Jackie Rivard, Adam Rivard and his parents Mark and Debra Rivard.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
SOMERS — Bumpa Built’s mission is to help people bring their ideas to life, inspiring creative confidence through 3D-printed fidget toys and collectibles.
What started as CEO Adam Rivard printing a bearded dragon toy in his garage to now having a full suite of offerings.
“This is our accidental business,” said Rivard. “My wife Jackie and I had full-time jobs that we really enjoyed and had no intention of starting a business, but slowly people started to hear about it and wanted more.”\
He continued, “When someone has an idea and they see it on a computer screen, then in a matter of a day or two it’s in their hands. That’s an amazing experience that a lot of folks haven’t got to experience.”
Established in 2023, Bumpa Built makes a line of products called Bippits which are articulated sensory toys for children and adults that come in different sizes and ranges. They sell those in-store at 48 South Road, Unit 11, and wholesale to other local retailers across the country in 350 stores. They have classes, workshops and birthday parties where people can get exposed to using 3D printing as a technology to bring their images on display. They also sell 3D printers and the material for them with the idea that the children and adults that come through the classes get inspired enough to want to do it at home.
Rivard has been doing industrial 3D printing for 18 years in the aerospace industry. About three years ago, his son asked him to print a dragon. Rivard went and found a bearded dragon model online, printed it out and it blew him away.
“Up until that point I had never made anything for fun,” said Rivard. “I had always made brackets and things for airplanes. We printed this little bearded dragon, and it came out in these rainbow colors, and it was really cool. We took that to a Fourth of July party, and the other kids thought it was the coolest thing ever, so they wanted their own.”
The original idea for Bumpa Built was to be a makerspace where people could learn to use different tools to bring their ideas to life. Rivard’s dad, Mark, was a carpenter while he was growing up and taught him how to use his hands to make things. When Rivard first met his wife, they were building a house, and his dad also taught her how to build things. All the grandchildren in their family call his dad Bumpa so they named it Bumpa Built to pass on his legacy of teaching people how to bring their ideas to life. Mark had never heard of the name bumpa before and since then because of Bumpa Built, he has met several other bumpas across the country.
“It’s exciting to watch,” he said. “I’m very proud of Adam and the impact Bumpa Built has had, not only in the town of Somers, but around the world.”
“My dad inspired my creativity and passion for building things by involving me in everything he did from a very young age,” said Rivard. “From working on projects around our house, to fixing dirt bikes in our garage, and even building computers from spare parts he taught me that anything is possible with hard work and creativity.”
By the end of 2023, and into the beginning of 2024, Rivard and his wife went from one little 3D printer in their basement to 70 3D printers and a full-time staff of employees working in their basement. They were shipping orders all over the world; close to half a million items sold in the first six months. After those first six months, Rivard made the decision to leave his career in aerospace and take a real try at making this a full-time thing so in April of 2024, Rivard went full-time with Bumpa Built. The next big move was getting it out of their house, so they bought the space they’re currently in and moved in right at the beginning of 2025.
Right now, Rivard’s biggest goal is to expand Bumpa Built’s retail footprint, pushing it to be in 500 stores by the end of this year. To support that, he’ll be moving the production side of the business out into a new location and bringing on new team members.
“We feel very strongly about having a business with a mission that helps people,” Rivard said. “Bringing something to the community that is new, different and inspiring means a lot to me. I like empowering people to see their potential.”
He went on to say, “Our motto from the very beginning has been inspiring creative confidence and the whole idea is we want to create a space where anyone of any age has an idea that they feel the confidence and they have the resources that they can make that happen. And it’s been really cool to build that in the town I grew up in and the town that we live in; making something local and seeing it grow nationwide.”
Go to bumpabuilt.com to find classes, all Bumpa Built products and any information there. You can also follow Bumpa Built on social media. Their social media handle across all platforms is (@bumpabippits).
