As with so many startup company founders, Jordan Darling’s motivation for launching what would become his innovative business came from a personal pain point. As an avid jet skier, Jordan had just purchased a brand new jet ski and was eager to take it out. The day after purchasing he bailed on a backflip and ended up destroying his brand new jet ski. At the same time as a mechanical engineering student he was given an assignment to come up with a plastics product that isn’t traditionally made out of plastics. As a result he developed a new plastic to use to create stronger and more durable jet ski hulls.
Fast forward a couple of years and Jordan’s company, Free Form Factory, has relocated to the Sacramento area and won last year’s Sacramento Region Innovation Awards in the Advanced Manufacturing category. I met up with Jordan at the offices of Stoel Rives in downtown Sacramento to find out more about the origins of his company, relocating to the Sacramento, and what’s happened over the past year since winning the award. Watch the video interview below or scroll down to go to the audio-only podcast to download to listen to during your workout or commute.
Audio-only Podcast
About the Sacramento Region Innovation Awards
The SACRAMENTO REGION INNOVATION AWARDS program recognizes the area’s vibrant innovation community — from startups to established companies — and their breakthrough creations. Submissions undergo a strict evaluation process by peers and leaders from the Capital Region’s business, civic and academic communities. Pioneering innovations — products, services and processes nurtured within the 9-county region — are judged on novelty, market need, economic impact and disruption.
In celebrating successful innovations from startups and veterans alike, the awards program aims to strengthen the Sacramento story, build the regional economy, and stimulate the creative minds fueling our innovation ecosystem. Founded in 2016 by business law firm Stoel Rives LLP, the Awards are modeled after similar efforts nurtured by the firm in Utah and Idaho over the past 15 years. The Sacramento Business Journal is the media partner and Moss Adams LLP oversees the voting process. The program is one of many corporate, civic and grassroots cohorts working to make Sacramento a recognized hub of innovation within the Northern California megaregion.
Submit for Sacramento Region Innovation Awards via the online form, hosted by the Sacramento Business Journal.
Catch more profiles and interviews with Sacramento startup founders.
