COLUMBIA, MO – –
Larry and Brenda Potterfield, owners of MidwayUSA, recently received the 2017 Golden Bullseye Pioneer Award. The award was presented at a special breakfast on Friday, April 28, 2017, at the 2017 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Atlanta, GA. First presented in 2007, the Golden Bullseye Pioneer Award recognizes exemplary achievement by individuals responsible for the development, introduction and promotion of equipment that has made a profound and enduring impact on the way Americans shoot and hunt.
Nearly 40 years ago Larry and Brenda opened the doors to a small gun shop, under the name Ely Arms, Inc, selling new and used long guns, handguns and a selection of shooting and reloading supplies. Seven short years later, the business transitioned to mail order only and changed their name to Midway Arms, Inc. Often referred to as the grandfather of reloading, the young company became the first distributor of bulk brass in the 1980s – first from Starline Brass, then Winchester and Remington. In addition to growing their hugely successful mail order business, the Potterfields founded Battenfeld Technologies in 1992. The small product development and manufacturing spin-off is responsible for popular brands like Caldwell Shooting Supplies, Wheeler Engineering, Tipton Gun Cleaning Supplies and more. MidwayUSA currently occupies a 21-acre campus in Columbia, Missouri and has become, without question, one of the leading internet retailers of Just About Everything© for Shooting, Hunting and the Outdoors.
"Larry and Brenda Potterfield are most deserving of their selection as the 2017 NRA Publications Division Pioneer Award recipients," said Doug Hamlin, Executive Director of NRA Publications. "This is the first time in the history of the award that a husband and wife team have been so honored. The Potterfields have been passionate about preserving the Second Amendment and very generous in their support of the National Rifle Association. On a personal note I have known Larry and Brenda for over 25 years and look up to them as role models and patriots."
Combining passion and vision, Larry and Brenda have used their business success to become two of the leading benefactors of the Shooting Sports Industry. Their role model support of the National Rifle Association (NRA), Shooting Sports Industry, Key Conservation Groups, and Baldrige is evidence of their visionary leadership and industry-leading contributions to those key communities. They founded the NRA Round-Up program in 1992 and since then have been asking MidwayUSA Customers to round up the total of each order and donate the change to the NRA/ILA. To date, MidwayUSA has collected over $13.6 million for the NRA/ILA through the program. Additionally, they helped found the Friends of NRA in 1992, which has raised over $740 million for The NRA Foundation. In 2007 Larry and Brenda established the MidwayUSA Foundation, a public charity, designed to help communities and organizations raise funds to support their high school, college and other youth shooting teams. The MidwayUSA Foundation currently manages over $115 million in assets, have paid over $16 million in grants, and provide financial support to over 2,500 youth shooting teams.
About MidwayUSA
Both country kids from Missouri, Larry and Brenda Potterfield turned their passion for shooting sports into a career by opening a small gun shop in 1977 that would eventually become MidwayUSA (http://www.midwayusa.com). They instilled family values like honesty, integrity and respect for others into the business, and strive to maintain this culture with each Employee added to their growing team. For over 39 years, MidwayUSA has maintained an unyielding focus on Customer Satisfaction and continues to offer JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING® for Shooting, Hunting and the Outdoors.
For more information on MidwayUSA, visit their website (http://www.midwayusa.com), find them on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/OfficialMidwayUSA), or follow them on Twitter (http://twitter.com/midwayusa).
Contact:
MidwayUSA Public Relations
pr@midwayusa.com
