Why do companies move to Utah? Ask the brands that did

Armada gave the plainest answer. The ski company started in Costa Mesa, California, in 2002, and in December 2014 it announced a move to Summit County, taking about 60 employees with it. CEO Erik Snyder's statement in the state's announcement gave two reasons. Utah's business environment came first, and the skiing came second. The state approved a tax credit of up to $354,919 over eight years, tied to 56 new jobs. Amer Sports bought Armada in March 2017 for $4.1 million, and Armada is still run from Park City.

GOODE's reason was the same with a summer clause. Wikipedia's history says the company moved its headquarters to Ogden in 2004 to be closer to snow skiing and water skiing, along with the culture around both. Wikipedia also notes that the pond deal largely restricts the public's access to a city-owned body of water. GOODE still sells carbon poles from Ogden.

Then there is the chocolate company. Robbie Stout and Anna Davies started Ritual Chocolate in Colorado, and Visit Utah⁵ says they were won over by grant money for small businesses and by access to trails and ski runs. "We loved the idea [of moving] from a quality-of-life perspective," Davies said. They began building a factory and cafe in Park City in 2014, and in October 2023 the whole operation moved to Heber City, where Ritual Chocolate is now made. That makes it the rare chocolate company that relocated for the trail access.

The goggle and helmet company SHRED. started in Ted Ligety's Park City attic, but by 2016 its parent company, Anomaly Action Sports, was based in New Boston, New Hampshire. That December the Park Record⁶ reported the headquarters was coming to Park City. Ligety pointed to the skiing and mountain biking. He also mentioned how close Park City sits to Salt Lake City's airport. "This has always been our home in our heart. It seems like a really obvious choice for a company like ours," he said. The company asked Park City for $100,000 over five years. Park City said yes to a fifth of that, $20,000 over three.

Executives who already knew Utah tend to say so directly. In September 2015 Traeger announced it would move its headquarters from Portland, Oregon, to a 28,000 square foot floor in Sugar House, keeping about 30 people in Portland for customer service and IT. Jeremy Andrus, who had run Skullcandy before Traeger, told the Deseret News⁷: "As the former CEO of Skullcandy and having spent 14 years of my life here, I've been continually impressed by the strength of Utah's talent pool as well as the friendliness of the business environment."

So the pellet grill company moved to the state where its CEO had spent 14 years. It is a common pattern, and an underrated one. Traeger was founded in Oregon, which is why we list it as run from Salt Lake City and never as a Utah original.

POC, the Swedish helmet brand, moved its North American office from Aspen, Colorado, to Park City in November 2014. Willie Ford, its marketing director for North America, gave SGB a list. "The region is a hotbed for outdoor-enthusiast professionals," he said, and he added Salt Lake City's candidate pool and its airport. He also named two neighbors: Black Diamond's global headquarters and the Outdoor Retailer trade shows, both within an hour's drive. One of those neighbors has since left, and the story of Outdoor Retailer and Utah explains how.

Magnum Bikes, an e-bike company with roots in Israel, put its American business in Salt Lake City. Cofounder Jesse Lapin told Utah Stories¹⁰ in 2025 that the city's focus on outdoor industries and its work on air quality fit the company's mission, and that his partner, Yoni Kayman, had never visited before the move. An e-bike company citing the air is about as on-message as relocation gets.

Some moves were decided in someone else's boardroom. Black Diamond, which had bought POC in July 2012 for about $44.9 million, sold it to Investcorp in October 2015 for $65 million. The Park City office outlasted the owner that put it there, and POC still runs North America from it.

Gregory went the same way. Black Diamond acquired the pack maker in 2010, and that August it announced that Gregory's headquarters and staff would move from California to Salt Lake City. Peter Metcalf, Black Diamond's CEO, said the company was "integrating its team with the Black Diamond operational infrastructure in Salt Lake City." Gregory's acting CEO, Gray Hudkins, acknowledged "the growing pains" of the move. The production plant in Calexico, California, stayed put, and Gregory has been run from Salt Lake City ever since.

Hoyt is the oldest move on this page. Jas. D. Easton Inc., a California sporting goods maker, bought the St. Louis bow company in 1983 and moved its headquarters to Salt Lake City. Hoyt's headquarters has been in Salt Lake City since.

Wilson Audio's¹³ reason fits on a wedding invitation. David and Sheryl Lee Wilson started the loudspeaker company in 1974 at their home in Novato, California. In the early 1990s, the company says, they moved the business and their home to Provo, the town where they first met, at BYU. The company is still in Provo, a choice no economic development office can take credit for.

They helped, and the state is not shy about the numbers. Armada's credit was a post-performance incentive worth 20 percent of new state taxes, paid out only as the company hit its job and tax targets.

What the money does not do is show up in the quotes. Not one executive on this page led with a tax credit. They led with the mountains, the people, the owner or the spouse. The headquartered in Utah and North American HQ in Utah lists hold the rest of the companies that came here from somewhere else. A press release is written to please everyone in the room, so treat each quote as the reason a company was willing to say out loud.

GOODE's lease on the 21st Street Pond runs to 2038, which makes it the longest promise to stay on this page.