Having held its own during a tough national economy the past few years, Spokane-based EZ Loader Boat Trailers Inc. has been making and shipping more trailers this year as activity in the boating industry has picked up.


Rick Norman, sales and marketing manager for the 50-year-old manufacturer, says EZ Loader is on pace to make about 50,000 boat trailers this year, 5 percent more than last year and comparable to its production volumes in the late 1990s, before the economy softened.


This whole year has been a really strong year, Norman says. If you look at the indicators for next, it will be even better.


EZ Loader is projecting that it will make 55,000 to 57,000 boat trailers in 2004. That would be a big jump in activity, but is conservative compared with some projections that companies in the boating industry are making. One national boat manufacturer, for example, is projecting a 40 percent increase in the number of boats it will sell next year, Norman says.


The downturn EZ Loader weathered during the previous few years was small compared with those endured by its competitors, some of which didnt survive the falloff in activity, Norman contends.


During the harder times, it tends to weed out the smaller companies that cant make it through, he says.


Founded in 1953, EZ Loader is among the nations largest boat-trailer makers, and Norman says he believes its the largest company that makes boat trailers exclusively. He declines to disclose the companys annual revenues.


The size of EZ Loaders work force fluctuates seasonallywith its busiest time typically in the spring when its churning out trailers that will be sold during the summer months, Norman says. At peak times, the company employs about 500 nationwide, including about 250 in Spokane. Currently, it employs about 300 people nationwide, about half of whom work here.


EZ Loader makes 250 boat-trailer models, ranging from models with 600-pound capacity used to haul eight-foot-long rowboats, to those with 12,000-pound capacity that handle 36-foot-long mini yachts. Retail prices for the trailers range from $425 to $10,000.


The company operates manufacturing facilities in Spokane; Midway, Ark.; and Port St. Lucie, Fla. Norman says roughly 60 percent of EZ Loader trailers are made at its Spokane complex, which consists of five buildings with a total of 150,000 square feet of floor space along Hamilton Street, just east of Gonzaga University.


The buildings here are spread across four city blocks, and two of the structures are linked by a sky bridge over Hamilton. While the sky bridge looks similar to the pedestrian bridges that link downtown Spokane office buildings and retail stores, EZ Loader uses its bridge to transfer trailer parts from one part of the plant to another.


The company makes about 30 percent of its trailers at the Arkansas plant, and 10 percent in Florida, Norman says.


EZ Loader uses distributors across the U.S. to sell its trailers. The Spokane company owns and operates seven of its U.S. distributors; the others are independently-owned affiliates.


EZ Loader also has distributors in Canada and Japan, but handles sales to other countries directly from its Spokane office. Other countries in which EZ Loader has strong customer bases include Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Sudan, and Egypt, says Norman.


Most of the companys trailers are made of tubular steel, but those that are manufactured at the Florida facility are made of aluminum I-beams.


Norman says that over the past year, EZ Loader has started making aluminum trailers here as well, but that activity accounts for only a small portion of its production here. He says aluminum trailers are used more commonly in the Eastern U.S., and dont have the product recognition of EZ Loaders steel counterparts elsewhere. Still, because aluminum trailers are lightweight and resist corrosion, they slowly are gaining popularity nationwide. As a result, EZ Loader expects to be making more aluminum trailers here in the future.


EZ Loader ships about 70 percent of its boat trailers to distributors either unassembled or partially assembled. Distributors assemble the trailers and send them to trailer dealerships.


EZ Loader sells the remaining 30 percent of its trailers assembledor largely assembledto boat manufacturers, which sell boats and trailers as a package.


The company already has rolled out its 2004 models. They include a couple of new models designed to carry personal watercraft.


Norman says new generations of such vessels are much larger than previous ones, so EZ Loader has developed new trailers that can handle the bulkier machines.


Also new for 2004 is a line for carrying pontoon boats that features short, fat tires that make it easier to launch that type of boat, Norman says.


The company already is working on its 2005 models. He declines to disclose what kinds of improvements might be included in those lines, but says they mostly will be tweaked versions of the companys current lines.


EZ Loader is owned by Randy Johnson and Dave Thielman. Their fathers, Larry Johnson and William Thielman, began making boat trailers as a sideline business at an auto body shop they operated.


In the early 1960s, EZ Loader developed an all-roller trailer for which it received a patent in 1964, and the company gained a national presence soon thereafter.


For many years, when boat-trailer maker Calkins Manufacturing Co. was in business, Spokane was considered to be one of the top boat-trailer manufacturing centers in the country. Calkins, however, closed its doors in late 1999.