Prinoth’s Expansion

Prinoth Snow Groomers (Prinoth), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of snow groomers, crawler carriers and vegetation management equipment, is expanding and investing in the future of snow grooming in the United States and Canada.

“We have been expanding and strengthening our team across North America and now we can take that team to the next level through investing in our infrastructure,” said Prinoth’s vice president general manager Scott Jones. “We are excited to provide even better service to our customers because we know how important their grooming operations are to their success.”

The feedback Prinoth is hearing, from resorts all over North America is that they are challenged to stay ahead of their service needs due to a variety of factors, ranging from the complexity of the vehicles, lack of qualified technicians and heavy workloads at the resorts, says Jones.

“We want to be as accessible as possible to them year-round,” he said. “The reason the company is expanding is to have better access to the resorts and continuously improve our service levels. We can increase service, optimize parts inventory, be closer to the customers and expand our capabilities.”
In June 2023, Prinoth moved to a new regional distribution center in Concord, N.H.

“The new facility in Concord is great,” said Jones. “It’s conveniently located just off Interstate 93 so it’s easy to get to from all over New England, which is great for both our employees and our customers. The new facility is almost twice the size of our previous distribution center and provides a much more efficient and utilizable space, making it easier, safer and more cost-effective to service our vehicles. As well, we were able to optimize our parts inventory and have the flexibility for future growth and additional expansion.”

In 2023, Prinoth started stocking parts in the Midwest at its facility in St. Peter, Minn. In 2021, Prinoth bought 100 percent of Jarraff Industries’ capital stock, forming the new company Jarraff by Prinoth. Although the products made in St. Peter are for Prinoth’s vegetation management business, the location is perfect to serve Midwest snow groomer customers, and the addition of snow cat parts is another added value to ski resorts and snowmobile clubs in the region.

Groundbreaking for a new facility in Tooele, Utah, 35 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, happened in October. Prinoth, Leitner-Poma of America, SkyTrac and Demaclenko are all part of the High Technology Industries (HTI) group and will be moving into the new 130,000-square-foot (sq.-ft.) facility, which is scheduled to open by fall 2024.

At the production facility in Eastern Canada where the Bison snow cats are produced, a large expansion is scheduled for completion in Granby, Que., in March, followed by another warehouse expansion in 2025.

“In addition to the factory footprint expansion and the addition of 30 jobs, the snow grooming division in Eastern Canada has undergone a structural change to be just like the other regional distribution centers throughout North America,” said Jones. “There is a newly established team dedicated to snow grooming, including sales, parts and service technicians.”

Prinoth is making great progress in the overall expansion project and is on track to hit key targets, says Jones, noting the following highlights:

Original equipment manufacturer parts became available in stock at the Jarraff by Prinoth headquarters in St. Peter, Minn., in August 2023. The headquarters’ campus is a centralized location to help support Prinoth’s sales, service and parts expansion in the Midwest.

In June 2023, the team in the northeast moved to the redesigned 23,000-sq.-ft. facility in Concord.

The new regional distribution center is easy to access and has double the space for parts and service work. One of the exciting sustainability upgrades is the waste oil heating system.

“I can feel the commitment from top management about the importance of the U.S. and Canada in Prinoth’s future.”

Rachel Templar, Prinoth

Prinoth hosted an open house on Dec. 4, 2023, at the new Concord facility. Approximately 300 attendees from ski areas, cross-country centers, snowmobile clubs and industry partners attended. The event was co-hosted with Ski NH, the state trade association that supports skiing throughout New Hampshire, as part of their annual 603 winter kick-off.

The substantial expansion of the current production facility in Granby, from 120,000 to 200,000 sq.-ft. began last fall and is expected to be completed by November. In addition to the increased production capacity and improved product quality, there is a major focus on production modernization and dedication to Industry 4.0 practices.

Along with these investments, Prinoth is relocating and expanding the distribution center in Reno, Nev. As well, Prinoth is looking to have a footprint in the Pacific Northwest. The exact location is still to be determined, but access for customers is the No. 1 requirement.

Prinoth’s staff is excited about the company’s expansion efforts.

“I can feel the commitment from top management about the importance of the U.S. and Canada in Prinoth’s future,” said Rachel Templar, marketing manager at Prinoth North America. “We are the official snow grooming partner for both the U.S. ski and snowboard teams as well as Canada’s snowboard team and the Alpine Canada Snow Cross World Cup event. We are investing in the physical locations of our buildings, our staff and being there for our customers.”

The U.S. and Canada are important countries for the company, says Prinoth CEO Horst Haller.

“We are proud of what our teams have been doing,” he said. “We are continuously improving service for the customer to make their lives easier. We are here to support our customers through continuous optimization of our processes and locations. We are also always looking to hire qualified service technicians and as we expand the network, the snow grooming teams will be expanding as well.”

The HTI Group, which owns Prinoth, combines innovative solutions and sustainable products in the fields of winter sports technology, urban mobility, material transport, snow and vegetation management, as well as renewable energies.

The group of globally competitive high-tech companies offers innovative products and exceptional service with 20 production facilities, 84 branches and 4,250 employees all over the world.

“Prinoth is the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of snow groomers for alpine, cross-country and snowmobile trail maintenance, as well as crawler carriers and vegetation management vehicles and equipment,” said Jones. “The ski industry as a whole is very healthy in North America.

The National Ski Areas Association reported that in 2022 there were 60.7 million skier visits in the United States; the best year on record. All these skiers mean that the slopes are being used and it’s up to the groomers to keep them in excellent condition for skiers and snowboarders of all ski levels, from families to Olympic racers.”