Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur – BioSkin
The Southern Oregon Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur group met at BioSkin in Medford for their February meeting.
BioSkin was started over 25 years ago by Dean Cropper. They manufacture and sell hypoallergenic, breathable, lightweight and comfortable medical grade braces and compression devices based on a patented material created by Dean.
They have grown to 40 employees in Southern Oregon and 60 employees in Mexico where most of their manufacturing takes place.
Dean started in the medical device field as a sales rep for total joint replacement over 40 years ago. That is where he developed his appreciation for the regenerative powers of the human body. He developed the BioSkin products based on his knowledge of physiology and movement. He wanted to develop a brace that was not made from latex or neoprene.
Tanner and his brother Taylor started working in the company at a young age and have slowly started to take over, making BioSkin a multigenerational company which has many challenges as well as rewards.
Ankle sprains happen. In fact, about 25,000 ankle sprains occur per day, according to The American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS).
Tanner presented to the E2E group about the history of the company and its recent move into retail with the one retail store in downtown Medford. More and more people are paying high deductibles and have a desire to learn about their own health care options before seeking help from a physician. There are 25,000 ankle sprains a day in the US alone. The retail store allows people to come in off the street and try on all the devices before they buy.
20% of the company’s sales are online and they hope to grow the retail operation enough to see if there is a model for it in the near future.
Their mission is to decrease pain and increase human performance. They sell through distributors in 17 countries and they sell directly to sports teams as well.
Tanner feels good about the future of the company, “We’re actually making a difference in people’s lives”
Listen to a related podcast on JPR with BioSkin Founder Dean Cropper https://www.ijpr.org/post/ground-floor-bracing-bio-skin#stream/0
The Southern Oregon Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur group meets once a month at a different host business to hear the owner’s story with Pizza and Beer (Sponsored by People’s Bank). The group was founded over 3 years ago by Cynthia Scherr and some friends and has over 150 “members”. There are no dues or any real structure to the group. You can find them on Facebook and at soe2e.com. They currently cover Jackson County and would love to see an E2E group formed in every county of Southern Oregon.
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