felt as much in a place such as Boulder, Harald said.

“The industry has a long history here, and a very rich one,” he said. “There are other places that have that as well, but the concentration of outdoor businesses in Boulder is the difference maker.”

Once an industry is established, it’s easier to attract other companies, of course, but Boulder’s opportunities and beauty is what led the companies to establish themselves there in the first place.

“The natural environment is a critical factor,” Harald said. “But it’s also a community that is really supportive of start-up companies.”

Those come in all industries, Harald said, but the outdoors was one of the first. VF may acquire a few of those startups, he said, or a few Boulder residents may go to work for VF as well.

That’s another reason why Hodges and his co-workers wanted to move to Colorado.

“It’s a vibrant outdoor industry, and so many others are here,” Hodges said. “It’s likely to create new opportunities we haven’t been exposed to yet.”