Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. Russ Thurman Millner Transformed Remington Arms Co. ommy Millner’s resignation as its own manufacturing plants, Millner acRemington’s CEO in mid-March to celerated the introduction of innovative become the CEO and president of products and the company’s manufacturCabela’s took a lot of people by surprise, ing capabilities. In 2001, Remington was given his success at Remington. ranked as the number one U.S. firearm Millner became the president and CEO manufacturer — a first for a long-gunof the company in mid-1994. He was an “outsider,” whom many predicted wouldn’t last. “The industry typically grows its own talent and few, if any, outsiders have come in and actually stayed. So, I have probably been a surprise, both in and outside Remington,” Millner said in an exclusive Shooting Industry interview in 2003. Millner did more than just stay; he transformed Remington, and in doing so, greatly impacted the industry. He insisted on changing “Big Green.” “When I took over, I felt there was a need to change the culture of the company. We needed to, one, become politically involved in the industry, which the company hadn’t been, ever. Two, we needed to be more customer focused and less internally focused. Tommy Millner And, we needed to be a lot more innovative in new products. Overall, we needed to be a lot more nimble and ag- only company — a position it held for six gressive,” Millner said. straight years. And Millner was aggressive. He chalIn the political arena, Millner ensured lenged Remington employees to forge a Remington was involved and insisted that new future. Remington ventured beyond “we need a healthy sense of paranoia about its own manufacturing, expanding its li- never letting our guard drop. We must be censed products, and to the chagrin of vigilant, because those people who believe many, began importing firearms. Within there shouldn’t be any guns in this country T are alive and well.” Millner brought an “outsider’s” viewpoint to how to expand the industry. “For an industry to be viable, it must attract new capital. For new capital to come into an industry and its companies, there has to be a sense that it is a safe place to get a good return on that capital,” Millner said. Enter Cerberus Capital Management in 2007. The private investment firm, one of the world’s largest, acquired Remington and set a course for further expansion. By the end of the year, Remington announced it was acquiring Marlin Firearms Co. During 2008, there were additional acquisitions by Cerberus and Remington, which now form the Freedom Group Inc. It’s likely much of this would not have happened without Millner. So, why did he suddenly leave the company he had such a strong hand in transforming? “I felt I needed one more challenge,” he said. No little challenges for Millner. He leaves Remington and the Freedom Group Inc. in strong hands, some of them “outsiders,” but many of them leaders who have emerged from the company’s ranks. Continue to expect big things from Remington and its sister companies. We wish Tommy Millner continued success. record number of companies have stepped forward to sponsor the 2009 Shooting Industry Masters. They are: Aimpoint, Benchmade, Black Hills Ammunition, BLACKHAWK!, Brownells, Cor-Bon, Crimson Trace, DPMS/Panther Arms, Ellett Brothers, EOTAC, Gunsite, Howard Leight, Lansky Sharpeners, LaserMax, MGM Targets, Remington, Ruger and Smith & Wesson. We thank them. In addition, we’re on pace to set a record for the number of teams that will take part in the three-gun competition in July. Why don’t you join them and us at the Hartford Gun Club, July 24 and 25? Why do they shoot in the Masters? (See page 37.) Masters Attracts Sponsors A For all the details on the event, which now supports NSSF’s First Shots program (see page 10), visit www. shootingindustry.com, or call Elizabeth O’Neill, Masters coordinator, at 1-800-537-3006, ext. 279; e-mail: elizabeth@ shootingindustry.com. Continued on page 45 46 MAY 2009 Read SI DIGITAL www.shootingindustry.com