KOTA Longboards Kickstarter for Newest Innovation

Former TOPGUN Aviator Brings Design and Engineering Advancements to New Kickstarter
  
June 8, 2015 - DENVER -- Former US Navy fighter pilot Mike Maloney founded KOTA Longboards in his garage three years ago, and he has been carving a name for himself and his custom longboards ever since. This week he launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new milling machine, with a limited-edition board available to backers.

All KOTA longboards feature a “timeless vintage” look and are produced by hand in a Colorado factory from hardwood sourced in Wisconsin. Maloney looks to the landsurfing roots of longboarding to engineer boards that give the rider complete control. KOTA, which stands for Knights of the Air, embodies the code of honor, integrity, courage and esprit de corps embraced by the earliest fighter pilots from World War I.

“In my experience, the KOTA code is still the defining culture of fighter aviation,” said Maloney. “I wanted to make these ideals central to how we conduct ourselves in business – and bring them to life for people who experience KOTA longboards.”

Following the success of the Kickstarter, the purchase of the new machine will help Maloney refine his already innovative designs to include a KOTA Clear Deck, meaning the top of the longboard will have no truck holes.

“We’re absolutely neurotic about quality, performance and styling,” Maloney said. “KOTA Clear Deck not only elevates the visual appeal of the board, it adds stability for the rider as well.”

All KOTA boards feature another innovation, KOTAgrip, a clear, nonporous grip finish that eliminates the need for grip tape. The result?  Every KOTA longboard is a functional piece of art.  Each board is also cambered for high performance carving.

For more, visit the KOTA Kickstarter campaign page (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/152622724/kota-longb...) by July 6.

KOTA has been growing rapidly since the company moved into a commercial factory in Denver early in 2013.  Their growth was spurred by a Mission Main Street Grant from Chase the following year. KOTA was one of 20 recipients from an application pool of nearly 25,000.  As a veteranowned business and employer, KOTA used the grant to hire more veterans to the company’s production staff.

KOTA is featured in a national television commercial for Chase, and Google chose KOTA as the only Colorado company highlighted in their economic impact report. KOTA was also featured in an ABC News feature, Second Tour, by Angel Canales.

KOTA prides itself on the fact that their main clientele are men and women aged 30-60, engaging a market well outside of the traditional longboard skateboard demographic, yet able to appreciate high-performance and high-quality products.

“The key for me at age 50 was to flip the question about longboarding from ‘why would I?’ to ‘why wouldn’t I?’” said Maloney.  “It’s an activity I now enjoy with my kids and friends of all ages.”
KOTA also has a culture of giving back to the community and worked with Denver Public Schools to establish a class longboarding class emphasizing physical, mental and emotional balance. Recently KOTA launched ‘Carve It For Life!’, a post-traumatic stress healing program for veterans and first responders.

 

 

 

Source Mike Maloney Kota Longboards through PRLog by press release ©