By Aaron Checkwood

February 29, 2000

Fishpaw Announces Ownership Changes

Company looks to diversify line and add more quality.

Fishpaw President Joey Boisineau announced that he recently bought out his partner Keith Legum for an undisclosed amount of money. Started in 1992 by Boiseneau and Legum, the Bend, Oregon company was known as a tight team and the move surprised many. Boiseneau insists it was an amicable parting.

Legum wants to do other things, says Boiseneau, such as building his own house–something he’s currently working on.

As a a result, Boiseneau has some changes planned for the company. "I look at the whole buyout as restructuring how we’ve done business in the past, how we manufacture, how it’s sold. It will be revamped and updated to make it better for everybody."

With Legum gone, Miki Keller, a former marketing employee from Morrow, Sims, and Vision, has been brought in for Fishpaw sales and marketing.

"It’s been really good working with Miki," says Boiseneau, who now wants to focus on managing production. The addition of Keller means the company is handling sales more professionally than before, he says.

As for the Fishpaw line, Boiseneau says he’s been getting a lot of crossover use from the motocross and snowmobile markets. As a result, he’s changing the whole line (mittens, gloves, and outerwear) to include all three interests.

Even though there’s less room in the marketplace, he knows the product still has a demand due to the calls he receives.

For quality, Boiseneau says about 80 percent of the glove manufacturing will be handled by Gates-Mills, Inc.–a move he says has greatly improved the line: "It’s been awesome to benefit from their quality."

The addition of Gates-Mills frees up time for him pattern-wise–a previously time-consuming job with past manufacturing. Boiseneau will now also be able to focus on R&D and team riders. "If team riders want something changed, it’s not a big hassle."