The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW), the association representing shooting sports wholesalers, manufacturers, and their trade partners, announces the winners of their annual Appreciation and Caliber Awards during of their Appreciation Dinner at the NASGW Expo, in Columbus, Ohio.

The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) in partnership with the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), have chosen the top three products in six categories including: Best New Rifle, Best New Handgun, Best New Shotgun, Best New Ammunition, Best New Optic, and Best New Accessory. An independent panel of 18 industry judges, comprised of NASGW members and POMA members, selected the finalists in each category. In order to qualify, manufacturers needed to be a NASGW member in good standing and the product must have been publicly released between November 2020 and prior to this year’s Expo. "Despite the cancelation of last year's NASGW Expo, the Caliber Awards have continued to grow in notoriety across the shooting sports industry," said Kenyon Gleason, NASGW president. "This year we have another lineup of outstanding finalists for each of our six categories and we can't wait to announce the winners at the Expo in Columbus, Ohio."

The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) and their wholesale members have nominated this year's Appreciation Award finalists. Each year, NASGW Awards the top optics, accessory, ammunition, and firearms manufacturers and the leading importer and innovator who best demonstrate a commitment to the two-step distribution process and provide outstanding value and service. Wholesaler members evaluate manufacturers' performance on four key criteria; distribution policy, marketing, sales, and promotion; logistics and operations; and NASGW and industry support. This comprehensive assessment of manufacturer performance is designed to provide a more balanced appraisal that truly recognizes the best of the best, according to NASGW distributor members.

ANKENY, IA (August 30, 2021) – The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW), the association representing shooting sports wholesalers, manufacturers, and their trade partners, is pleased to announce that Winchester Ammunition will be sponsoring speaker Chris Stirewalt at the NASGW Expo Appreciation Dinner on October 26th in Columbus, Ohio.

The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW), the association representing shooting sports wholesalers, manufacturers and their trade partners, is pleased to announce that Armscor will be sponsoring an NASGW Expo Happy Hour on Thursday, October 28th in Columbus, Ohio.

Birmingham, Alabama: Bangers L.P., a leading distributor of shooting sports products and outdoor recreational sporting goods, announced today that it is rebranding as Iron Valley™ Supply Co. This new name reflects the company’s nearly 100-year heritage as a wholesale distributor in the Iron Valley region of Alabama.

Orion Wholesale is pleased to announce a new headquarters facility in the Greater Louisville area just across the Ohio River in southern Indiana. The 130,000 square foot distribution facility and corporate offices are set to open in the fall. The expansion will enable Orion Wholesale to serve its dealer base and vendors well beyond 2021. The new construction will add sales offices, conference rooms, product training rooms and state-of-the-art warehousing that will add the ability to streamline inventory, shipping and receiving processes.

Baton Rouge, La.—Lipsey's, a nationally renowned firearms distributor, is pleased to announce the appointment of Laurie Lipsey Aronson to the National Shooting Sports Foundation's (NSSF) Board of Governors.

Exporting firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition is a complicated process and can seem overwhelming to most companies who do not regularly export goods. However, the rules and processes to export these goods have recently been modified which provides the potential to open up new markets to wholesalers and distributors.

Prior to the recent changes, small arms and ammunition products had been regulated by the State Department for decades. Due to the expensive registration costs and export license fees, most wholesalers and distributors left the sales opportunities in the foreign markets to manufacturers and specialized U.S. exporters.