The National Archery Buyers Association was formed in the office of Broken Arrow Archery Inc. with the help of Jerry Morrison and Scott Eastman, former PSE sales representatives. We had attended a meeting in Eastern Oregon with the Central Oregon Buying Group that was going under. We ask for, and received, their treasury balance of $225.
We brought in other dealers to form a regional board of directors. They included: Norm and Tom Geertsen from Broken Arrow Archery, located in Milwaukie, Oregon, John Schauble from All seasons Archery in Boise, Idaho, John Nelson from Little Johns Archery in Roseville, California and Wayne Piersol from Archery Only in Newark, California.
This all took place in 1995. Our first buying show was held in 1996 in Boise, Idaho at the Thunderbird Motel with approximately five to eight 3 by 8 foot long tables showing merchandise. We found that venue to be prohibitively expensive and moved the show to Reno, Nevada the following year, and have since relocated to Las Vegas, NV.
We have experienced roughly 10 percent growth every year, reaching our current membership of 380.
In 1999 we incorporated in the state of Nevada and have remained a Nevada corporation ever since.
In 2003, we were approached by the ATA to join with them on the floor of their trade show in order to increase the dealer presence there and we agreed to do so. This decision has helped our membership grow, especially in the Eastern United States, and has been very well received by the ATA and its vendors at their show each year.
In 2005, we filed for and received, from the IRS, approval to become a 501-c-6 Non-Profit Corporation.
In the beginning we grand-fathered in some dealers from the old Central Oregon Buying Group and at the same time had requirements for new dealers that were fairly forgiving—”one year in business and $75,000 in gross sales.” Since then, we have increased the requirements for membership and that has strengthened the buying group by enhancing the quality of businesses qualifying. One indicator of this is that the number of non-paying dealers who fall behind in payments to vendors has dropped off considerably.
The future of NABA is bright. Its strength will come from more dealers attending the Western Show and placing more orders each year. The vendors and dealers are there to serve each other and the show represents a great opportunity for both parties to flourish.
Our mission as a board of directors is to bring the dealers and vendors together in an atmosphere that enables our dealer members to plan, program and fulfill their yearly inventory needs. Utilizing the strength of our organized buying group, dealers can receive the competitive pricing they need to be successful in business. I know that we can meet that challenge.
