Laurent Potdevin on Testing the Burton Snowboarding Goods

Burton – a leading snowboard manufacturer founded in the late 1970s and headquartered in Vermont – is once again presenting its amateur snowboard contest. Now in its fourth year, the event gives all local riders (of varying abilities) the opportunity to meet up, ride and even win cash prizes.

The culture at Burton is to get everyone involved.  The firm does not just offer products for top snowboarders (being the official US Snowboard Team’s uniform sponsor and even Chloe Kim gold medal winner who used a Burton board).  Indeed, there is much encouragement in the firm for its entire team to enjoy snowboarding too. Even past and current respective CEO’s Laurent Potdevin and Donna Carpenter continue to snowboard.

As current company CEO and co-owner Donna Carpenter explained, Burton likes to get its team to stay in touch with snowboarding by encouraging them to participate.  This includes giving out free season passes and “no work if there’s 18 inches of snow.”  She added that they learned very quickly how important it is to stay connected and passionate about what the company does.

Even when Potdevin left Burton, his love for snowboarding or the company’s culture and people did not come to an end.  He stayed on in a consulting role and continued to snowboard!  Founder and chairman of the firm, Jake Burton Carpenter described working with him as “great,” and that adjective could also be used for his current love of the sport!