By John Stouffer

July 11, 2001

According to sources at Sims Snowboards, their binding manufacturer�C-Tech Plastics�has closed its doors. This will affect delivery of all Sims� bindings to retailers this fall. However, the company sees this as a good opportunity to shift its binding production to a less-expensive supplier and anticipates still shipping almost all its orders by late September or early October.

The Link binding.

�We�re sourcing factories right now and expect to get the bindings done quickly once we pick a manufacturer,� says Sims VP of Sales Todd Liotine. �We�re looking at suppliers in Italy and Asia. We�re getting a lot of calls.�

Sims had been one of the only companies to have its bindings manufactured in the United States, which contributed to its higher prices. C-Tech Plastics was based in Vancouver, Washington.

According to Liotine, C-Tech had recently been bought by Imperial Rubber & Urethane Corporation based in Nisku, Alberta, Canada. According to C-Tech�s Web site, both companies are well-established, high-quality enterprises capable of designing, engineering, testing, prototyping, and manufacturing a broad spectrum of custom-engineered plastics, rubber, polyurethane, metal and metal-to-polymer bonded components, products and systems for a wide range of industry segments, including medical, microelectronics, sporting goods, automotive, and aerospace. Apparently, Imperial decided to shut down C-Tech, leaving Sims high and dry.

�At least we didn�t lose any money,� says Liotine. �We hadn�t paid for anything this year because we knew there were changes taking place. It was the last year of our contract, and we were going to change factories anyway.� However, the situation made things happen a little earlier then Sims expected. The company is currently trying to get its binding molds back to help with continuing production.

No one answered repeated calls to C-Tech, and the receptionist at Imperial said, �No one here wants to talk to you about that.�

Liotine says other Sims products, such as boards and boots, will ship on time or even early this season.