The Board of Directors of the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) is pleased to announce the appointment of Kenyon Gleason as its new President, succeeding Maurice (Moe) Desmarais who is retiring at the end of January.

Gleason is currently Vice President of Development and Field Operations for the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). ARTBA represents more than 6,000 public and private sector members of the U.S. transportation design and construction industry in the Nation's Capital.

At ARTBA he is involved in membership development, service and outreach, fundraising and grassroots political action activities. He also serves as the managing director of ARTBA's Planning and Design Division and Transportation Officials Division, comprised of government officials from around the country. Additionally, he is chapter liaison for six of ARTBA's state affiliates and serves as executive director of ARTBA's Young Executive Development Program.

"We are delighted to have Kenyon join NASGW," said Peter Brownell, NASGW's Chairman of the Board. "His extensive background in association management and government relations makes him an ideal candidate to succeed the very successful career of our current President Moe Desmarais."

Gleason joined ARTBA in 2008 as the Midwest field director and was the association's national field director from 2009-2012. Before coming to ARTBA, Gleason held communications and public relations positions for a leading hospital provider in South Dakota, the University of South Dakota and a leading ethanol fuels company. In addition, Gleason is a former public official, elected to an at-large four-year seat on the Sioux Falls (S.D.) City Council from 2000-2004. Gleason has been active in statewide South Dakota politics, working to build coalition efforts with statewide gun rights advocacy groups, among others, for the GOP Victory Office during the 2002 U.S. House and Senate races.

He is an award-winning journalist and has worked in television, radio and print newsrooms across the upper Midwest. Gleason has over 20 years of media, communications, government relations and political experience.

A North Dakota native, he is a graduate of St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and holds a bachelor's degree in communications. Gleason and his wife Stacey have five sons. His hobbies include recreational shooting, hunting pheasants, and rifle and archery whitetail deer hunting in the Dakotas, with his boys. He and his family also enjoy camping, kayaking, fishing and numerous sports and music events that his sons are involved in. He is a long-time member of the NRA and a supporter of his local sportsmen's club.

For additional information, contact:
Ryan Foster, NASGW
(630) 696-4000, ext. 8793
Email: rfoster@nasgw.org