Boulder, CO – Effective immediately, Craig Heisner has been appointed President of Newton Running. He will be responsible for overseeing the marketing, branding and sales for all current product lines. The sales and marketing departments at the brand will come under his management. He will report directly to Cofounder and CEO Jerry Lee.

Heisner comes to the position with over two decades of marketing and sales experience for leading athletic footwear and apparel brands such as New Balance, Reebok and Brooks Sports. Most recently he was Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Product Merchandising at Li-Ning and led the Chinese company’s introduction into the U.S. market.

Fresno, CA – The non-profit trade association American Pistachio Growers now has professional snowboarder Jeremy Jones on its athlete ambassador team. The APG’s ambassador team includes the U.S.A. Men’s and Women’s Water Polo teams and Miss California.

Boulder, CO – Spyder Active Sports, Inc. has renewed its three-year deal with professional skier and ski mountaineer Chris Davenport and has also signed a three-year deal with skier and model Sierra Quitiquit as part of its athlete team.

Davenport has endorsed Spyder since 2010, while Quitiquit has been recognized as a global fashion model and leads an ad campaign for American Eagle Outfitters.

Racine, WI – Key executive appointments have been made within Johnson Outdoors Gear (JOG) and Watercraft divisions to expand its presence with specialty retail. Paul Johnson has been with Johnson Outdoors for twelve years and is the new senior director of sales, JOG and Watercraft. Chris Lussier moves into the position of senior regional/international sales manager for JOG/Jetboil. Gregg Gunderman is now the Eastern regional sales manager for Watercraft, and Jeff Cunningham the Western regional sales manager for Watercraft and JOG/Jetboil key accounts.

Industry veteran, Bob Rief—formerly the COO of Boardworks, the SUP brand—returns from retirement to take the reigns as CEO of OTZshoes. In his retirement, Rief missed the pace of business and was drawn to the creative accomplishments of OTZshoes product designer, Ludavic Malmoux, whose expertise includes helping launch Salomon's running shoe category.

The OTZshoes brand owes its roots to a 3,300 year-old naturally preserved mummy, commonly referred to as Otzi, that was discovered on a glacier in the Tyolean Alps. The man's footwear survived, and fashion designer Ludavic Malmoux was inspired by what he thought was an amazingly functional piece of gear. He combined the 3,300 year-old footwear concept with a modern, cork foot bed tech story, and OTZshoes was bron.

Since its inception in 2009, OTZshoes' retail base spans across the outdoor, comfort and boutique channels, representing over 500 US doors.

Boulder, CO – REI Chief Executive Officer Sally Jewell has been nominated by President Obama to become the next Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary of the Interior is tasked with the protection and preservation of America’s natural resources, cultural and tribal communities, and the people who depend on having access to places in the outdoors.

Boulder, CO – Spyder Active Sports has promoted Russ Rowan to Senior VP of Marketing and Sales and J.J. Collier to Senior VP of Product and Design. Both report directly to CEO Tom McGann.

Rowan comes into his new position having previously worked for Helly Hansen, Burton and O’Neill. Collier comes into his new position having held positions as Senior Designer for Salomon and Design Director for Polo Ralph Lauren RLX.

Haverhill, MA – Swix Sports has partnered with Whistler, British Columbia based backcountry professional skier Eric Hjorleifson to work on its new Swix Sonic adjustable pole collection.

Hjorleifson has worked with several leading winter brands and will lend his professional expertise to the product development process. The Swix Sonic adjustable pole collection will be available for the 2013/2014 season.