October, 2005-Vista, CA- Haro’s Joe Hawk has been appointed by the Board of Directors as Chief Operating Officer to take the reins of the 27-year-old company and lead it into the next chapter of its existence.
Hawk, who has most recently served as Haro’s Vice President of Sales for the past twelve years, plans to not only build upon the success from past, but to also work on “fine-tuningâ€? the organization. “The folks at Haro are extremely talented and nothing needs to be reinvented,â€? says Hawk. “Instead, some fine tuning will take place and with the exception of a few key enhancements, the same great people that brought success to the company in the past are the same ones that will continue to bring them in the future. My job is made much easier with the resources available to meâ€?. Faced with the challenge of taking on a new leadership role amidst challenging times, Hawk remains optimistic. “The BMX and Freestyle portion of the market which accounts for the majority of our revenue has been particularly challenging over the past 3 to 4 years and Haro has been fortunate to have grown its market share even during these tough times,â€? says Hawk. “I am extremely excited about the opportunity to lead this company out of those tough times as the market improves and to build upon the successes we’ve enjoyed over the years. I’m especially excited about our new Virtual Link mountain bike suspension technology and the benefits that the models using this technology will add to both our sales at wholesale and dealer levelâ€?.
Before joining Haro in 1993, Hawk worked for Raleigh for a total of twelve years, holding a variety of titles including Director of Sales, National Sales Manager, and Director of Marketing.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.