BPI Outdoors: A ‘Georgia’s Own’ Company

Dakota Russell, the Vice President of Sales for Bergara, with a super Georgia buck he killed last season on a December hunt. “After getting the buck on camera, I hunted him five out of seven days in a row, only staying out if the wind was wrong,” Dakota said. “I was going in without a flashlight two hours before daylight. At first light on the seventh day, he came down a trail following a yearling doe.”

When you grow up with a passion for hunting and fishing, maybe, just maybe—if you’re lucky—you might end up working and earning a living in the outdoor industry.

A love for the outdoors puts its hooks in some of us, creating a desire to do it for a living. But to earn a paycheck in the outdoor industry, there has to be a job opening. Like most occupations where someone might combine a passion with a paycheck, there are usually more folks looking than positions that exist.

Quite a few with that passion go the route of becoming a game warden or biologist or some other agency occupation that puts them in the field more often than behind a desk.

I got lucky. My passion for the outdoors was deep, and Steve Burch started Georgia Outdoor News just as I was beginning a writing career more than 35 years ago.

By the way, GON is again looking for some young, entry-level writer-types who are addicted to the hunting and fishing lifestyle and who aren’t afraid of hard work—email us at [email protected].

I know some die-hard sportsmen who are part of a 75-person workforce right here in Lawrenceville, Georgia at one of the outdoor industry’s stalwarts. The company is BPI Outdoors, which is home to some of the most well-known and respected brands in the industry, including CVA and Bergara.

CVA and Bergara? Those rifles and muzzleloaders are manufactured in Lawrenceville?

That’s likely a common reaction. CVA is an acronym for Connecticut Valley Arms. Lawrenceville’s a long way from Connecticut. Bergara, meanwhile, has more than 300 years of history as a legendary barrel maker… in Spain. Again, a long way from Lawrenceville. For almost three years, Scot Fischer has led BPI Outdoors as the company’s CEO after a previous role at FN America, a leader in the development and manufacturing of high-quality firearms for military, law enforcement and commercial customers. Scot graduated from the West Point Military Academy.

Scot’s team at BPI includes those die-hard sportsmen we mentioned, like Dakota Russell, who grew up in the Lake Lanier area with a passion for the outdoors. Now Dakota is Vice President of Sales for Bergara. CVA’s Vice President of Sales is Jason Sebo. Dakota and Jason live and breathe the outdoors, and their passion is indicative of a thread that runs through the 1 million-square-foot Lawrenceville building that houses BPI Outdoors and its 75 employees.

Dakota began working at Hammond’s Fishing Center while in high school. When Candy Hammond started considering adding an archery shop, it was Dakota who went to school to learn how to be a bow tech, and he eventually helped build a top archery shop and helped to expand the hunting line at Hammond’s.

Dakota has known O’Neill Williams since he was 10, and when Dakota got older he even helped video for the O’Neill Outside television show. A primary sponsor for O’Neill’s TV and radio shows was CVA, and that led to Dakota meeting then-CEO Nate Treadaway. Meeting Nate led to Dakota’s first position at BPI—he started in the customer service department.

A passion for the outdoors is generational, and that’s certainly true for Jason Sebo. His father Joe Sebo was a well-known Hunter Safety Instruction and volunteer DNR Deputy Ranger. Joe once earned a Tom Miranda Whitetail Slam, and in his bio said, “Many years ago when I first got started in hunting I met an old-time hunter who told me, ‘You have a bad disease!’ I have the bug real bad and now have hunted all over the world. If I had to ‘catch something,’ this was a great disease!”

Jason Sebo knew he wanted a career in the outdoor industry, but the Georgia native didn’t realize CVA was based right here in his own backyard. Jason began his career at BPI Outdoors in the customer service department, and he is now Vice President of Sales for CVA.

Joe’s son Jason Sebo caught that same bug. After attending Berry College, he worked with Tom Miranda on his show “Dominant Bucks” and met most of the big-buck guys in the video and hunting industry. Jason wanted a career in the outdoor industry.

“I probably sent my resume to 30 companies,” Jason said. “I didn’t realize CVA was right here in our backyard.”

Jason’s first job was also in the customer service department. There’s a trend of promoting from within at BPI Outdoors.

I recently met Forrest Wilson, a new marketing manager at BPI. Forrest played baseball at Georgia College, and they didn’t have to recruit him too hard.

“My dad’s hunting property was on Sinclair. I set up my classes so I could hunt and fish,” Forrest said.

A college internship at BPI turned into a full-time job that includes documenting hunting and fishing trips and some amazing video work.

“I always wanted to work in the outdoors,” Forrest said.

Brian Farrell was on the cover of the December 2023 issue of GON with this 165-inch Warren County buck. Brian learned gunsmithing, which led to a job at BPI. Brian is now the Customer Service Manager.

Brian Farrell has been with BPI for 11 years and is now the customer service manager. Back when he was studying journalism at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Brian spent a day shadowing now-retired GON editor Brad Bailey at our old office between Madison and Eatonton. Brian worked as a civilian contractor gunsmith for the Army overseas. That gunsmithing skill ultimately led to a job with BPI. Brian was on the cover of the December 2023 issue of GON with a 165-inch bow buck he killed in Warren County.

They live and breathe it…

The origins of BPI Outdoors trace its roots back to CVA’s founding in the early 1970s. Black Powder Inc. then had an early primary focus on muzzleloaders and accessories for the traditional black powder hunting market. Over the next two decades, the company expanded its product lineup and acquired several legacy brands. By the late 1990s, Black Powder Inc. was positioned as a major player in the outdoor equipment space, prompting the name change to BPI Outdoors to reflect its diversified offerings. Its family of brands includes:

Bergara

“Barreled in Spain. Refined in Georgia.”  That’s a common tagline for Bergara rifles.

Bergara is a renowned barrel-maker from a region in Spain known to produce the finest guns in the world. Bergara has more than 300 years of gunsmithing heritage. The barrels are made in Spain and shipped to Georgia where Bergara rifles are manufactured.

Bergara Long Range Shooting Schools are immersive experiences where attendees learn to make up to 1,000-yard shots with a Bergara Wilderness HMR Carbon 6.5 Creedmoor.

These Bergara guns have a cult following among precision shooters and hunters for their match-grade accuracy straight out of the box. When I think of Bergara rifles, 1,000-yard shots and rugged mountain toughness comes to mind. And that impression is accurate. Bergara has long-range shooting schools in Montana and Wyoming called the Bergara Academy.

Bergara is also emerging in the rimfire market with Bergara Micro Rimfire (BMR) rifles, known for hunting and competitive shooting accuracy.

CVA

The CVA brand is well-known to GON readers, thanks to regular and ongoing CVA sponsorships of GON contests like Truck-Buck, the Youth Big-Buck Contest and Coyote Cull. Almost 25 years ago,  CVA sponsored several GON readers getting free muzzleloaders, who then got hands-on instruction on how to shoot and clean the guns from former CVA CEO Dudley McGarity. Then we all went on a hunt at Tuckahoe WMA. The series was featured in multiple issues of GON magazine and appeared on GON-TV—including the Tuckahoe WMA muzzleloader hunts. The episodes aired nationally on the Outdoor Channel and on dozens of local Georgia stations.

CVA’s muzzleloader line includes the long-range Paramount, the break-action Accura, the Crossfire with its Firestick technology for convenience-minded muzzleloader shooters, and the Optima and Wolf lines for hunters who want a quality CVA at lower price points.

CVA also manufactures centerfire rifles through a line of options in the Cascade family of bolt-action rifles, and the new CVA Scout single-shot guns that came in various rifle calibers and also a .410 shotgun.

DuraSight

Also under the BPI umbrella is DuraSight—which specializes in high-performance optics and accessories. DuraSight scopes, mounts and rangefinders boast cutting-edge technologies.

DuraSight Sighting Systems was created in 2005 by a group of gunsmiths who were frustrated with the number of accuracy complaints related to what seemed to be quality rifles. They figured out that it was not the rifle or scope that was causing accuracy problems, but rather the cheap aluminum mounts being used. They set out to find a material that performs like steel but can be manufactured at a more affordable cost.

Enter Z2 Alloy, which sets DuraSight apart.

PowerBelt Bullets

PowerBelt is the No. 1 muzzleloader bullet in America. The copper-based ELR (Extreme Long Range) rounds have extended ethical hunting range for muzzleloader shooters.

Specially designed for use with the CVA Paramount, the PowerBelt ELR can improve long-range performance in any .45 caliber muzzleloader.

Quake

Quake develops and manufactures Thermo injection molded plastic products, like its Bushwacker Optic Covers designed to fit both ends of your scope, as well as binoculars, small spotting scopes, flashlights and other field optics.

Also under the Quake brand is the Claw Sling System, which incorporates a non-slip pad into the sling, and Stocker gunstock ammo pouches.

• • •

With a family of top brands including Bergara and CVA, BPI Outdoors is far from a small player in the outdoor industry.

That BPI is one of ‘Georgia’s Own’ outdoor companies may come as a surprise to some sportsmen, but it is a fact that should be celebrated by all Georgians who love hunting, shooting, fishing and conservation.

The outdoor industry is well-represented in Georgia, and BPI Outdoors is key, providing jobs to so many who live and breathe hunting and the outdoors and who are fortunate enough to work in the industry.

Visit bpioutdoors.com for more information or to shop directly from BPI Outdoors and its family of brands —Bergara, CVA, DuraSight, PowerBelt and Quake.

BPI Outdoors takes up 1 million square feet of office and warehouse space near Lawrenceville—that’s the size of 17 football fields.

BPI Outdoors: A ‘Georgia’s Own’ Company