Ski lift giant Doppelmayr expands US operations through new Salt Lake City headquarters

SALT LAKE CITY — Doppelmayr — the world's largest ski-lift and ropeway manufacturer — has run its U.S. manufacturing out of Salt Lake City since the early 2000s.

But with that facility no longer meeting demand, the company last week took a major step in expanding its U.S. footprint by opening a new, 160,000-square-foot "state-of-the-art" headquarters, manufacturing and training facility.

The new campus, 3080 W. 500 South, includes approximately 120,000 square feet of indoor production and warehouse space and 40,000 square feet of office and training facility space.

Additionally, the expansion added 68,000 square feet of covered outdoor space.

"This almost doubles our production space (and) our office space," Keith Johns, president and CEO of Doppelmayr USA, told KSL News.

The company's presence in the Beehive State over the past two decades made the decision to remain in Salt Lake City an easy one, Johns said.

"Our people are here, our supply chains are here. There's great infrastructure. There's support from the state ... encouraging manufacturing and really trying to bring it here," Johns said. "It just makes sense in a lot of ways ... being so close to many of our customers and our bigger customers here in the West."

Indeed, the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity in June 2024 approved a post-performance tax incentive for Doppelmayr's expansion. Under the agreement, the company projected adding 130 high-paying jobs in Utah over 10 years, generating an estimated $82.4 million in wages.

Doppelmayr is also playing a significant role in the Deer Valley Resort's expansion, with the company having already built five new chairlifts — three of which went into operation for the 2024-2025 winter season.

Johns said that the facility expansion also allows Doppelmayr to produce equipment in the U.S. that was previously produced in Europe, with ski industry publication Lift Blog reporting that the Salt Lake City headquarters will now produce conical lift towers, previously manufactured at Doppelmayr's Austrian operations and shipped to the United States.

As far as plans for the old facility go, Johns said the plan is to lease it out "for a time" while maintaining a wait-and-see approach with the expectation of future growth for the company, especially as the 2034 Olympic Winter Games approach.

"We'll see how long it is before we either need the space or whatever," Johns said. "Right now, we're just looking to lease out the facility."

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