Former Escalade CEO passes away
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Evansville-based sporting goods and recreation equipment manufacturer Escalade Inc. announced this week that its former CEO and chairman, Robert Griffin, died late last month. He was 89.
A native of Illinois, Griffin earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1957 and an MBA from Northwestern University in 1960.
Two years later, Griffin and a group of investors–that included future Indiana Gov. Robert Orr–acquired Indian Archery and Toy Co. The company was rebranded as Escalade in 1973 after merging with The Williams Manufacturing Co.
Griffin was named CEO in 1976 and held the role until 1999.
“Without Bob Griffin none of us would be here today,” Escalade CEO Walt Glazer said in written remarks. “I cannot begin to recount the many contributions Bob made to our company, to our industry, and to our communities. He was a modern-day renaissance man: visionary, businessman, teacher, philanthropist, athlete.”
Escalade said the company grew from sales of $800,000 in 1962 to sales of $155 million in 2015, when Griffin retired as chairman of the board.
“We learned early on that the demand for sporting goods is very seasonal, and the popularity of certain items runs in cycles,” Griffin said in previous remarks. “There are ups and downs you can’t control, so we began broadening our product base to make sure that all of our eggs were not in one basket.”
Griffin became a major benefactor to both his alma mater, Notre Dame, and the University of Southern Indiana. His financial support helped fund the construction of the USI Griffin Center, as well as the Galvin Science & Engineering Scholars program at Notre Dame.
Griffin was inducted into the Evansville Business Hall of Fame in 2008.