lenty of outdoor sports companies already have operations in Utah. But a recent consolidation of three winter sports companies into a single headquarters in Ogden further establishes northern Utah as an outdoor sports cluster. Amer Sports Winter and Outdoor US, a subsidiary of Helsinki, Finland-based Amer Sports Corp., is better known for its brand names – Rossignol, Atomic Ski and Salomon, among others. The consolidation means three communities will lose corporate residents – Carlsbad, Calif., where Suunto is based; Amherst, N.H. (Atomic); and Portland, Ore. (Salomon). But Ogden makes the most sense to Amer Sports' management as the company launches a 10-year growth plan that will see its payroll more than double to 230 employees.
   "We're combining those into one location, because we want to be able to better manage those three European brands in the U.S.," says Mike Dowse, Amer Sports' president. "Secondly, this is a cost-cutting exercise in that one location eliminates the need for three buildings and duplicate positions."
   Portland made the short list of finalist sites, largely due to Salomon's existing operation there. But Seattle was also a contender, because another subsidiary, fitness equipment maker Precor USA, is based in Woodinville, a Seattle suburb. Utah was always in play, because two-thirds of the U.S. operation caters to winter sports enthusiasts, and the state – host of the 2002 Winter Olympics – makes companies catering to that market very welcome indeed.
   Space limitations eliminated the Seattle option, and Utah made it clear it was quite serious about luring the operation there.
   "We knew about the cluster initiative for this industry from the Utah governor's office, which partnered us with EDCUtah [the Economic Development Corp. of Utah], which dedicated a couple of people to our team," says Dowse. Park City and Salt Lake City were the logical locations to investigate, thought Dowse, but EDCUtah strongly encouraged the team to check out Ogden.
   "We weren't too excited about that, but we had also heard that Ogden's mayor, Matthew Godfrey, had been courting the industry for quite a while," says Dowse, "so we added it to the list." Other outdoor products companies in and around Ogden include Peregrine Outfitters, Easton, McKenzie Sports, Scott Sport, Kahuna Creatives and Desente North America.
   Due diligence on the three Utah cities and Portland commenced with an emphasis on finding a strong cultural fit for the company, a cost-effective location and a quality work force. Utah scored well in all three areas, Dowse reports.    "Culturally, we're 20 minutes from Olympic skiing," he says, "and from a cost standpoint, Ogden won easily. It's a town going through a renaissance, so the cost structure of the real estate and capital improvements was substantially lower than other areas." The Governor's Office of Economic Development made several financial incentives available, including $2.5 million in Industrial Assistance Funds upon completion of the relocation and building improvements and $5.44 million in Economic Development Zone Tax Increment Financing property tax rebates over 10 years.
   Ogden's approximately $4-million contribution to the financial package includes a 20 percent tax credit for locating in a historic building (the former American Can building); tax increment funding; 200,000 sq. ft. (18,580 sq. m.) of warehouse space at Business Depot Ogden, an 1,100-acre (445-hectare) master-planned business park; and naming rights on Ogden's new High Adventure Recreation Center. The latter, says Dowse, was "better than a nice-to-have [incentive], but not the tiebreaker either."
   Other states and communities can make financial incentives available, but can they demonstrate the same willingness to help make a key industrial player successful?
   "We've found some great employees here so far," Dowse notes, but the state's commitment to his sector is no less important. "It has been a great partnership so far. Just knowing that the state was friendly to our industry and that by moving here we would know we would have partners long term made a big difference. The governor has attended two events here, and the mayor really goes out of his way to help us recruit good people."
   Dowse says the company attracts people who are drawn to a wide range of outdoor activities, not just those enjoyed in the winter. "You could almost say there is too much to do in this area – we have to work to keep employees in the office."    Meanwhile, western parts of the U.S. will soon be serviced from new Utah distribution centers being established by beauty products maker Sephora and confectioner The Hershey Co.
   A distribution center in Maryland has been serving Sephora clients west of the Mississippi River until now, which was not ideal from a logistics standpoint. A new, 320,000-sq.-ft. (297,280-sq.-m.) distribution center in Salt Lake City will fix that. At full capacity, the distribution center will employ about 500 people.
   "As our business continues to grow, our logistics infrastructure and supply chain capacities are expanding to guarantee that our retail stores and e-commerce clients continue to enjoy top-notch service and state-of-the-art efficiency," explains Martin Flaherty, vice president, Sephora Logistics. "Sephora explored 14 other geographic locations before deciding to locate in Utah, and we are quite pleased at being part of this vibrant and wonderful city."
   Hershey's decision to build a distribution center in Business Depot Ogden is part of the company's plan to make its distribution center footprint more flexible, cost effective and relevant for its customers. The company will invest about $38 million in the facility and hire about 100 people – at wages above the Weber County median salary.
   "Our new distribution center represents a significant investment in Utah and will contribute to Hershey's long-term success by enabling us to meet the needs of our customers," noted David West, president and CEO, at the February 21 announcement.
   To secure the project, the state put forth a post-performance EDTIF (economic development tax increment financing) incentive of up to $2.6 million, rebating 20 percent of new state revenue over a 10-year period in Ogden. Other incentive provisions include Hershey agreeing to keep operations in Utah for 10 years; Hershey paying average salary for new positions that is equal to or greater than 140 percent of the Weber County median wage; and Ogden City providing a local incentive of at least $3 million (which it did, in conjunction with Business Depot Ogden developer Boyer Co.).