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“The people in this room really are the mettle behind the industry,” said Academy director Randy Moldé as he welcomed guests to the awards reception. “In this age of liberal, media driven opinions and lawsuits, your courage to compete in this industry and your spirit to strive for excellence, speak volumes about your strength of character.”
This year, the academy considered 152 potential nominees in 14 categories before selecting 42 for the final ballot. The results of the final vote were held in secret until the reception.
Leupold & Stevens was recognized as the Manufacturer of the Year for supporting the U.S. armed forces War on Terror with the introduction of a riflescope that went into the hands of troops to assist operations in Afghanistan and later Iraq.
“This is a tremendous recognition,” said Leupold’s Mike Slack as he accepted the award for the optics company. “I’d like to dedicate this award to all the law enforcement and military people that are stationed in the United States and around the world for doing the work that they do in keeping us safe.”
The Academy named first time winners in several categories including Knife of the Year which saw Browning’s Living History knife series capture top honors over six-time winner Benchmade and fellow nominee Gerber.
Hornady broke Winchester’s string of six consecutive wins by edging CCI and Federal for the Ammunition of the Year award.
“We feel a little bit like Susan Lucci,” commented company president Steve Hornady upon accepting the award. “We’ve been here a number of times but we finally got selected.”
Stephen Sanetti, Sturm, Ruger president, was honored with the Shooting Industry Award for his work in effectively defending against countless ill-conceived lawsuits by individuals, municipalities and anti-gun organizations.
The academy is sponsored by FMG Publications, however, the awards are decided by academy’s 460 members, which include industry executives, gun dealers and outdoor writers.
“The academy continues to serve the industry in an admirable way,” said Tom von Rosen, FMG Publications publisher. “The competition for the awards is tough and just making it to the final ballot is quite an accomplishment.”
“We congratulate all those who received honors in this true industry award.”
Complete coverage of the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence awards reception wil be included in the July issue of Shooting Industry magazine.
Nomination suggestions for the 2005 awards are being accepted for any product currently in production not earlier than January 2004. The industry is invited to submit nomination details by email to siae@shootingindustry.com. For more information on the Academy including past winners from 1992 to present and the selection process follow the Academy links. |
Academy director
Randy Moldé
Mike Slack
Leupold & Stevens
Steve Hornady
Hornady
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