It's a duty and obligation; the president and CEO of Remington is committed to building a great team, serving the industry and remaining ever vigilant - An Interview with Tommy Millner

Shooting Industry, Dec, 2003 by Russ Thurman

Tommy Millner once sold furniture for a living. Today, he is a major leader in the shooting sports industry and has transformed Remington Arms Co. into the top U.S. firearm manufacturer.

He holds strong beliefs in building strong teams, defending the industry against anti-gun forces and attracting new consumers.

In this exclusive interview, Millner shares his goals for Remington and challenges the industry to never lower its guard.

SI: How long have you been at Remington?

Millner: I've been with Remington for over nine years. I came to the company in the middle of 1994, shortly after Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a New York investment banking firm, bought Remington from DuPont.

SI: And, a few people didn't think you were going to last.

Millner: The industry typically grows its own talent and few, if any, outsiders have come in and actually stayed. So, I have probably been a surprise, both in and outside Remington. I have every plan of spending the rest of my career here.

SI: Where did you come from before taking the position as president and CEO of Remington?

Millner: I spent the bulk of my career in the furniture business, starting as a commissioned sales rep and working my way up through several companies. I then owned a furniture company, Pilliod, with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. We sold Pilliod in late 1993, early 1994, at the time we were buying Remington. I'm an entrepreneur. I like owning parts of the businesses I'm involved in and, my partners asked me if I wanted to be the president of Remington.

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My affinity for guns goes back to when I was 12 or 13 years old. My dad made me save my own money so I could make my first purchase, which was for a Remington 870 Wingmaster. So, to be able to run this company, to be an owner of this company for nearly 10 years, I pinch myself everyday that I come to work. I can't believe I get to do this for a living, especially, given my background.

I was born in Newport News, Va., and went to college outside of Richmond. I have a major in classical languages, Greek and Ancient Hebrew, and a minor in Philosophy. So how I wound up doing this for a living is beyond me. Life's paths takes us odd places.

SI: What type of shooting do you enjoy?

Millner: I'm a passionate bird hunter, whether it's waterfowl, turkey or upland game. I wish I got to hunt nearly as much as my neighbors and my relative think I do. But as you and your readers know, just because we're in this business doesn't mean we get to hunt as much as we would like to.

SI: As an owner of Remington, you have a strong position concerning how a company is run.

Millner: My partners and I have a core belief, one we've held for 25 years, that officers of a company like ours should be owners of the company. They should have their hard cash on the table. When anyone has a large part of their net worth tied up in their business, it personalizes the commitment to excellence and success because you have a lot to lose. So, I and all of our senior people, all of our officers, have had from day one a significant amount of personal net worth tied-up in money we have invested in the company.

SI: Earlier this year, Remington underwent a multi-million dollar recapitulation. What will that do for you?

Millner: The recapitalization is good for the industry and us. A couple of years ago at our SHOT Show press conference, I mentioned that Alliant Techsystems' (ATK) acquisition of Federal and all the former Blount companies was a very favorable development in the history of the industry. For an industry to be viable, it must attract new capitol. For new capitol to come into an industry and its companies, there has to be a sense that it is a safe place to get a good return on that capitol. It's capitalism at work.

In our recapitalization earlier this year, we were able to attract $30 million of new capitol from an investor group that had not previously invested in this industry. When they looked at the industry, much like ATK must have, they said, you know, pretty good business, pretty good place to get a return. For all the doomsayers in the industry, this should be a real wake-up call--outside investors look at this industry, for all of its challenges, as a great place to invest capitol.

Our new partners have enabled us to look at several new options. In the past three months, we have aggressively looked at about four different acquisitions. We're not interested in buying a golf club company or tennis racket business. We know who we are. We are a hunting company, a gun company and an ammo company, and all the possible acquisitions are complimentary. If we can pull them off, they will significantly escalate the size of our business.

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Recently, we have fine-tuned our organization to focus even more on growth. We have a team spearheading the growth of our licensed products and accessory businesses. We are looking to mine every possible niche for growth. The accessory category to us looks like a very fertile ground for growth. We don't care to get into the apparel business, but everything else you can think of that a hunter takes to the field or takes to a shooting club or an indoor pistol range is fertile ground, either to buy, license or make ourselves.