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Two SOG Vets Join up with AKTI

March 1, 2022

One of last year’s biggest stories didn’t land until the end of December, when GSM Outdoors, the company that purchased Cold Steel in 2020, announced their acquisition of SOG Knives. The news elicited much speculation as to the future of both the Washington-based company and its personnel. We now know that two veterans who have worked closely with SOG, Matt Crawford and Jay Stilwell, have joined up with the American Knife & Tool Institute.

Crawford is PR specialist, and he worked with SOG for nearly ten years; Stilwell spent three years at SOG as their Marketing Manager. Both were on deck for the introduction of the XR Lock, SOG’s pivotal 2020 brand refresh, which saw sweeping changes move through the SOG lineup, and the retirement of company founder Spencer Frazer after thirty years at the helm.

Both Crawford and Stilwell are joining AKTI as Marketing Support Specialists, which means they’ll be handling publicity for the knife-centric non-profit, coordinating with the rest of the team to spread awareness of ATKI initiatives and increase membership. Jan Billeb, the Executive Director at AKTI, had this to say about the new recruits:

“Matt and Jay both played roles in assisting SOG to rebuild its brand over the last few years and we’re looking forward to them helping us raise AKTI’s profile and increase our communication,” said Jan Billeb, Executive Director of AKTI. “We are thrilled to have them with their deep knowledge of both the knife industry and marketing to deliver a solidified voice to all audiences that interact with our advocacy organization.”

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