Osprey Packs will be expanding its local headquarters and relocating its distribution center to Utah in 2015, the company announced last week.
"The decision to relocate our distribution function to a transportation hub, such as the Wasatch Front, is an exciting and necessary move for Osprey," said Tom Barney, CEO of Osprey Packs, in a written statement. The Wasatch Front is the metropolitan area of Utah, which includes Salt Lake City.
The company has been growing rapidly in recent years and in 2006 the started adding supplemental warehouse space in and around Cortez, said Barney.
The company plans for the new consolidated distribution center, which will be staffed by 20 people, to open by mid-2015. Some staff members will be relocating from Colorado, and some will be hired in Utah.
As part of the expansion, the company plans to convert warehouse space into offices in 2015, which will allow all the employees, who are part of headquarters to work in one building. The company also hopes to add a fitness center and some form of kitchen, which could allow local restaurants to serve meals for employees on a rotating basis.
Osprey employs 74 people locally and hopes to fill four positions soon. It also may add staff members to headquarters as it continues to expand, he said.
Moving the distribution center to Utah helps solve the company's space constraints.
Currently, the company's storage is spread over five warehouses, three in the industrial park and two within city limits.
Osprey also maintains a product development office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, near the factories where they manufacture their products and a design office in Mill Valley, Calif.
Barney said the company plans to keep headquarters in Cortez.
The owner and founder of Osprey, Mike Pfotenhauer, and his wife, Diane Wren, also plan to move back to the Dolores area from California, he said.
mshinn@cortezjournal.com