Team Insight

Everyone probably knows the Champro story, but can you give us the "elevator pitch" on where the company came from? When I le Wilson Sporting Goods in 1986 and decided to start my own company, I knew it would be very tough competing against big, well-established brands. Initially, I went out and talked to a lot of team dealers and developed a product line drawing on their knowledge. eir input also convinced me there were three things I could do better than the big brands. And those three things are … First of all, I thought I could make gear that was equal to or a notch above the big brands while, at the same time, offering better value. I felt that putting money into the product was more important to the consumer than paying for advertising. With a low payroll cost, initially just me, and not paying for endorsements or giving away promotional product I planned to minimize overhead and thus offer lower prices than the big brands. Secondly, I wanted to be the easiest company in the industry to work with, to be responsive to customers and offer an extreme level of service. My third goal was to ship product faster than any company in the industry. I learned from talking with dealers that the teams they serviced weren't able to predict their needs far in advance and dealers thus needed a resource with inventory on hand that could ship quickly. I wanted to be that resource. What does your Hall of Fame induction mean to you personally? is recognition gives me great personal satisfaction because I think it validates what the Champro team has accomplished and demonstrates that a family-owned company can succeed and compete against companies that are many times larger. In sports, I have always rooted for the underdog and respected teams that find ways to win when the odds are against them. I enjoy the competitive aspects of our business and feel that when I go to work every day it is like the start of a new game and I get excited when our team wins another day. How about to Champro as a company? We have always stressed that we can only succeed as a team. From the very beginning, our team members have had the attitude that they will do whatever needs to be done for the company, even if it's not specific to their job description. Everyone at Champro should, and I think does, take pride in this recognition. I think they understand that I am accepting the award on their behalf. What do you think has made Champro such a successful company? I didn't start out with a well-defined business plan. I think what helped Champro in the early years and continues to make us successful is a willingness to learn from our customers and respond to them. Our business has evolved along with the industry, but the goals we set early on have become our core values as a company. We tell ourselves every day that we need to develop high-performance products while offering the best value, the best service and the fastest speed in the industry. How do you communicate that with your team? My son (and company president) Ryan (Hunt) meets with of our senior leadership team every week to reinforce these goals. As we add new teammates, some coming from larger competitors 14 • Team Insight ~ May/June 2023 teaminsightmag.com Bill Hunt (far left) with Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill (in white shirt) and Bono (far right) visiting the Champro factory in Ethiopia in 2002. The Champro factory was the first to export to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act actory in Ethiopia in 2002. FOUNDER, CHAMPRO, 2023 SPORTING GOODS INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE BILL HUNT THE 1ON1 PROJECT

• Cover