Salt Lake City: Livability in the 21st Century

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Peter Metcalf, Black Diamond, Ltd. founder,
president and chief executive officer.
In the late 1980s Peter Metcalf was looking for a place
to relocate Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd, a climbing
equipment company he co-founded with Patagonia, Inc.,
founder Yvon Chouinard. After completing a systematic
search of cities and towns across the Western U.S., from
Northern California and Montana to Colorado and Nevada,
he found that, despite a laundry list of stereotypes and
preconceived notions, Salt Lake City was this vibrant,
“West Coast facing,” sophisticated, small-town-feeling
community with all the benefits of a much larger city. The
dealmaker, however, was its location in the shadow of one
of the most inspiring mountain ranges in America. Today
Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd. maintains the bulk of its
manufacturing in Utah and is a publically traded company.
“I absolutely believe that our location has been an integral
and indispensable factor in Black Diamond’s success.
Salt Lake City has helped define us and I am very proud of
the fact that we helped define the city as well,” Metcalf says.
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