LINDON — Lanny Smith is big on Utah.
The founder and president of Coverstar, which makes automatic pool covers, calls Utah a "manufacturing-friendly" state. Costs of land, labor and taxes are all lower than many other areas, including California, which he left after regulations became unbearable, he said.
"California state government is always in your face," he said.
After successfully revamping his business over the last year, he has another friendly feather for his cap. Manufacturing Extension Partnership named Coverstar Utah's Manufacturer of the Year at a recent awards dinner in the state's Capitol.
Although raised in Salt Lake City, Smith founded his pool cover business in 1990 in Orange, Calif. Two years later he relocated to Provo where his business continued to grow. In 2002 he built the building where the company is now located in an industrial section of Lindon.
With business growth at 20-25 percent a year, Smith knew he had to change his methods to continue the pattern. So he and his general manager, Don Blohm, contacted MEP Utah, which is housed at Utah Valley State College. The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Governor's Office of Economic Development fund the nonprofit organization of consultants and manufacturing talent, which has a mandate to boost business. Member businesses also contribute.
Last year, under MEP's direction, all the equipment was taken out of the manufacturing facility and then put back in to create a leaner, more efficient operation. Smith now predicts Coverstar can grow unabated for at least the next five years.
Because the automatic pool cover business has a comparatively tiny market in Utah, nearly all the company's products are shipped out of state. Ironically, most pools now built in Utah come with an automatic pool cover, while the reverse is true in the rest of the country, Blohm said.
Coverstar can reach every distribution point in the West within two days. Smith has another manufacturing facility in Indianapolis where he can reach his central United States to East Coast market, also within two days. The East Coast market makes up more than 65 percent of his business, he said. Distribution points are also in Canada and Europe.
"We're like the Delta hub," Smith said.
Much of Coverstar's competition is also Utah-based. Of the seven automatic pool cover manufacturers in the United States, three are located in Utah. Coverstar claims 40 percent of the business, Smith said, and yet has fewer than 100 employees.
The annual recognition encourages manufacturers in Utah to apply innovative, competitive and cost-effective principles to the management of their businesses. The 2005 winners will be honored at awards luncheons in their respective cities throughout March and April.
E-mail: rodger@desnews.com