StateNews
Supply chain reaction Heading into the mountains is about to get more expensive by Sarah Mulholland Colorado Public Radio
desperate to get their products and forced to pay whatever it costs. Before the pandemic, it cost between $1,500 to $2,000 to here are millions of dollars of camping get a container from Asia to the U.S., acequipment and apparel stuck on ships cording to White. In September, it was sitting in a harbor right now. That’s a $15,000, he said. big part of the reason the company Kelty – The various hold-ups are even changing known for its backpacks and sleeping bags – the products themselves. will be raising prices later this month. Dave Bombard owns Bishop, a two-perProblems in the global supply chain are son operation out of Edwards that handcreating big headaches for businesses – and crafts bindings for Telemark skiing. It’s an for shoppers that are dealing with long waits intricate process, involving roughly 60 and higher prices. parts, Bombard said. For one critical comNo industry has been spared, and that inponent, Bombard was using a particular cludes the vast market for outdoor recrethickness of sheet metal. ation equipment. Coloradans should be “This is the part that basically holds the prepared to pay a little more for gear when boot in … it is kind of the key. This one part heading to the mountains for the foreseeholds the heel of the boot to the binding,” able future. he said. Russ Rowell oversees Kelty and a number He ended up having to redesign the bindof other outdoor brands for Broomfielding when his supplier told him he wasn’t based Exxel Outdoors. He said retailers had going to get the material in time for winter. to absorb some of the recent shockwaves in Bombard had to raise his prices by 10%. order to keep prices manageable. Bishop designs skis, too. In an ominous “If we were to pass on the full breadth of sign for how long the problems will drag the impact … I don’t believe consumers on, Bombard recently received word that would be camping anymore,” Rowell said. he’ll need to cut next year’s order for skis Starting Nov. 15, the price of a Kelty campby 20% due to the potential for ongoing ing chair will go from $109 to $139, he said. material shortages. The logjam started with a surge in deHoogendoorn of Yeti says his company mand for goods from people stuck at home is thinking about ways they can source during the pandemic, according to Randy more of what they need domestically. An employee scans supplies at Wheel Pro’s Denver warehouse./ Photo by Kevin J. White, the CEO of Wheel Pros, a Green“The most basic way for it to get solved is for Beaty/Denverite wood Village-based company that designs demand to drop off, for us to stop buying as and manufactures specialized wheels, including those example, a COVID-19 case could shut down a port in much product … from Asia,” he said. Asia. Finally, it opens back up and ships leave, but when used on Jeeps and SUVs for driving off-road. The kinks in the supply chain go way beyond outdoor Supply chain snags have only continued to get worse, they get to the U.S., the ports are clogged. On top of that, equipment. Prices are going up everywhere – from the there might not be enough workers to move the cargo grocery store to the gas pump. The supply chain isn’t the he said. “It’s like once somebody steps on the brakes in traffic after it’s unloaded. only thing driving inflation, but it’s definitely making It can start with simply getting goods aboard a ship, things worse. and all of a sudden you have hundreds of cars backed up on I-70 … It’s a chain reaction all the way through the according to Steve Hoogendoorn, co-founder at Yeti CyRowell, of Exxel, said his company waited as long as it cles, a mountain bike manufacturer in Golden. His shop could to raise prices, especially because camping is seen system,” White said. The network that gets stuff from point A to point B is booked space on a ship that never materialized. as an affordable vacation option. With everything getting “They call them ghost sailings, when they just don’t so expensive, some families have tough choices to make a global web of ports and highways, ships and trucks and planes. And, of course – people. There are countless ways actually show up,” Hoogendoorn said. when it comes to money. The time it takes to get a shipment from Asia to his for things to go wrong. But up until recently, things “They’re not going to spend it on camping goods mostly got to where they needed to be, when they needed workshop in Golden has quadrupled, and it can be as when they have to buy milk,” Rowell said. long as four months, he said. to be there. Shipping costs are skyrocketing because everybody is These days, there are hiccups every step of the way. For For more from Colorado Public Radio, go to www.cpr.org.
T
We’re W e’r e e pr proud oud to suppo support rt the ’21-’22 Green Business siness Gr een Bu 11/10 Roundtable oundt able Wednesday R ou 12-1pm
Join us for November GBR and learn about how a new business model for community banking benefits small businesses and reinvestment in rural America. From administering government funds to nurturing and financing entrepreneurship and small business, find out about the many creative and collaborative ways a forprofit community bank and not-for-profit community loan fund are partnering to deliver much needed working capital to rural Colorado.
sanjuancitizens.org/events/green-business-roundtable sanjuancitizens.org/events/green-business-roundtable
Community Reinvestment: A New Banking Model for Rural Colorado 8 n Nov. 4, 2021
2020 Business siness of the Year Year Durango Chamber of Commerce 2020 Community/Rural Lender of the Y Year ear Colorado Small Business Administration
telegraph
fswb.bank (970) 375-1100 | info@fswb.com 600 East 2nd Avenue, Durango
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
