(Photo: Sapa)
A company based in Northeast Portland that produces tens of thousands of bicycle frames per year might be on its way to Vancouver.
A story published on July 30 in the The Columbian, Aluminum company might bring 900 jobs to Vancouver, details that documents filed with the City of Vancouver for a new development near Vancouver Lake point directly to (but do not specifically mention) Sapa Profiles Inc..
You may not have ever heard of them, but Sapa is one of the country’s largest makers of extruded aluminum products and one of their main focus areas is high-end bicycle frames.
Sapa produces frames and frame parts for well-known brands like Titus, Moots, Turner, and many other larger brands that industry sources tell me they are not at liberty to identify.
The story in The Columbian all but confirms the move, but the company denies it. A source at Sapa told me this morning that, “We’re denying that. That’s not happening.”
Eric Holmes, the economic development services manager for the City of Vancouver also won’t confirm any other details. “I cannot confirm the Sapa move,” he wrote in an email, “any more than what was reported in the Columbian.”
But even with no one willing to confirm it, if I were a betting man, I would put money on hearing soon that Sapa will no longer be based in Portland. Stay tuned.