White-water wonders

Nation's Business, May, 1997 by Kelly Williams

Andy Zimmerman, 40, and his partner, John Sheppard, 38, are not typical business owners. When they greet you at Wilderness Systems, Inc., they're clad in shorts and T-shirts. You sense that they don't take themselves too seriously.

Yet in 1995, their company was named the No. 1 manufacturer of kayaks in the country in a survey done by Canoe & Kayak magazine of 1,200 specialty retailers, who voted on five criteria. Pretty impressive for a firm that, according to Zimmerman, "was started on a song and a dance."

In 1986, the two were working at the Zimmerman family's furniture-manufacturing plant in High Point, N.C. During off hours, they would spend their time kayaking. But they didn't like the low-performance boats on the market, so they built one of their own. Soon after, Sheppard quit the company. "I was just hanging out, rock climbing," he remembers.

Aware of a void in the kayaking market, Zimmerman quit his secure future with the family business and teamed up with Sheppard to launch Wilderness Systems, a manufacturer of custom-built, high-performance kayaks.

For financing, the two "scratched, scraped, and borrowed" from friends, family, and a bank, says Zimmerman. They set up shop in a 12-by-20-foot shed in his back yard, he says, "with the intention of making one kayak at a time."

After building one, they would carry it to area retailers in hopes of finding a buyer. Robert Levine, owner of Pro Canoe & Kayak, Inc., a dealer in Greensboro, N.C., recalls that in the early days, when he sold a boat, he would call Zimmerman and Sheppard and "we would have a party."

Annual sales are now about $10 million. With Zimmerman as president and Sheppard as vice president, the company employs 98 people and occupies a 60,00 square-foot facility in High Point.

Their commitment to innovation has earned Zimmerman and Sheppard respect in the industry and has allowed them to diversify by developing new products, such as their latest creation, the WindRider. Resembling a catamaran, the WindRider is a trimaran--with three hulls instead of two--designed for use in salt water. The paddler sits in the middle hull, which resembles a kayak but has a sail attached.

Although there are other trimarans on the market, the partners say the WindRider is the first one made from polyethylene, a substance similar to the material from which milk jugs are made. The technology has enabled the company to sell the WindRider for half the price of a fiberglass model.

Neil Wiesner-Hanks, executive director of the North American Paddlesports Association and of the Trade Association of Sea Kayaking, both in Mequon, Wis., credits Wilderness Systems with doing a "superb job" of building entry-level boats to bring people into paddle sports. "Essentially," he says, "the company is building its own market."

Despite the company's success, Zimmerman is cautious about growth in kayak sales in the next year. He says he has witnessed a decline in the market for a rival--the canoe. The company may be tested if the market for kayaks goes flat. But with the success of the WindRider, Wilderness Systems should continue to enjoy smooth sailing.