{"id":69122,"date":"2017-07-16T19:09:13","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T01:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tailwind-selected-as-company-to-watch\/"},"modified":"2017-07-17T01:09:13","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T01:09:13","slug":"tailwind-selected-as-company-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/tailwind-selected-as-company-to-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Tailwind selected as company to watch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><!-- gallery:956f3e8a-c4a4-495c-bce3-419d754ae864 --><\/p>\n<p>Bayfield-based Tailwind Nutrition, an endurance drink mix manufacturer, was selected as a Colorado Company to Watch in late June.<\/p>\n<p>The company was among the 50 companies selected from a field of more than 500 nominees and honored for their growth, valuable products and services, and quality jobs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese companies contribute significantly to the growth and economic independence of the state by developing new services and products, creating jobs, enriching communities and generating new industries,\u201d said Rick Ninneman, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.coloradocompaniestowatch.org\/winners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Colorado Companies to Watch<\/a> board chairman, in a statement.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tailwindnutrition.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tailwind Nutrition <\/a>founders Jeff and Jenny Vierling started making the drink mix in their kitchen and selling it online in 2012. During that first year, the drink helped a woman finish a 100-mile mountain bike race in Leadville for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were like, \u2018Wow,\u2019 this can really help people,\u2019\u201d Jenny Vierling said.<\/p>\n<p>The drink supplies athletes with calories, electrolytes and hydration in a simple form that is easy to digest.<\/p>\n<p>In 2013, the couple started ramping up production and focusing on the business full time. In 2015, the company opened a manufacturing facility in Bayfield where it now employs 12 people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have seen phenomenal growth \u2026 We have basically been doubling per year since we first launched the product,\u201d Jenny Vierling said about sales.<\/p>\n<p>They built their business by expanding from sales on the Trailwind Nutrition site to specialty retail stores, Amazon and international distribution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBelieve it or not, there is not a single channel that dominates,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Tailwind products are now sold in about 675 stores in the U.S., and they are available in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n<p>While manufacturing in Southwest Colorado has challenges, such as high transportation costs and a shortage of warehouse space, a supportive community has outweighed those drawbacks, Jenny Vierling said.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Durango DEVO athletes tested Tailwind products, and Ed Zink, co-owner of Mountain Bike Specialists, started carrying the brand when it was still unknown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody has been so open in providing direction \u2026 I am not sure you would find that in every community,\u201d Jenny Vierling said.<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"mwc_shirttail\"><a href=\"mailto:mshinn@durangoherald.com\">mshinn@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Manufacturer noted for increase in sales<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[640,29,2274],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-69122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-award-and-prize","tag-newsletter","tag-sales"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69122"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=69122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}