SANDPOINT - A locally-grown company just got called from the minors to the big leagues.

Timbersled Products, Inc., maker of snowmobile suspensions, and more recently, conversion kits that turn off-road dirt bikes into winter snow machines, has been sold to Polaris Industries, Inc. for an undisclosed amount.

If news of the acquisition of a large local employer makes you nervous, it certainly isn't bothering anyone at Timbersled. Employees were hard at work Thursday at the company's Ponderay manufacturing facility, and officials expect to see continued growth as the newest part of the Polaris family.

For now, however, the change is still settling.

Asked how it felt to sell the company he so successfully nurtured to success during the past 14 years, former Timbersled owner-turned President and Director of Snow Bike Engineering, Allen Mangum, seemed unsure.

"It's a little awkward," the tall, 35-year-old Mangum said, adding quickly, "we're ready for this."

Mangum admitted he had been working to formulate an answer to the question of why he had sold the company.

"The best answer I can come up with is the decision was more or less based on our love for the sport," he said.

Selling Timbersled to a large corporation like Polaris was, "the absolute best fit for us out there," Mangum said, noting that doing so put Timbersled on the forefront of developing the snow bike sport.

The decision to sell was a well-considered one, based on a combination of concerns and expectations about the future, combined with the experience of associates in the outdoor enthusiast industry. Klim clothing company, a Rigby, Idaho, motorsport clothing company was recently acquired by Polaris as well. Timbersled has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the Klim, doing, among other things, testing of outdoor clothing for the clothing maker. Watching Klim travel the road of acquisition by Polaris unscathed gave Timbersled "a big peace of mind," Mangum said.

"They seem to be very committed to Timbersled," Mangum said of Polaris. "They are also very committed to the Sandpoint area."

Although he didn't know for certain, Mangum predicted Polaris would bring some "unexpected" resources to the area. Part of Polaris's acquisition included the purchase of Timbersled's ongoing 20,000-square-foot building project near Quest Aircraft at the Sandpoint Airport. Polaris, Mangum said, was committed to redesigning it to their own specifications.

"Which tells me they are just not needing a box; they're wanting to put something special up," he said.

The acquisition also puts Timbersled in a better market position. Rather than competing with Polaris, Timbersled is now part of the Polaris family. The company was growing to a "vulnerable state," Mangum said, expressing a deep concern for his 50 employees.

The acquisition now gives them "100-percent job security," he said.

The big question is what will happen to Timbersled now? And how will the acquisition affect the company as a local employer? In short, it's a good deal for everyone. Mangum expects to double his workforce in the next year.

Although he admitted to a lack of information about the future of Timbersled, he also expressed confidence about the future of his former company.

"We're here to grow Timbersled, the snow bike company," he said. "And to develop new products."

The sale also lifted a bit of weight off his shoulders, Mangum said. Financial responsibility for a company is always stressful for a business owner, he said. The fact that he doesn't have to deal with that and other aspects of business every day was a relief. Now he can rely on the well-developed business and marketing support that Polaris provides.

"They have resources," Brett Blaser, Timbersled director of sales and marketing said. "We don't have to pave the road; the road's already paved."

"I'm honored because they came to us to buy us versus taking the project on themselves," Mangum said. "They seem very excited to have us."

Asked if he would disclose the value of the acquisition, Mangum replied, simply, "No," but he added that he was "definitely" happy with what he received.

"It's what the company's worth," he said.

In terms of changes to his day-to-day duties, other than a relief from business duties, Mangum didn't see any big shifts.

"When it comes to my decision-making and my day-to-day job, I don't see it changing a whole lot," he said. "It doesn't feel like I just lost ownership. I feel like I more or less gained ownership because I have the support and disposal of departments I never had before."

Case-in-point, inside Timbersled, members of the Polaris human resources department were re-interviewing existing Timbersled employees as part of the acquisition process.

Polaris, based in the Minneapolis, Minn., suburb of Medina, grossed $4.5 billion in sales in 2014, according to a press release. The power sport manufacturer's products include all-terrain vehicles such as the Polaris Ranger and RZR side-by-side vehicles, snowmobiles, and Victory and Indian motorcycles.

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported that Timbersled's revenues were "well less than 1 percent" of Polaris' overall sales.

"I think we're a pretty small purchase for them," Mangum said.