He started working heavy equipment as a kid, built a side hustle in college just to pay for a dirt bike shop, and turned it into a nationwide manufacturing company. In this episode, Roggen Frick, co-owner of Bear Ironworks, shares how he built a family-run, American-made construction equipment brand that ships across the country—and what it really takes to grow and manage a lean, efficient business.
In this conversation, Adrienne sits down with Roggen Frick, vice president and co-owner of Bear Ironworks, a Colorado-based manufacturer of rock screens, snow pushers, tracking pads, and other excavation and construction equipment—sold primarily through e-commerce and shipped nationwide.
Roggen shares how growing up in the construction world, operating equipment from a young age, and learning to weld alongside his dad laid the foundation for his future as both an operator and entrepreneur. He talks about starting Bear Ironworks as a side business in college just to fund his dirt bike hobby, shutting it down to finish school, then relaunching it with his dad in the middle of COVID and scaling it into a full manufacturing operation.
He breaks down how they went from “one-off custom orders” to a true manufacturing system with inventory, logistics, and online marketing, and how he manages a Colorado factory while living in South Carolina. Roggen also opens up about challenges with being a young leader in a seasoned industry, navigating inflation and rising costs, and using lean principles and data to create efficiency so he can afford to provide solid wages and benefits for his team.
It’s a story of family, grit, and building something real and tangible—one piece of steel at a time.
“I’m not the expert in the situation—I’m just the director of the chaos trying to make something happen.”
Family roots can fuel powerful businesses. Growing up in construction with a dad who owned companies gave Roggen not just skills, but a mindset for problem-solving, grit, and ownership.
His first business goal? A dirt bike shop. Bear Ironworks originally started in college as a side hustle to pay rent on a shop where he could work on his dirt bike—proof that real businesses can grow from very simple, personal motivations.
From custom jobs to true manufacturing. Roggen transformed Bear Ironworks from “someone calls, we build one” into a real manufacturing company with stock, systems, scheduling, and predictable output.
Logistics can make or break a product business. Shipping large, heavy steel equipment nationwide was almost what killed the business early on—bringing in an operations/logistics expert was a turning point.
Lean management + data = resilience. Roggen uses data and lean practices to continuously cut waste, increase efficiency, and free up resources to provide healthcare and retirement benefits without sacrificing the bottom line.
Being young doesn’t mean pretending to know everything. Instead of fighting age bias in construction, he focused on listening, respecting experience, asking questions, and positioning himself as the one coordinating the work, not claiming to know more than veterans.
Niche products thrive online when marketed smartly. Bear Ironworks relies heavily on SEO, Google ads, Google Shopping, and retargeting to reach contractors who are actively looking for specific equipment—not just casually scrolling.Visit the website at https://beariron.com/
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