The owners of Ska Fabricating are getting into the powder coating and bicycle rack businesses.
Born out of the need to improve the canning system at Ska Brewing, Ska Fabricating manufactures machines that move cans and bottles from pallets to conveyors for other breweries and manufacturers.
Launched in 2012 independent of Ska Brewing, Ska Fabricating is growing and moving beyond beer and serving other industries such as water-bottling and lemonade companies, said Matt Vincent, an owner of Ska Fabricating.
The company has seen demand grow from 48 machines in 2014 to 80 machines in 2015, Vincent said.
As part of its growth, Ska Fabricating became the biggest customer of Mesa Color, which does powder coating, a painting process. Mesa Color has been locally owned since it opened in 1989. Rather than using liquid paint, the company uses plastic powder that is sprayed onto machinery and then cured in an oven.
Ska Fabricating was also a customer of New Image, a powder-coating company in Farmington owned by Clint Haskin, and that’s how the idea for a partnership started.
On Friday, the owners of Ska Fabricating and Haskin finalized the purchase of Mesa Color. The former owners of Mesa Color, Jim Adkins and Lynn Eustance, are retiring.
“Jim and Lynn are really excited to pass the torch to equally driven entrepreneurs,” said Maggie Kavan, director of marketing for Ska Fabricating.
Mesa Color’s name is changing to New Image as part of the sale.
“We’ve been in business with them for a long time, and it seems like a good natural progression for us,” Vincent said of the former owners of Mesa Color.
He expects New Image, Durango to see strong demand from the residential construction industry. It will also continue to serve its current manufacturing customers like Freenotes Harmony Park and StoneAge Inc., a Durango producer of water-blast tools.
The array of objects that can be powder-coated covers a wide range from car parts to patio furniture, Kavan said.
“We will be powder-coating anything and everything,” she said.
Vincent and his partner, Dan Morris, also bought PutUp, a vertical bicycle rack company founded by Adkins. Before the purchase, Ska Fabricating was already doing some manufacturing for PutUp, Vincent said.
The vertical structure of the racks designed by Adkins works well for schools, office buildings and hospitals, Kavan said.
“There is so much potential for growth in that company,” she said.
Ska Fabricating also bought the building that houses New Image, and the company has moved offices and some operations to Turner Drive.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
