2015 NSSF Industry Summit Hits High Notes

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June 4, 2015

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Bill Brassard
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2015 NSSF Industry Summit Hits High Notes

Seth Mattison presented an energetic keynote for the 2015 NSSF Industry Summit. Click here for more images from this year’s Summit.

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The 2015 NSSF Industry Summit, held this past week in Savannah, Georgia, is one that will go down on the books. Setting a new attendance record and sold to capacity, firearms industry professionals met for two days of presentations that garnered a wealth of accolades from those who traveled from all across the country to engage in discussions aimed at increasing hunter and shooting sports participation in America.

The central theme of the 2015 Industry Summit, diversity, is one that proved the industry is preparing to significantly change the way it does business.
“We’ve talked loosely about diversity for years,” said Chris Dolnack, NSSF Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, “but there’s never been a cohesive effort across the industry as a whole to address this subject and innovate change. This year’s Industry Summit showed us that we’re about to experience a ground-swell shift in that attitude. Summit attendees came fully prepared, arriving with focused, on-point questions about what changes they need to make in their businesses to embrace a new consumer audience. Rewarded with a panel of speakers who presented numerous models of success that that are replicable from manufacturer to retailer, wildlife agency to public range, Summit attendees took away viable avenues of change that will positively impact our industry in the months to come.”

A slew of headlining speakers kept audiences on their toes over the two days of discussions, with presentations such as Rick Tobin’s “U.S. Hispanic Firearms Market.” In that discussion, Tobin stated, “The current buying power of Hispanics is $850 billion and soon to be over a trillion dollars. It is necessity for any industry to connect with Hispanic consumers if they want to grow and this NSSF funded research will help the firearms and ammunition industry obtain a better understanding of this important consumer segment.” Other sessions included “Driving Engagement Across the Generations” and “The Impact of Ethnic Diversity on the U.S. Firearms Market,” as well as panel discussions on partnering with women’s shooting organizations and working with today’s many talented firearms bloggers.

“We have a tremendous cache of current data that shows us what firearms are being produced and purchased, what shooting sports they’re being used with and who’s doing the buying and shooting,” explained Jim Curcuruto, NSSF Director, Industry Research and Analysis. “It’s gratifying to see so many important industry heads investing in that research and the ideas exchanged at the Summit, then using those things to complement their business plans and share what works with others. Industry-wide cooperation that works to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shootings sports is what the Summit is all about.”

NSSF would like to thank its many sponsors for their support of the 2015 Industry Summit, including Georgia USA, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, PolyCase Ammunition, Troy Defense, Blue Force Gear, Daniel Defense, Boy Scouts of America and Magpul.

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About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 11,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, visit nssf.org.