DANIA BEACH, Fla. -- The trio who founded Titan Paddles shared two passions: paddleboarding -- and paddles made in the USA.
When other companies were moving their paddle-making to Asia, the three decided they could make a fiberglass paddle in America that would impress paddleboarding enthusiasts.
After some initial missteps, their lightweight but durable paddles took off about a year ago when they moved their manufacturing to a warehouse here. Now the paddles are now sold throughout the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, and it looks like they'll be sold in Europe as well.
Titan Paddles recently got a boost when JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced that Titan Paddles was one of 20 companies from around the nation that had won $150,000 grants to further improve their businesses. Titan was one of nearly 25,000 companies that applied for the Mission Main Street Grants.
The Titan founders "had a very strong vision for growth," said Chase spokesman Maribel Ferrer. "We were looking for people who were innovative and had a good management team."
Carlos Menendez, one of the three founders, says the grant will be used for more marketing and advertising as well as expanding Titan's manufacturing, which depends on its dozen workers to craft the paddles by hand.
"It's going to catapult us a year in our plans to expand," Menendez said.
The paddles cost from $195 to $295, said Sean Collins, another founder. "They aren't cheap," he said.
He, Menendez and the third founder, Toby Grimes, insist on high-quality paddles that are both durable and light. Grimes teaches each new employee about the right way to craft the paddles. "I'm a perfectionist," Grimes said.
He and his partners wanted their paddles made in the U.S. where they could oversee production. Titan Paddles likes to hire military veterans, and each paddle comes with an American flag sticker on its back.
"I have an American company, and I am proud of that," Grimes said.
The Chase grant will help Titan ride a surge of interest in the sport of paddleboarding. The sport, derived from a Hawaiian tradition of paddling on a flat board, has been growing about 19 percent a year, Menendez said.
It also helps that Titan paddles are used by Tom Jones, who has set two world records for stand-up paddleboarding. He got his second world record when he paddleboarded 1,507 miles from Key West to New York in 2010 in 93 days.
Now, Jones said in an interview that he plans to paddleboard from California to Hawaii using Titan paddles that he said are so strong they don't break during heavy use. The paddles have a three-year warranty.
Titan "makes the toughest paddles that I know of," Jones said. The company allows sports enthusiasts to keep paddling nonstop for hours, he said.
"It's incredibly tough to get back to shore if a paddle breaks," Jones said.
SundayMonday Business on 02/01/2015