Fiocchi hired shooting industry veteran David Blenker as president and CEO of its North American operations. Blenker replaces Anthony Acitelli, retiring after a three-and-a-half-year tenure in the role.
A decades-long veteran of the shooting industry, Blenker guided the company through two greenfield projects over the past five years—the Taurus USA and A-1 Industries manufacturing facilities in Bainbridge, GA.
Blenker is a past member of the National Shooting Sports Foundation board of governors, past board member of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer’s Institute and past board member of the South Florida Council of Boy Scouts of America.
As president and CEO of Fiocchi USA, Blenker will guide the expansion of Fiocchi of America, including its primer manufacturing facility in Arkansas and sustainable technology implementation for its product lines.
Acitelli joined Fiocchi in 2019. During his tenure, he spearheaded the company’s successful ISO certification effort and oversaw the execution and ground-breaking of its primer facility in Port of Little Rock, AK.
David Stepan, investment director and board member of Czechoslovak Group (CSG Group), commented, “Smooth leadership transition is always the goal for any company, and with veteran executives like Anthony and David, this task is made easy. All of us at Fiocchi and CSG Group would first like to thank Anthony for his notable accomplishment in elevating the Fiocchi brand to its hard-earned and respected position in the U.S. market over the last four years. His guidance has paved the way for David as he begins to move the company forward with major projects underway, like building up our new primer plant, boosting factory output, focusing our vertical integration efforts, and growing our market footprint. We are confident his professionalism and extensive knowledge of the shooting and firearms industries will bring us to our ambitious goals.”
Photo courtesy Fiocchi
