Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation, parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., has named James Debney to fill the role of President, Firearms Business, reporting to Michael Golden, President and CEO of Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation.


Debney, 42, joins Smith & Wesson with over 15 years of management experience in multinational consumer and business-to-business environments, including his most recent position as President of Presto Products Company, a $500 million plastic products business unit formerly of Alcoa Consumer Products. In his role at Smith & Wesson, Debney will oversee the company's firearms business.

Smith & Wesson President and CEO, Michael F. Golden, said, “James is the ideal person to lead our firearms business in ongoing, future growth. He has a track record of developing and executing sales and marketing strategies that sustainably grow the top line, while working throughout an organization to implement efficiencies that deliver profitability. He is also seasoned in multi-factory, multinational organizations that address both consumer and business-to-business environments. This makes him especially well-suited to implement our firearms strategy, which is to expand our reach within both the professional and consumer markets for firearms.”


During his tenure as President of Presto Products, he created and executed long and short-term sales and marketing and operations strategies that delivered increases in both revenue and profitability. Debney oversaw all aspects of the growing business, which is composed of four business units with five manufacturing facilities in the United States and partnerships in Asia. Prior to Presto Products, Debney held a series of increasingly responsible operations management and business leadership roles with Baco Consumer Products, a United Kingdom business formerly of Alcoa Consumer Products and a $90 million branded and private label manufacturer of foil, film, storage, food and trash bag consumer products. He holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry with Honors from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, and a Certificate of Business Administration from the University of Keele, both in the United Kingdom.


Golden concluded, “Both our firearms and our perimeter security businesses are delivering solid performance and providing a strong framework for our future growth. I look forward to working with James Debney as he leads our firearms business and with Matt Gelfand as he leads our perimeter security business, as we continue to develop Smith & Wesson into a broader-based provider of safety and security products and services.”