It took years to complete, but Moment Skis’ acquisition of its new headquarters facility on Bible Way in Reno was a crucial step in the company’s ongoing expansion efforts. Moment Skis Chief Executive Officer Luke Jacobson told NNBW in an interview last week that the company was bursting at the seams in its old 7,500-square-foot location on Marietta Way in Sparks. Moment’s new 20,000-square-foot building, acquired near the end of last year, was gutted and retrofitted to meet the company’s manufacturing needs, Jacobson said. “We had been looking to purchase something for the last eight years, but nothing really worked out,” Jacobson said. “I’m glad that it didn’t because what we would have moved into wouldn’t have been the same as the building we acquired. “With our place on Marietta, we kept expanding and growing, and every walkway around the factory was essentially a hallway – you had to dodge skis, and things were packed to the ceiling. We made it work, and we had great vendors that were able to ship us materials every two weeks, so we didn’t have to keep as much (materials) on hand.” Moment Skis started out renting two 2,500-square-foot spaces on Marietta Way, but it kept adding more warehouse space as it grew over the last five or so years. That facility also included a large fenced-in yard where Moment stored raw materials in two 40-foot shipping containers. The ongoing and well-documented supply chain and shipping issues hastened the need for a new facility, though, so the company could bring more raw materials onsite. “With supply chain issues and COVID, that old facility wouldn’t have allowed us to be as adaptable,” Jacobson said. “We were really fortunate to get into our new spot when we did. “We were packing those shipping containers full of raw materials, and we had the equipment and machinery to produce more skis, but we didn’t have the space to do it,” he added. The new facility also was built out to accommodate highly specialized ski production equipment that has unique power or compressed air requirements, Jacobson added.
Courtesy Moment Skis’ completed its acquisition of its new headquarters facility on Bible Way in Reno.
“We needed to develop that infrastructure within our (own) facility – continuing to pour money into a rental property was not ideal,” he said. “We gutted it (the new building) and built it out exactly how we wanted. We already have filled up the space, but there are areas to drive forklifts around and actually use the location.” Moment Skis' new headquarters building was constructed in 1978 and sold for just over $2 million. Nevada State Development Corp., provided financing for the deal in conjunction with Umpqua Bank. Jacobson found the property, and industrial broker Nick Knecht of Dickson Commercial Group helped finalize the purchase transaction. Chris Fairchild, senior vice president of the industrial group at Colliers, represented the seller. The company still uses both its 40-foot shipping containers for materials storage because of the supply chain challenges – the ongoing shipping problems have often left Jacobson wondering when he would get additional shipments. Sourcing wood also has been challenging due to the extended housing boom and the odd-sized dimensions of lumber that form the core of Moment’s skis. Moment Skis uses poplar, black ash, Southern yellow pine and European beech sourced from Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky and Germany. “When you can get materials, you kind of don’t know when you’ll get it again, so we have to buy a lot so we can keep building materials for our customer base,” Jacobson said. Moment buys lumber by the semi-truck load. Two species of wood are combined to form the wood core of the ski, and the rest of the ski is a proprietary blend of fiberglass and carbon fiber. Different variations and weaves of carbon fiber determine what type of ski the company makes. The base, sidewall and top surface of the skis, meanwhile, are plastics that are imported from Austria. Moment Skis currently has 25 full-time employees, 22 of which work on the manufacturing floor.
Jacobson said Moment Skis’ main challenge is properly growing and expanding the business in the coming years. Achieving 20 to 30 percent year-over-year growth will bring about the need for additional specialized equipment and more skilled personnel. “Bringing new people on and bringing them up to speed to do the job better and more efficiently every year is our goal,” he said. “We are on track for approximately 30 percent year-over-year growth, which is a direct result of the investment in the new facility and additional machinery.” Moment Skis was founded nearly two decades ago. Jacobson couldn’t find custom skis to suit his style, so he started making them himself. Moment Skis now bills itself as the largest ski manufacturer based in the U.S.
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