Kenny Ballard, the president of Boulder Outdoor Specialty Group (BOSG), has moved his family to Vermont from the company’s headquarter in Boulder, CO and will resign at the end of October to be nearer family on the East Coast.
BOSG designs, sources, markets and distributes the Kelty, Sierra Designs, Slumberjack, Wenger and Ultimate Direction brands and is a unit of American Recreation Products (ARP) of St. Louis, which is itself owned by the private investment firm Sun Capital Partners Inc.
Ballard will remain in his role through Oct. 31 to ensure a smooth transition at BOSG. He will be working from the offices of fellow ARP company Isis for Women in Burlington, VT.
“I am disappointed to see Kenny Ballard leave our business,” said Dale Philippi, president and CEO for ARP in an e-mail shared with The B.O.S.S. Report. “We very much appreciate his passion and all that he has done during his long tenure at ARP. We also respect his personal and family situation, priorities and decision. We wish him and his family all the best.”
Ballard joined Kelty in 2000 as national sales manager. In October, 2002, he was promoted to director of sales, and became president in January 2005. Prior to joining Kelty, Ballard's experience in the outdoor industry included work at Mad River Canoe as the national sales and brand manager, at Moonstone Mountaineering as the director of sales, and at Montbell America as the director of sales and marketing.
“We will immediately begin the process of evaluating all of our go-forward options in the context of our growth strategy,” Philippi said of Ballard’s departure. “We are working with Kenny to plan and ensure a smooth and seamless leadership transition.”
