When Chris McMaster had the opportunity to make his hiking habit a profitable business by purchasing ULA, a small Utah business that made hiking backpacks, he jumped at the opportunity though he knew nothing of the production process other than that ULA backpacks were truly excellent.

Several years later, McMaster has expanded the business and sells ULA’s products internationally -- all while keeping the company’s manufacturing in Utah, earning it a place in the Alliance for American Manufacturing’s 2018 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide. Here’s how McMaster did it.

*Photo courtesy of ULA.