Lib Tech
Snowboards, skis and surfboards built at Mervin Manufacturing in Sequim, Washington, the last major board factory in the USA
🏭 American Manufacturing
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Company details
Where Lib Tech products are made
Mervin states that in an industry where virtually every other company has moved production to China or offshore, it is the longest running and last major board factory in the USA. Snowboard manufacturing left North America almost completely; this factory is what did not go.
65 Banana Way, Sequim, Washington sits in the footer of the Lib Tech site, on the Strait of Juan de Fuca between the Olympic and Cascade ranges. A brand that builds offshore does not print its factory address at the bottom of every page.
Mervin describes a direct link between riding and manufacturing, and its Eco Process printing eliminates the hazardous waste that toxic silk screens produce. Those are decisions only a company that runs its own plant is able to make.
The sentence that Mervin is the longest running and last major board factory in the USA, and the description of the factory as based out of Sequim, Washington, on the Strait of Juan de Fuca between the rugged Olympic and Cascade Mountain Ranges, are quoted from the Mervin Manufacturing site and were read live on 12 September 2026. The statement that every Lib Tech board is proudly Mervin Made in the world most environmental board factory, and the Zero Hazardous Waste claim for the Eco Process printing, come from the Lib Tech environmental page. The address 65 Banana Way, Sequim, WA 98382 and the copyright line naming Mervin Manufacturing appear in the footer of the Lib Tech site. The 1990 launch of Lib Tech and the 1983 first Mike Olson prototype are dated on the company own history page. The label is American Manufacturing rather than Made in USA because the company does not use the phrase Made in USA itself, because boards are built from globally sourced materials, and because apparel and accessories carry no origin claim. Ownership of Mervin Manufacturing is not asserted in this profile, because the company does not publish it.
The story
Mike Olson hand-built his first snowboard in 1983, a five-finned prototype made because the boards he wanted did not exist. Lib Tech officially launched in 1990, and the factory that grew around it, Mervin Manufacturing, sits at 65 Banana Way in Sequim, Washington, on the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the Olympic mountains behind it.
Almost everyone else left. Snowboard and ski production moved to Asia and eastern Europe through the 1990s and 2000s, and the factories that had made boards in North America closed one after another. Mervin describes itself now as the longest running and last major board factory in the USA, and it is not obviously wrong.
What kept it there is that the factory and the design are the same thing. Lib Tech is known for Magne-Traction serrated edges and banana-shaped rocker profiles, ideas that came out of being able to walk from a sketch to a press in the same building and try it that week.
The environmental side is the other half of the argument. Mervin eliminated the toxic silk screens the industry used for topsheet graphics and runs what it calls Eco Process printing with zero hazardous waste. It is the kind of change that costs money up front and is only possible if you own the machine.
Why they matter
This is the clearest case in the catalogue of an entire industry leaving and one company refusing. There is no ambiguity about what happened to board manufacturing in North America, and no ambiguity about where Lib Tech boards are still pressed.
It is also a demonstration that domestic manufacturing can be the performance argument rather than the sentimental one. Magne-Traction and the rocker profiles that made Lib Tech famous exist because a designer could get a prototype out of his own factory in days. A brand buying finished boards from a contract press cannot iterate like that.
The claim does have a boundary, and this profile draws it: the origin statement is about boards. Apparel and accessories carry no origin claim on the company site, so none is made here. What is claimed is the thing that matters, which is that the boards are built in Washington state.
Shop Lib Tech products
Browse Lib Tech snowboards, skis and surfboards in the Buy American Campaign store.
Frequently asked questions
Where are Lib Tech snowboards made?
At the Mervin Manufacturing factory at 65 Banana Way, Sequim, Washington. Lib Tech states that every Lib Tech board is proudly Mervin Made there.
Is Mervin really the last board factory in the USA?
Mervin describes itself that way: in an industry where virtually every other company has moved production to China or offshore, it says it is the longest running and last major board factory in the USA.
Does the claim cover Lib Tech clothing?
No. The origin statement the company publishes is about boards. Apparel and accessories carry no origin claim on the company own site, so this profile makes none for them.
How old is Lib Tech?
Lib Tech officially launched in 1990. The company own history dates Mike Olson first hand-built prototype snowboard to 1983.