PAONIA I Timm Smith has been in the outdoor gear industry for a decade—just long enough to see one scrappy, independent company after another surrender to the kind of corporatization they once scorned.
SmartWool apparel may still be based in Steamboat Springs, Colo., but in 2005 it was bought by Timberland, which was bought by VF Corporation, which also owns The North Face and has an investor line-up that reads like a who’s who of…
