Bend Tours 2022
In winter term 2022, SPD returned to Bend for an industry tour of SnoPlanks, Blackstrap, and MacDougall Bats. This tour highlighted the manufacturing process of three Bend based companies. SPD also stopped by to visit the last open Blockbuster retail store.
Sno Planks is a custom snowboard manufacturing company founded by James Nicol in 2012. We toured their manufacturing facility and got to see how a snowboard goes through the manufacturing process from order to finished product.
Blackstrap is an outdoor activewear company based out of Bend. SPD got a look into their design process for a variety of different products from facemasks to balaclavas. We also toured their fabric printing facility and got to see how they utilize dye sublimation to print unique designs of their fabrics.
Finally, we returned to tour McDougal bats, an innovative company that produces a unique style of bat using two types of wood built to be more durable. The MacDougall family showed us through their entire production process and explained their design.