For Nathan Bemo, skateboarding is far more than a hobby. It's a life calling. As unlikely as that sounds, it makes sense when you know that only divine direction could have led Bemo ('92) to pursue such a seemingly impractical vocation.

The American Ramp Company, of which Bemo is founder and president, designs, constructs, and installs skateboarding parks around the world. The company, based in Joplin, Missouri, has flourished, having a net worth of several million dollars. This past year alone, ARC bought out two competitors, had sales of $11.5 million, and installed 225 parks. In total, ARC has installed more than 1,000 parks worldwide.

Bemo readily credits the company's success to God's hand. After all, the company's humble beginnings — in Bemo's garage — wouldn't have led anyone to predict its current stature. And Bemo's childhood as a missionary kid in Thailand wouldn't be the typical upbringing of a professional skatepark builder.

“Over time God decided to bless us for some reason,” Bemo says. “God knows we don't deserve it. God brought some amazing people into our lives, and after God, they are the reason for our success.”

Bemo grew up in Thailand as the son of missionaries involved in church planting and agricultural work. Up until his ninth grade year, he knew very little about skateboarding and didn't even own a skateboard. That year, while the Bemo family was in the United States for furlough, Bemo saw a professional skateboarding demonstration video. That same day, he purchased his first skateboard. Soon he was skating in the streets and old drainage ditches with his friends.

Bemo came to Dalat International School the following year. His brother Jon had attended Dalat for a year five years earlier, and two of his sisters, Sarah and Rachel, came to Dalat as they reached high school in the years following. At Dalat, he discovered some other students who shared his interest, and they became a tightly knit group. “[They] were really encouraging and dedicated to the sport,” he says. “I fell in love with the sport, and would skate for hours every day. The weekends we skated all over Penang, with Komtar being the spot of choice.”

Along with incredible friendships, Bemo remembers plenty of other signficant experiences at Dalat, such as a camping and canoe trip with other guys, jumping off cliffs into the ocean, his senior trip, awesome dorm parents, and the beach. His most memorable teacher was Mr. “Tommy” Tompkins, who pushed Bemo “both mentally and in my spiritual walk,” Bemo says. “In many ways the things I learned in his classes were more useful and stuck with me more than any college course I have taken.”

After high school, Bemo pursued a degree in business and met and married his wife, Katy. On the side, he paid the bills by building a skatepark, charging admission, and selling skateboards and accessories. By the time he finished two years at Ozark Christian College and completed a B.S. in general business at Missouri Southern State University, he and his wife had two daughters, and it was time to get a “real job,” Bemo said.

“It didn't take long before I landed a job as a loan officer,” he says. “Every day I had to wear a tie, shave, sit behind a desk, show up 8 to 5 — and I hated it. I never really cared about making a lot of money, but what was important to me was to be involved in something I loved.”

That something was skateboarding. Bemo had never seriously thought about making the sport his career. But the misery of his day job made him think again. A friend's encouragement and his wife's support helped him make the change. In October 1998, Bemo and Daman Schuber (a good friend from church and college) started American Ramp Company in the garage of Bemo's brand-new house. They shared a phone line and computer — and a “passion to make something out of nothing,” Bemo says. They took turns being designers, engineers, salesmen, and spent too much time on the road building skateparks with skeleton crews of anyone they could talk into travelling with them.

Over time, the company grew and staff with expertise were added to fill the gaps. “We hired people that were smarter than us,” Bemo says. “We hired the best designers, engineers, welders, manufacturers, sales reps, managers, accountants, and a CEO. My partner and I knew just enough to get ourselves in trouble but hired the right people that were smarter than us in each field.”

Bemo's background overseas has provided an added bonus to his business. ARC skateparks have been installed all over North America — and in countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan. “Some of our competitors have shied away from the unknown,” he says. “This is just the opposite for us. If anything, we pursue international projects more than projects in the U.S. Because we love to travel, the adventure, and everything that goes along with it.”

Through it all, Bemo and his business partner have sought to give God the honor for ARC's success. One small way they've done that is on the company's Web site, www.americanrampcompany.com, where they offer a link to explain the way to Jesus.

Photo 2: Nathan Bemo, Bangkok, Thailand, 1989

Photo 3: The Bemo family: Nathan, Katy, Phoenix (14), Asia (12), and Israel (5)