Boreas Campers, a manufacturer of off-grid and overlanding travel trailers, took strides the past year to grow its manufacturing operations, moving out of what founder and President Matt Reichel calls the “start-up” phase.
In April, the company will move out of its suburban Denver location in Arvada to Pueblo, Colorado, over 150 miles south. Pueblo offered economic incentives to Boreas Campers, and Reichel said the area offers an affordable price point to potentially begin building a larger, tailored facility dedicated to trailer manufacturing.
“This unit we have next month is a stepping-stone,” Reichel said. “We are trying to figure out our processes, build a team and really dial in on how the next building will operate.”
The “stepping-stone” location will offer significant benefits, Reichel said, as the company executives start to look into building a dedicated facility. Currently in the Arvada location, Reichel’s team works in small RV batches. The new location will provide space for line manufacturing. Reichel said capacity will increase by about 40%.
“This location is bigger and will increase production pretty significantly,” he said. “We are going to look at probably a 40% increase, and even last year we had a 64% increase. We are on a trajectory for sure.”
He said the goal is to reel in the company’s lead times, which currently average between six and seven months.
The move has been in the making for over a year, with hopes to keep the manufacturing space near Denver. However, locations within the company’s budget were far from where current employees are located, and employment issues were cropping up. After checking out Pueblo’s economic incentives, housing market and outdoor recreation opportunities, Reichel said he was excited for the move. He said eight of the company’s current employees will be coming to Pueblo with Boreas Campers.
“Real estate prices were skyrocketing,” Reichel said. “The move made sense from the business and personal standpoint.”
The company is hosting a hiring event at the new facility March 15-16 to fill its vacancies, ending with 29 workers. The CEO said the campers are proudly American-made and sourced.
“We push that American made product, built by local craftsman and sourcing materials in the U.S. as well,” Reichel said.
