Skateboard maker still rolling along

Paul Schmitt was 14 when he pressed his first skateboard under the tire of his mom's car.

It was, he recalls, "the development phase" of his first business.

Since then, the owner of PS Stix Inc. in Costa Mesa figures he has produced more than 10 million boards, enough to stretch from California to New York and back if placed end to end. They're designed by his clients and sell under a wide range of labels, including Alien, Flip, Habitat and Element.

"He's the premier skateboard manufacturer in Southern California," says John Bernards, executive director of the International Assn. of Skateboard Cos.

Schmitt has been involved in a variety of skateboarding ventures over the years, ranging from distribution to manufacturing. Today he's immersed in CreateAskate.org, which uses skateboard construction to teach math, physics and other not-so-fun subjects.

Schmitt, known as "the professor," doesn't come off as a paragon of success. He has zero interest in golf, won't wear a suit unless someone dies or gets married, and tools around town in an aging PT Cruiser.

And get this: His Newport Beach home has two pools in the backyard -- one for swimming and an empty one for skateboarding. If he's not in his skating pool, you might spot the 44-year-old Schmitt whizzing around at a public skate park surrounded by other skaters who are decades younger and significantly shorter.

"His life is skateboarding," Bernards says, adding: "He's not the only big kid in the skateboard industry."

Schmitt gets serious when he talks about how things have changed. A sport born of rebellion and individuality has spawned a global industry. "It's not this tiny thing anymore. It's this big thing," he says. "And there's much more price pressure."

Schmitt watched competitors shutter their businesses as skateboard construction shifted offshore, and four years ago he took the plunge himself. Half of PS Stix's boards are made in China. He's preparing to open a factory in Tijuana that eventually will replace his Costa Mesa plant.

"The challenge of the business is: Are you adaptive enough?" Schmitt says. "And I'm not going to take my lifetime of energy put into this thing and not be willing to adapt."

The sport's popularity has swelled and shrunk over the years. In 2006, U.S. skateboard sales were $76.1 million, a 2% decline from a year earlier, according to the National Sporting Goods Assn.