Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech are powerful examples of visions shared. They had the ability to conceptualize the future with imagination and wisdom. That kind of vision has been and will continue to be the focus of the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW).

Many years ago, the NASGW had the vision to create an interface between manufacturers and distributors to facilitate the sharing of new product and price information. This would then be used to create and print catalogs. Thus, the Expo was created. But that vision became less relevant as the need for print media waned. The business world has changed and the Expo, although still useful, became less critical for both manufacturers and distributors.

NASGW recognized the challenges that our industry is facing and the need for change or evolution. The organization recognized that it needed to serve itself with insurance, banking, logistics and more. It had a vision that would bring about a new interface between manufacturers, distributors AND retailers. That vision would also include ideas on providing the most comprehensive POS data through retail as well as the movement of goods through distribution (NASGW SCOPE). SCOPE also includes creating a consistent product attribute database to streamline product searches across all company websites. But the best vision can’t come to fruition without effectively communicating the ideas and the associated benefits to the members of each channel of trade, manufacturers and wholesalers.  We, the NASGW wholesalers, are taking the lead to accomplish this vision.

Thus, Vision 70 was created! Brought to life by the creative minds at Prime, our Montana-based marketing partner, Vision 70 is both a celebration of the 70th birthday of NASGW and an announcement to the industry that we are changing the organization’s mission to not only keep up with the current global business climate, but to get ahead of critical issues that we face today and in the future. Effective sharing of the vision is critical in bringing all trade partners together for the common good of keeping our businesses relevant and successful.  And through Vision 70 we’ll paint our vision of how we’ll accomplish these critical needs with the collective participation of all partners in the trade.

In summary, NASGW’s vision is to see the evolution of an industry where individual companies become a group of partners working in unison to the benefit of all. There is strength in numbers. But strength comes from adding those numbers up to one. One group of businesses collectively strengthening an entire industry! That is the future of NASGW and the shooting sports industry. It is on each of our businesses to band together, to create solutions for the the industry. NASGW is becoming that unifying organization to support our business operations. It is an exciting time for your association and we can't wait to share more next month in Columbus. 

Until next time,

Chris Means

NASGW Chairman