June 17, 2024

SVSU student prepares to roll out small business with support from community

Thanks to support from the Midland Area Community Foundation, a Saginaw Valley State University student is starting a business that he hopes will innovate the sidewalk surfing world.

Ryan Pelletier, an international business major from Midland, has built his brand, Morphite Boards, from the ground up at SVSU. Pelletier has filed a patent on his newly designed longboard, which collapses for improved portability.

In 2023, Pelletier received a grant from the Midland Area Community Foundation that supplies up to $10,000 for SVSU student entrepreneurs from Midland County. Since receiving the grant, he has been working on his longboard company tirelessly.

As the name implies, longboards are larger than skateboards, which makes them more stable. And they have larger, softer wheels, which deliver a faster, smoother ride.

While longboards are valued for their comfortable ride, they are less portable than skateboards. Pelletier’s Morphite Board has a collapsible design and easily detachable wheels so it can be compressed to fit into a standard backpack.

“I came up with the idea back in 2018 when I was still in high school,” Pelletier said. “I loved riding my first board back then, but it was far too large to fit in my locker at school, so I was never able to use it to ride to school or even just take it to school.”

Working with the Product Innovation Lab in SVSU’s Scott L. Carmona College of Business, Pelletier has created multiple prototypes of his longboard that prove his concept will work. The most recent prototype is fully functional and rideable.

Although the Morphite Board is not yet available to purchase, the MACF grant has enabled Pelletier to turn his vision of an innovative longboard into reality. He is reaching the final stages of his business plan and is now meeting with investors to fund the production of the boards.

“The most important resource that I used during my time developing the business was the Product Innovation Lab in the Carmona College of Business. This is where I developed the fully functional prototype, filmed and edited all of my current advertising content, produced the first run of apparel that I gave to my early supporters, and did all of my creative ideation,” Pelletier said.

Currently, there is a waitlist to get first dibs on the boards, which are projected to start pre-orders in the late summer or early fall. Additionally, branded apparel and mugs are available on the Morphite website.

With the development of the functional prototype and the launch of Morphite Boards in the near future, Ryan is thankful for the support and resources at SVSU that have made the process possible.

“This was all done on campus with the resources made available to us as students,” Pelletier said. “Anyone with an idea can do it, too,” he added.