XL marks anniversary with expansion

ARAPAHOE -- A running board manufacturing plant in Arapahoe marks its first anniversary with a factory expansion, an increased work force and an expanding market.

"We'll have to double production to keep up with demand," said Jack Bellamy of Arapahoe, owner of XL Boards.

XL Boards is the running board and mud flap manufacturing plant that Bellamy purchased and relocated from Oxford to Arapahoe last summer.

Bellamy is considering creating a second shift, and has increased his work force by 33 percent to meet production demands.

Production, warehouse and shipping has expanded into more Quonsets on the plant site on the western edge of Arapahoe. Personnel has streamlined some labor processes as production increases to include tubular running boards for golf carts and full-length running boards for dual-axle pickup trucks.

The company is also distributing new items, Bellamy said, a Stampede hood cover and a LiteRider roll-up cover.

Bellamy said the company has also increased the number of its distributors throughout the western United States.

"We shipped our first-ever running boards to Hawaii," Bellamy said, "sold through our dealer in Las Vegas."