James Nicol, a co-owner of SnoPlanks, and co-founder Ryan Holmes have donated their business to Oregon State University-Cascades. 

SnoPlanks, a Bend snowboard and skateboard business, will be run by Oregon State University-Cascades starting in 2025.

Instead of selling the business, founders Ryan Holmes and James Nicol decided what better legacy than to hand over the established business to the college for students to obtain hands-on experience as startup entrepreneurs.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for the college,” said Todd Laurence, OSU-Cascades instructor of business administration. “They’re looking to make a living classroom out of the business.”

The move is similar to what Patagonia did in 2022 when it transferred ownership of the company to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization created to preserve the company’s culture.

Details are still being hammered out, but both the business program or the outdoor products program will jointly operate the business with the students working in cohorts, learning how to run, market and distribute products. The result will be students who will have developed skills similar to an executive at a business, Laurence said.

“There are less than a handful of outdoor product programs in the United States,” Laurence said. “It’s a distinguishing program for us. Students will a have the ultimate experiential learning opportunity here at OSU-Cascades.”

Initially the business most likely won’t earn any revenue as the students get it started up, he said.

But if there are profits to be made, they will be put back into the college, he said.

SnoPlanks started in 2012 in Bend as a small, handcrafted snowboard and skateboard company.

The company earned an early state award at the 2015 Bend Venture Conference and completed the Bend Outdoor Worx accelerator program for outdoor companies.

During the years, the founders, Nicol and Holmes, have lent their board shaping and design expertise to others. Some of the skateboard designs are inspired by giant-wave surfing icon Gerry Lopez. According to Nicol, Lopez met the founders while at a Big Wave challenge at Mt. Bachelor ski area more than five years ago.

“I’m excited about this venture,” said Gary Bracelin, a founding member of Bend Outdoor Worx, a mentoring and accelerator program. “It’s a huge commitment from the SnoPlanks founders to gift this to our community. This is an opportunity for OSU-Cascades to have the best outdoor products program in the nation.”

Bracelin said the SnoPlanks donation will inspire the entrepreneurial environment in Central Oregon.

Surfing icon lends expertise to Bend businesses

Surfing icon lends expertise to Bend businesses

The plan has been in the works for about six months, Nicol said. SnoPlanks founders met with program directors and others at the college, providing business plans that map out the viability of transferring the business. Nicol and Holmes are popular guest lecturers at the college.

“The company has always been mindful of our impact on the community and we’ve always been a community-centric business,” Nicol said. “We have a dynamic outdoor program in our town and to be able to have the brand make an impact on the program, seemed like an interesting concept.

“It’s a cool legacy for the brand.”

Nicol said he is looking ahead at other ventures, including a beverage automation company called Beverage Management Systems. His partner, Holmes, is also transitioning to another business in the environmental space, Nicol said.

“We are extremely grateful for the doors this extraordinary gift will open for OSU-Cascades,” said Sherm Bloomer, OSU-Cascades chancellor and dean, in a prepared statement. “A cross-disciplinary team, sponsored by OSU-Cascades and OSU’s College of Business has already formed to design the SnoPlanks Academy and how students will advance their career skills by engaging in the operations, sustainability and growth of the company.”