NPAA 3rd Quarter Presidents Newsletter
Category: npaa
Oct 16th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Oct 16th, 2009 at 12:00 AM
We are three quarters of the way through one of the toughest years the US economy has ever seen and yet it seems like a lot more than 12 months ago since the proverbial wheels came off our economic world. This downturn has been devastating to many sectors of our economy including the marine industry which has been hit extremely hard. Other segments of the economy including the fishing tackle business have faired pretty well through this downturn because people have more time on their hands and many have used this time to get back out and enjoy the outdoors again. That fact alone will bode well for the big ticket categories of outdoor goods when the economy does start to recover but in the meantime its tough going for those companies whose product lineups are big ticket item heavy.
This year has proven very difficult for tournament anglers and tournament organizations as well. For the most part tournament participation is down, bringing with it lower payouts, but expenses remain high. Many anglers have been forced to drastically cut back on the number of events they fished, and some have been forced to stop participating in tournament events altogether. This downward trend will affect the number of tournament events and the field sizes of those events in 2010. Time will tell as to what long term effect this trend will have on the industry, but it is evident that there will be changes in the near term.
How has this downturn affected the NPAA? Well, to date the NPAA has 330 paid members, down from the 354 members the organization had on the books at the end of 2009. We have retained our 14 Supporting Partners and we have indications that those partners will continue their support into 2010. Attrition has taken nearly 60 members from our ranks this past 9 months, but we have added about 35 new members. All in all not bad, but we are falling well short of our 2010 member goal of 420 members. The net result is our top line budget is approximately 20% below our 2010 goal. We have reduced our operating costs where possible, but there was very little we could do in the way of cost reduction. The next 3 to 4 months will be critical for our organization’s future. Please do what you can as members to help bring in at least one new member prior to the end of 2009. New member recruitment will give the NPAA the funds we need to keep our organization strong, effective, and viable for years to come.
Looking to the future, it’s time to mark you calendars with the dates of the 2010 NPAA Annual Conference. 2010’s Conference will be held January 8-10th at the Holiday Inn Select in Minneapolis. This location has gone all out to give us a great room rate of $75 a night. This is the same location we held our Conference in 2008, but the hotel has been completely remodeled since then and it is truly one of the nicest hotels in the Minneapolis area. In close proximity to the Mall of America and a local water park, it is a great venue to allow you to bring the family to make this a winter weekend getaway. Watch your e-mail over the next 30 days for the formal invitation to the event that will include a tentative agenda. We plan to make the agenda for the event one that will give you time to network with fellow anglers, and spend time with your family so please plan to attend.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members who have become actively involved in the NPAA this year. Our youth events continue to grow in popularity primarily due to member support. Thanks goes out to those who have participated in those youth events and to the youth coordinators Johnnie Candle & Frank Pilney (MWC), Rich Zachowski (FLW), and John Schneider & Marianne Huskey (AIM). We are looking to grow our involvement in these youth events in the year to come. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Cody Roswick for his efforts on behalf of the NPAA. Cody has continued to help the wheels of this organization turn, despite the financial challenges we have faced, and we all owe Cody a great deal for his contributions to making this organization what it is today.
As always, if anyone has any questions or has input for any of the members of the NPAA Board of Directors, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time. The NPAA is your organization and the more involvement each of you has in it the better we will serve our members and the industry. Thank you for your support, and I look forward to seeing all of you in Minneapolis in January.
Looking Forward,
Patrick Neu
President NPAA