DM Vans builds its camper vans today in a state-of-the-art, 20,000-square-foot facility in Rifle. 

The company has come a long way from the original production site: the Vail Mountain School parking lot. 

DM Vans co-founder Matt Fesler built this first van out of necessity. 

“I wanted something I could travel through the mountains with, bring my skis, bring my bikes, bring my golf clubs, and stay in comfortably,” Fesler said. “At the time, there really wasn’t something out there on the market that fit what I was looking for within my budget.” 

Felser was a teacher at Vail Mountain School at the time and needed a vehicle that could serve as a portable base camp for his adventures. 

With the help of YouTube tutorials and some friends, the first Dave and Matt, or DM, van came to fruition in the Vail Mountain School parking lot. 

Fesler and his friend, and eventual DM Vans co-founder, Dave Ramsay, soon realized that they had done more than build the vehicle that Fesler was looking for. 

The pair “realized that (they) had something, something that was simple, reliable, easier to use than what was on the market, and obviously more affordable,” Fesler said. 

After living in that first van for nine months, which he “loved to death,” Fesler got the itch to build more. 

“So I sold that first one, used that to build two, sold two, built four, sold four, built eight, and yeah, here we are, eight years later, and 800 vans,” Fesler said. 

The 800 Ram ProMaster vans which DM vans transformed into parking-spot-sized homes are now spread across 48 states, and the company shows no signs of slowing down. 

Although the 30-person team, and sheer scale of the operation are a far cry from the early days of DM Vans, some things have stayed the same. 

“We’ve used the tagline ‘everything you need, nothing you don’t’ from day one,” Fesler said. “That was kind of how I wanted to approach it in terms of something that was simple and reliable that would get me from A to B comfortably and allow me to stay there and pursue my passions, and it is amazing how that design philosophy has stayed from day one through now.”

That does not mean DM Vans has shied away from technological advances to improve their product, however. 

With smaller, lighter and more powerful lithium batteries on the market, DM Vans can run heating, air conditioning, running water, refrigeration and other appliances off relatively small power supply. 

Using a computer numerical control, or CNC, machine, the company can cut out wooden parts with precision and ease. 

DM Vans hopes to build 145 vans in the coming year. 

The combination of the “van-life” boom and navigating the coronavirus pandemic gave the pair their fair share of obstacles to navigate. 

“Dave (Ramsay) and I joke a lot that we very much had the best MBA program you could possibly go on in our eight-year journey here of the highest of highs, lowest of lows, but are really excited for the stability that we now have as a business, the incredible employees we have in Rifle and around Colorado,” Fesler said. 

After eight years of successful business and growth, Fesler is proud of how far the company has come. 

“The numbers of businesses that go out of business after five years are staggering, right? To make it to 10 is truly something that would be that peak moment for us, and so just being here doing something that we love is the thing that makes me the most proud,” Fesler said.