by Al Kasper, CEO of Savage Arms for the last 10 years, will retire at the end of the year. He has been with Savage for more than 25 years. His original position with Savage was as Chief Financial Officer. He will remain on the Savage Arms board of directors.
Replacing him will be Chris Bezzina who will become the new President and CEO. Bezzina has been with Savage since 2007 primarily in engineering and operations. He led the engineering teams that developed such products as the AXIS rifle, the Accustock, and the A17 platform.
From the press release:
“Al’s impact is evident in every aspect of our company,” said Chris Bezzina, Savage’s new President and CEO. “His knowledge in operations, finance and product development helped fuel our growth as a company. As the new leader of this organization, I look forward to continuing the momentum Al helped create, driving Savage to be an industry leader in innovative technologies, and expanding upon our best-in-class manufacturing capabilities.”
“I’m excited for the future and want to thank the entire Savage team for their hard work and dedication over the years,” said Kasper. “I look forward to staying involved as a member of the board and watching as Chris and the team drive Savage to new heights with ideas generated by those leading this great organization.”
Savage was part of Vista Outdoor from 2013 until 2019 when they became an independent company again. Kasper led the management group that purchased Savage Arms from Vista Outdoor.
I have a number of Savage rifles, both old and new including an AXIS in .223, so I am happy to see what seems like a seamless change in leadership. Savage has always produced very good rifles but never seemed to get the attention that a Remington or a Winchester did which is a shame. I will be taking my rebarreled Savage 111 in .338-06 to Africa next year and I have no doubt it will perform flawlessly.
I’d love to see the 99 come back.
So would I. I just wonder if it could be made at an affordable price anymore.