When you own the process, you own the outcome.
That’s why KEEN Utility decided in 2010 to bring footwear manufacturing back to America with our Portland, Oregon, production facility. Since then, our American Built product lineup has expanded, and we needed more space to build it. So, in 2025, we moved the whole operation from Portland to Shepherdsville, KY.
The Kentucky facility, or KAB (KEEN American Built) as we like to call it, is one of the most advanced footwear production lines in the world. A combination of skilled workers, robotics, and cutting-edge manufacturing processes maximizes quality and minimizes waste. Not only do we build products here, we prototype, inspect, and test them here, too. This ensures consistency, no matter if it’s the tenth or ten-thousandth pair.
Watch the video above to see how we do it.
“It’s important for KEEN to have its own factory, so we can control the quality of our product. We can control when we build it. How we build it. Who we get it to.” – Don Wicks, Senior Director, North American Manufacturing
The technology that’s core to KAB is called KEEN.FUSION. This process uses heat and pressure, not glue, to mechanically bond the sole to the upper. It’s a game-changing construction that eliminates delamination. More durability meets more flexibility for comfort that goes the distance.
From the KEEN.FUSION process to the exceptionally tough leather we source from LWG-certified tanneries (which use premium USA-sourced cowhides), our American Built products are proof that innovation and durability can happily co-exist. We could have chosen to build our boots cheaper. Or faster. But, we chose to build them right.
