Additions read like a Who’s Who of recreational fishing leaders.

Forestville, WI (March 20, 2023) – The Future Angler Foundation (FAF) is proud to announce the addition of three high-powered sportfishing industry professionals to its board of directors. Effective immediately, Jesse Simpkins, Chris Horton and Jim Schiefelbein will join current board members Sam Calabro, Kevin VanDam and Dr. Thom Dammrich, along with FAF president Patrick Neu, in setting the course for the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization’s path forward.

“The recent addition of these three new FAF board members gives us a management team with vast industry experience and a passion for the sport needed to guide the foundation in the coming years,” says Neu. “We’ve accomplished amazing results in our drive to recruit, retain and reactivate recreational anglers over the past 11 years, and I look forward to working with this current board to accomplish even more in the near future.”

Jesse Simpkins

The new additions read like a “Who’s Who?” of recreational fishing industry leaders and should do a terrific job of strengthening FAF’s already stellar leadership team. Simpkins has over 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the recreational fishing industry. He is a consummate sportfishing industry professional, a past board chairman for the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), and the current director of marketing at St. Croix Rods in Park Falls, WI. Horton serves as senior director of Midwestern States/Fisheries Policy for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, and previously served as the conservation director for B.A.S.S., one of the largest angling organizations in the world. Schiefelbein, meanwhile, brings over 30 years’ experience as a successful entrepreneur and marketing expert who has formed and sold numerous companies, including two in the outdoors industry. He has also held other board positions in the outdoors industry.

Chris Horton

Neu also expressed his sincere gratitude to three departing board members who served on the FAF board of directors since its inception. “Thank you Robert Blosser, Phil Moy and Nick Schmal, original board members all, for the time and dedication you have given to the FAF. Without your support and guidance our foundation would not have achieved all that it has in our first 11 years of existence.”

The future is looking bright for FAF, believes Neu, but he adds that continued support from the general public, including other foundation’s, the industry, and the government agencies FAF has partnered with such as the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Coast Guard, will be vital for the organization to work toward its mission of “Creating New Anglers and Boaters.”

If you’d like to get involved in that mission, reach out to Neu at: [email protected].

To donate to the Future Angler Foundation, visit https://futureangler.org/.

And remember, “It’s All About the Sport!”