In the last five years, Amer Sports; Rossignol, the French ski maker; Scott Sport, biking manufacturer; Goode Ski Technologies; snowboard makers Nidecker and Kahuna Creatives and ski clothier Descente North America have established headquarters the old railroad town.

Subsidies from the state of Utah totaling $7.94 million may have been as instrumental in recruiting Amer Sports as good ski conditions, however. The state provided $2.5 million in an upfront grant to Amer Sports to cover relocation and building improvement costs. In addition, the company can collect up to $5.44 million in the next 10 years in the form of a property tax rebates.

In the end, “the city had the mayor [boosterish Matthew Godfrey], the mountains and the money,” says Amer Sports president Michael Dowse, left.