Two fitness equipment companies — Vancouver-based StairMaster and Irvine, Calif.-based Star Trac — have merged and will move into a Vancouver headquarters in June, the company announced Wednesday.
Over the next four or five months, the business expects to add 60 jobs to StairMaster’s local work force of about 23 employees, said Dustin Grosz, StairMaster president. He said by June 1, the newly consolidated company will establish its head office for both businesses in a 26,000-square-foot space at 4400 N.E. 77th Ave., near Westfield Vancouver mall. The building has housed city employees since 2007. City staff will begin moving into a new downtown City Hall building in June.
StairMaster has been operating from a smaller office space at 8000 N.E. Parkway Drive.
Grosz said five employees of Star Trac have been offered transfers to the Vancouver office from the company’s California headquarters, where approximately 80 people work.
The company made a commitment to create the 100 jobs within five years in exchange for $100,000 it received from Washington state Governor Chris Gregoire’s Strategic Reserve Fund, said Jeanie Ashe, director of business recruitment for the Columbia River Economic Development Council. The funding, which the council helped secure, is earmarked for relocation assistance.
StairMaster is a former brand of Vancouver-based Nautilus Inc.
