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Smith & Wesson CEO sees broader, loud future
Sunday, June 05, 2005
By WILLIAM FREEBAIRN
wfreebairn@repub.com
Smith & Wesson has thought of itself only as a handgun company for most of its 153 years.
Michael F. Golden believes it is time to look more broadly at the company.
The new president and chief executive of Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. has assembled a team of marketing-savvy executives who are planning to expand the venerable brand into new areas.
Smith & Wesson could begin producing shotguns or rifles, and may lend its name to products including ammunition, non-lethal weapons and home security systems.
The new mantra at Smith & Wesson will be "safety, security, protection and sport," Golden said.
Golden said he would above all do no harm to the famous brand.
"My No. 1 responsibility is to protect the brand," he said.
Golden, who has a poster in his office reading, "If you don't make dust, you eat dust," said he believes Smith & Wesson can both increase its core handgun business and expand into other products.
A recent survey showed that buyers ranked Smith & Wesson first on the list of recommended brands for revolvers and pistols. Surprisingly, Golden said, the survey showed Smith & Wesson ranked third in rifles and shotguns, even though the company does not currently make long guns; the brand ranked high in other areas where it has no products, including ammunition.
"This is stuff we're looking at. We may do it, we may not," Golden said. "We have earned the right in the last 153 years to get into these areas."
Some of the new products are likely to be made elsewhere, but some could be made at the company's sprawling Roosevelt Avenue plant in Springfield.
The handgun business is at the heart of Smith & Wesson. Revolvers and pistols make up 88 percent of sales at the company, the rest is from handcuffs, licensing, and other ventures.
Smith & Wesson recently surpassed Sturm, Ruger as the largest handgun manufacturer in the nation, and sales have been rising steadily on the strength of new products like its award-winning large-caliber revolvers.
Most of the company's sales come from guns sold through a network of gun dealers and sporting goods stores. The percentage of sales from police, government, military and international sales has been low in recent years, Golden said.
The goal of the new team is to boost sales in all areas.
Smith & Wesson has been hiring new faces for several months to bolster its sales, marketing and operations ranks.
Smith & Wesson employs about 800 people, most of them at its Springfield plant, with about 80 in Maine at a factory that makes handcuffs and pistols.
The emphasis has been on hiring people with experience, who are often from outside the company and the gun industry.
"We have a new management team in place. Every one of them has been there and done that; this is not a training program," Golden said.
Golden himself said he had never fired a handgun before landing the top job at Smith & Wesson.
The 51-year-old executive was hired six months ago as president and chief executive officer. He was most recently president of the cabinetry division of Kohler Co., but spent much of his career at Black & Decker and The Stanley Works.
Earlier this year, the company hired Leland Nichols to become the first vice president of sales in several years at the firm. Nichols had worked with Golden at Black & Decker, Stanley and Kohler.
Three months ago, Kenneth Chandler became vice president of operations, with a manufacturing background including stints at Ingersoll-Rand and Autoliv, an auto air-bag manufacturer.
His job will be to bring in modern manufacturing techniques, including a focus on "lean manufacturing" efficiency, Golden said.
That emphasis has meant more highly-automated gunmaking equipment, but the company has actually been hiring due to rising orders, officials said.
The firearms industry has not historically focused on advanced manufacturing, although Smith & Wesson has been more progressive in this area since at least the early 1990s, Golden said.
The company last year hired Thomas Taylor, a Coca-Cola and Frito-Lay executive, to become vice president of marketing. He has been conducting consumer surveys and streamlining the company's advertising and marketing campaigns.
The company's new television show, Smith & Wesson USA, will debut on the Men's Channel, a small cable network.
Smith & Wesson has also been sponsoring a car in select NASCAR races during this season.
Just last month, Smith & Wesson hired Elizabeth A. Sharp as vice president of investor relations. She will be based in Arizona, where Smith & Wesson has an office used by members of the board of directors.
The firm also made Ernest Langdon director of federal law enforcement and military sales, and appointed Eoin B. Stafford director of sporting goods sales.
The three posts were all newly created, and Langdon and Stafford have firearms industry experience.
They are expected to bolster sales of Smith & Wesson handguns in areas where it has lagged in recent years, including sales to police and law enforcement, which Smith & Wesson once dominated but in which it now trails.
"Today, the U.S. military does not use one handgun that's manufactured by a U.S. company," Golden said. The Army has used guns made by Italian-based Beretta as its official sidearms for several years.
However, a new competition to provide handguns for branches of the military could begin soon, and Smith & Wesson officials have said they are seeking the business.
The company received a contract recently to supply pistols to the U.S. for distribution to the Afghanistan National Army. It was the first federal contract for Smith & Wesson in 15 years, Golden said.
And a few weeks ago, the board announced that Barbara Hunnicutt would join the company as vice president of licensing. Hunnicutt's resume includes a time managing licensing for Harley-Davidson motorcycles, a top brand with which Smith & Wesson executives like to compare themselves.
"She's a pro at this," Golden said.
The company could be making more from a careful campaign to license its name, he said.
The new hires bring a wealth of outside consumer product marketing and sales experience to the company.
Golden said he does not believe it will hurt the company to have few experienced firearms executives at the top of the company. "I think it's a competitive advantage for us to have a mix of people with experience inside and outside the industry," he said.
Smith & Wesson retains 20-year veteran John Kelly as chief financial officer, and has a number of people in product development and human resources who have been at the company even longer, he said.
Smith & Wesson has had a turbulent recent past.
Starting in the late 1990s, a string of lawsuits filed by big cities seeking to recover damages to pay for the social costs of gun violence came close to bankrupting several gun companies. Smith & Wesson signed a deal with the Clinton administration to settle those suits five years ago, but gun buyers punished the firm for appearing to cave in to liberal anti-gun forces.
The sale of the company in 2001 put Smith & Wesson back in the good graces of gun enthusiasts, and most of the 32 municipal lawsuits have been dismissed, with only 5 pending or on appeal, Golden said.
A series of turnovers in the position of president and chairman should be behind the company, Golden said. Golden is the fifth president in as many years for the company, and the chairman of the board has changed even more frequently.
"The board has been for me, in the first six months - and I don't see it changing - very supportive of the direction we're going in," Golden said.
"I'm here to stay," he said.
The company plans to open an in-house museum that may be open to tour groups and customers on a limited basis. That museum will open in the coming weeks.
"The company has been a very under-marketed and quiet company," Golden said. "Our new message is don't be a quiet company, be loud."
©2005 The Republican
© 2005 MassLive.com All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
By WILLIAM FREEBAIRN
wfreebairn@repub.com
Smith & Wesson has thought of itself only as a handgun company for most of its 153 years.
Michael F. Golden believes it is time to look more broadly at the company.
The new president and chief executive of Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. has assembled a team of marketing-savvy executives who are planning to expand the venerable brand into new areas.
Smith & Wesson could begin producing shotguns or rifles, and may lend its name to products including ammunition, non-lethal weapons and home security systems.
The new mantra at Smith & Wesson will be "safety, security, protection and sport," Golden said.
Golden said he would above all do no harm to the famous brand.
"My No. 1 responsibility is to protect the brand," he said.
Golden, who has a poster in his office reading, "If you don't make dust, you eat dust," said he believes Smith & Wesson can both increase its core handgun business and expand into other products.
A recent survey showed that buyers ranked Smith & Wesson first on the list of recommended brands for revolvers and pistols. Surprisingly, Golden said, the survey showed Smith & Wesson ranked third in rifles and shotguns, even though the company does not currently make long guns; the brand ranked high in other areas where it has no products, including ammunition.
"This is stuff we're looking at. We may do it, we may not," Golden said. "We have earned the right in the last 153 years to get into these areas."
Some of the new products are likely to be made elsewhere, but some could be made at the company's sprawling Roosevelt Avenue plant in Springfield.
The handgun business is at the heart of Smith & Wesson. Revolvers and pistols make up 88 percent of sales at the company, the rest is from handcuffs, licensing, and other ventures.
Smith & Wesson recently surpassed Sturm, Ruger as the largest handgun manufacturer in the nation, and sales have been rising steadily on the strength of new products like its award-winning large-caliber revolvers.
Most of the company's sales come from guns sold through a network of gun dealers and sporting goods stores. The percentage of sales from police, government, military and international sales has been low in recent years, Golden said.
The goal of the new team is to boost sales in all areas.
Smith & Wesson has been hiring new faces for several months to bolster its sales, marketing and operations ranks.
Smith & Wesson employs about 800 people, most of them at its Springfield plant, with about 80 in Maine at a factory that makes handcuffs and pistols.
The emphasis has been on hiring people with experience, who are often from outside the company and the gun industry.
"We have a new management team in place. Every one of them has been there and done that; this is not a training program," Golden said.
Golden himself said he had never fired a handgun before landing the top job at Smith & Wesson.
The 51-year-old executive was hired six months ago as president and chief executive officer. He was most recently president of the cabinetry division of Kohler Co., but spent much of his career at Black & Decker and The Stanley Works.
Earlier this year, the company hired Leland Nichols to become the first vice president of sales in several years at the firm. Nichols had worked with Golden at Black & Decker, Stanley and Kohler.
Three months ago, Kenneth Chandler became vice president of operations, with a manufacturing background including stints at Ingersoll-Rand and Autoliv, an auto air-bag manufacturer.
His job will be to bring in modern manufacturing techniques, including a focus on "lean manufacturing" efficiency, Golden said.
That emphasis has meant more highly-automated gunmaking equipment, but the company has actually been hiring due to rising orders, officials said.
The firearms industry has not historically focused on advanced manufacturing, although Smith & Wesson has been more progressive in this area since at least the early 1990s, Golden said.
The company last year hired Thomas Taylor, a Coca-Cola and Frito-Lay executive, to become vice president of marketing. He has been conducting consumer surveys and streamlining the company's advertising and marketing campaigns.
The company's new television show, Smith & Wesson USA, will debut on the Men's Channel, a small cable network.
Smith & Wesson has also been sponsoring a car in select NASCAR races during this season.
Just last month, Smith & Wesson hired Elizabeth A. Sharp as vice president of investor relations. She will be based in Arizona, where Smith & Wesson has an office used by members of the board of directors.
The firm also made Ernest Langdon director of federal law enforcement and military sales, and appointed Eoin B. Stafford director of sporting goods sales.
The three posts were all newly created, and Langdon and Stafford have firearms industry experience.
They are expected to bolster sales of Smith & Wesson handguns in areas where it has lagged in recent years, including sales to police and law enforcement, which Smith & Wesson once dominated but in which it now trails.
"Today, the U.S. military does not use one handgun that's manufactured by a U.S. company," Golden said. The Army has used guns made by Italian-based Beretta as its official sidearms for several years.
However, a new competition to provide handguns for branches of the military could begin soon, and Smith & Wesson officials have said they are seeking the business.
The company received a contract recently to supply pistols to the U.S. for distribution to the Afghanistan National Army. It was the first federal contract for Smith & Wesson in 15 years, Golden said.
And a few weeks ago, the board announced that Barbara Hunnicutt would join the company as vice president of licensing. Hunnicutt's resume includes a time managing licensing for Harley-Davidson motorcycles, a top brand with which Smith & Wesson executives like to compare themselves.
"She's a pro at this," Golden said.
The company could be making more from a careful campaign to license its name, he said.
The new hires bring a wealth of outside consumer product marketing and sales experience to the company.
Golden said he does not believe it will hurt the company to have few experienced firearms executives at the top of the company. "I think it's a competitive advantage for us to have a mix of people with experience inside and outside the industry," he said.
Smith & Wesson retains 20-year veteran John Kelly as chief financial officer, and has a number of people in product development and human resources who have been at the company even longer, he said.
Smith & Wesson has had a turbulent recent past.
Starting in the late 1990s, a string of lawsuits filed by big cities seeking to recover damages to pay for the social costs of gun violence came close to bankrupting several gun companies. Smith & Wesson signed a deal with the Clinton administration to settle those suits five years ago, but gun buyers punished the firm for appearing to cave in to liberal anti-gun forces.
The sale of the company in 2001 put Smith & Wesson back in the good graces of gun enthusiasts, and most of the 32 municipal lawsuits have been dismissed, with only 5 pending or on appeal, Golden said.
A series of turnovers in the position of president and chairman should be behind the company, Golden said. Golden is the fifth president in as many years for the company, and the chairman of the board has changed even more frequently.
"The board has been for me, in the first six months - and I don't see it changing - very supportive of the direction we're going in," Golden said.
"I'm here to stay," he said.
The company plans to open an in-house museum that may be open to tour groups and customers on a limited basis. That museum will open in the coming weeks.
"The company has been a very under-marketed and quiet company," Golden said. "Our new message is don't be a quiet company, be loud."
©2005 The Republican
© 2005 MassLive.com All Rights Reserved.