Ryan Scully, a lifelong skier born and raised in Maryland, felt the pull of the West. He was on a quest to purposefully integrate the outdoors into daily living and to create a more meaningful and balanced life for he and his family. He’s now the Chief Financial Officer at Icelantic, a role he took on four years ago for this Colorado-based ski manufacturing B Corp, founded in 2005.
Ryan reflects on the early days, and the corporate ethos. “Icelantic took a kind of lifestyle approach, founded on friendship, creativity, making an exceptional product and giving back,” says Ryan. “It’s a brand that maintains authenticity for both the people who work here and our love of nature, and the community who buys our skis.”
A Certified B Corp is a for-profit corporation that has been certified for demonstrated social and environmental performance, through a rigorous assessment. There are just 4,000 Certified B Corps, in 77 countries across 153 different industries. Icelantic attained this distinguished status in August, 2022.
Founder Ben Anderson began prototyping his extremely durable all-mountain skis in his parents’ garage in Evergreen, Colorado in 2002. Cofounders Travis Parr and Annelise Loevlie attended middle school and high school together with Ben, in Idaho Springs, Colorado, where their lifelong bond was formed.
Travis, who contributes the beautiful graphics translated from his original paintings, moved back to Colorado to help launch Icelantic after finishing up art school in Laguna Beach, California. Current CEO Annelise Loevlie also returned to Colorado to help launch Icelantic after graduating business school at the University of Vermont.
The Icelantic mission? To both create a product and experience that inspires people to Return To Nature, and to create a culture that leaves the world better than we found it.
The Icelantic team puts their values into action through their enduring commitment to manufacturing their products domestically in Denver, their fundraising partnerships with the National Park Service and others, support of nonprofit climate advocacy organization Protect Our Winters (POW), and their Winter on the Rocks annual concert at Red Rocks. With every special edition ski Icelantic makes, they commit a percentage of sales to partners or nonprofits that align with their company and its philosophy.
Although the company remains in Colorado, the scale has grown from one visionary’s garage to a multinational enterprise: Icelantic skis and apparel for men, women and youth are now available at retailers and demo centers across the U.S., Canada, Asia, Australia and Europe.
When it came time for the company to grow, they looked to Alpine Bank. As a fellow Colorado organization there were many appealing similarities.
“Alpine is so rooted in Colorado, just like we are. We have relationships with key individuals at the bank, and I can pick up the phone any time and have a conversation,” he says. “It was a milestone for Icelantic to receive a working capital loan from Alpine Bank; a game-changer in terms of the way we operate our business.”
Learn more about Alpine Bank’s commercial banking services.
| FIND A SURCHARGE-FREE ATM! | |
|
|
|
|
|