machines from a guy going out of business. I really didn’t know what I was doing.” It turned out the board-short look captured the trend of an emerging movement. Whitewater kayaking was skyrocketing in popularity. It shifted from a canoeing-withyour-dad vibe for an older set to an extreme sport for people in their 20s, more akin to snowboarding and surfing. John took stylistic cues from those edgy sports and integrated them into his kayaking garments. “We were the only ones merging fashion sensibility with technical gear,” Kara says. The business exploded, leading the Welds to rent out half of an auto-body garage, where they sewed everything themselves. “A tarp separated us from the guy next door spray-painting hoods,” John says. “It was a dicey place to create clothes.” Three years later, the Welds had 50 employees and were producing board shorts and rash guards in a high school that had been converted into a sewing factory, which they eventually bought. “Running a sewing factory and corralling workers takes a completely different skill set from designing clothes,” John says. “We didn’t know any better back then.” They realized they wanted to refocus on product design and marketing. Not only did they want to quit running a sewing factory, but domestic manufacturing didn’t work for them. To do it, they needed a variety of complex machinery to make different gear, and they didn’t need workers all year round, making employment tricky. High-quality overseas contract sew houses had the necessary machines and could complete their order in a matter of days or weeks, which helped cash flow. “Sometimes people wag their fingers at us for not manufacturing in the U.S.,” John says. “Even if we wanted to use a contract sew house in the U.S., we couldn’t. They don’t exist here because of labor costs, taxes and a lack of will to do this kind of low-tech manufacturing.” By 2010 most of the company’s manufacturing was overseas, and IR grew in notoriety. By 2015 its spray skirts — very complicated pieces of gear which keep water out of kayaks — were all the rage and almost an industry standard. John guesses nine out of 10 people whitewater kayaking on television will be wearing an IR spray skirt. By 2017 the Welds were ready for a change. They wanted to raise their two kids in a place like Hood River, for the lifestyle and better schools. Plus, the axis of whitewater kayaking was shifting from the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest. “Pennsylvania is a great area for kayaking, but it doesn’t have the same glamour as Hood River,” John says. “It’s like skiing in Vermont versus Jackson Hole; Hood River is the North Shore of kayaking. Moving here raised the game for us as a brand. We’re constantly in contact with the best kayakers in the world, who are here to run the White Salmon and Little White Salmon rivers. They come in all the time and help us with product development and marketing. In Pennsylvania this business was seen as a hobby, making weird gear for weird people. It’s hard not to internalize that. Here our work is legit.” Michael Held, a regional services manager at Business Oregon, notes that Hood River is a good example of a microeconomy in the larger ecosystem of the outdoor industry in Oregon. “In Hood River, the outdoor lifestyle attracts industry talent, creating a concentration of knowledge and skills. It’s a great place BUSINESSES IN THE OUTDOOR INDUSTRY GET A LEG UP A number of organizations are dedicated to supporting the success of businesses in Oregon’s outdoor industry. Bend Outdoor Worx is the country’s first outdoor startup accelerator and has a 14-week program, which includes mentorship, e-commerce coaching, branding, accounting and legal consulting. The Outdoor Industry Association is a national advocacy organization that tackles issues of policy, education, economic climate and conservation, whereas the Oregon Outdoor Alliance focuses all its energy on the region. The organizations facilitate statewide networking events, speaker series and education panels aimed at growing the industry. Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency, bolsters smaller companies and startups in the outdoor industry through direct loans, education and consulting, and the Outdoor Gear and Apparel Grant Fund, which accelerates early- and growth- stage startups in Oregon’s outdoor gear and apparel industry. Immersion Research’s Hood River sewing studio Kara Weld at Immersion Research’s office, up the street from its retail store 22
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