Damn good move Weatherby - and congrats to Wyoming!



The SHOT Show season isn’t just about new guns and grand new designs, it’s also about company plans and their futures. This 2018 at SHOT Weatherby, Inc. announced that their time in California has come to an end. Weatherby is moving to Wyoming.

Weatherby is bringing 70 to 90 jobs with them. That may not seem like a lot to California but it should add over $5 million in payrolls to the Cowboy State in the next five years alone.

“We wanted a place where we could retain a great workforce, and where our employees could live an outdoor lifestyle,” said Adam Weatherby, chief executive officer. “We wanted to move to a state where we can grow into our brand. Wyoming means new opportunities. We are not interested in maintaining; we are growing.”

“So, to bring those two things together–an internationally-known manufacturer of outdoor equipment headquartered in Wyoming–it will pay dividends, not only to Sheridan and northeast Wyoming, but this is a project of which the entire state should be proud,” Reese said.

Wyoming’s governor Matt Mead personally helped convince Weatherby to relocate. Wyoming has a much stronger gun culture, friendlier tax structure, and technically skilled workforce.

“From the get go, when we met the governor, he said, ‘Here’s my number, shoot me a text any time,’” Weatherby said. “He responds to our needs quickly, and it shows a business like ours is important to Wyoming and that it’s a big deal here.”

“Wyoming is a great place to do business and is excited to welcome Weatherby to Sheridan,” Mead said. “For over 70 years, Weatherby has been an innovator in firearms design and manufacturing. I thank the Wyoming Business Council, the Sheridan Economic and Education Development Authority and all who helped bring Weatherby, Inc. to Wyoming.”

See Also: Colorado’s Loss is Wyoming’s Gain as Magpul Rakes in the Moolah
Weatherby expects to invest about $2 million in infrastructure in the northern city of Sheridan. Sheridan is just south of the Montana border and home to Sheridan College. The college is expanding their machine and tool programs which will provide help Weatherby with a steady workforce.

Hunting for game and for sport is popular in the Rocky Mountain region. Gun ownership for its own sake even more so.

Weatherby isn’t the only company to relocate manufacturing to Wyoming in recent years. Hi-Vis and notably Magpul both moved to the state after Colorado recently enacted unpopular new gun control laws.

Similarly, some of the reason Weatherby decided to leave California is to give the company a different future.

“Our product is the main tool hunters use out in field. They may spend a lifetime trying to draw a tag or save for the hunt of their dreams, and we keep that foremost in our minds when we are building our guns,” Weatherby said. “This is an aspiration product; these are guns that are passed down from generation to generation.”



https://www.gunsamerica.com/bl...ornia-moves-wyoming/

Good stuff,I like their guns and have given the two I had a friend and one to my new grand daughter.
She will grow into it in 18 years.

Folks who have never been to Wyoming might be surprised to learn they have a thriving economy, wonderful towns (complete with artsty-fartsy kind of stuff) and lots of open land. It's not all scrub and desert and some would have you believe.

Weatherby is kicking in $2M, the state $14+M to get them there.
Still a good deal.

As long as business leavs CA, its a good deal. Congrats to Weatherby and Wyoming!

And to top it off, it sounds like at least some of their Wyoming work force will be local hires, not transplanted Californians. Way to go, Weatherby!

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
As long as business leavs CA, its a good deal. Congrats to Weatherby and Wyoming!

And, in response to all the businesses leaving Cali, they will likely RAISE taxes in an attempt to get the lost tax income back. . .

anything that anyone can do to deprive California of commerce is a great thing

congrats to Weatherby for making the escape - Moonbeam Brown and Kamaltoe Harris must be having an aneurysm trying to figure out what just happened



love it - the feel good story of the morning

The local paper figured that Weatherby’s move impacts about 3600 local jobs. It is not only the folks working for Weatherby, but also their suppliers and other related businesses. It may be no big deal for the state of California, but the City of Paso Robles sure noticed...

Good for Weatherby and the great state of Wyoming. Sucks for California, but hey, they made that bed.

I'd love to see the entire gun industry bail on CT, MA, and NY, and move somewhere gun friendly.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
I'd love to see the entire gun industry bail on CT, MA, and NY, and move somewhere gun friendly.

Amen. Vote with your checkbook.

That's unfortunate but, understandable. Paso Robles for a long time was a fairly centrist if not right leaning town, their annual rodeo was one of the big ones in the state and the county is host to three major Army reserve/NG bases that a lot of SOF units utilize. The last couple of elections have turned the county more purple verging on blue as the GOP has virtually disappeared from the state.

Weatherby only a three hour drive from me............may have to look at their products now.

PC

My son has a Weatherby rifle and shotgun, both very fine guns. Glad they are making the move to better the company and great for Wyoming. Sad for the people of CA, but they brought this on themselves.
Rod

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
Folks who have never been to Wyoming might be surprised to learn they have a thriving economy, wonderful towns (complete with artsty-fartsy kind of stuff) and lots of open land. It's not all scrub and desert and some would have you believe.

No, really, it IS all scrub and desert. Don’t forget wind, lots of wind.

I thought they were just an importer brand. 3600 jobs must mean I was wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
I thought they were just an importer brand. 3600 jobs must mean I was wrong.

Well, this was the local fish wrap, quoting an executive of the local economic development non-profit. And he did say impacted 3600 jobs, not cost 3600 jobs.

My first Weatherby was a 300 I bought at a gun shop, Ron's Gun Shop, in Wyoming Borough, PA in 1972. I wonder if Ron's is still there. I bought a lot of stuff from him the one year I was working in the area. Very nice guy and always had something of my interest like the Colt Sheffield knives.

My next one was a 240 Weatherby barreled action I bought at Fowler's Gunshop in CA in 1974.

I always wanted one of their Over/Under shotguns in 20 gauge.

The highlight was going into their old shop in LA in the mid 70's where you could buy once fired brass for $2 a box which was a lot of money at the time. I am sorry I didn't buy a box of each of their calibers. They had their test range in the basement and the once fired brass was from testing their rifles.

You had to drive through a bad area to get to their shop and I once ran a stop light when several bad dudes started to approach my vehicle.

There were others in the area at that time like Sierra where you could buy bullets by the pound. They would run the bullet machines with new dies and sell the test run bullets as scrap.

Now all those shops have left and I read that 5M people have left CA in the last decade. Even Brownell was there IIRC since one of my older friends knew Frank when we made a visit.

I wonder how much lower the annual sales could be being based in Wyoming and still match the profits made when they were in Cali.