Phase 2 Grand Opening: Celebrating Our Vietnam Factory Growth and Expansion
On September 26, we opened Phase 2 of Strategic Sports Vietnam in Binh Phuoc. It was a day of meetings and celebration, shared with the friends and partners who helped us get here, including senior leaders from Revelyst and Decathlon.
We didn’t take the time to properly celebrate Phase 1. This time, we did it in grand style.
A Spark of Inspiration in 2016
Our Vietnam Factory grew from a dream into one of the world’s most capable sports equipment factories at lightning speed. However the story of this factory begins almost ten years ago. In November 2016, the COO of Fox Racing flew to Hong Kong with one question for us: what will Strategic Sports do in the upcoming trade war?
That question stayed with us. As the trade war took hold, the Fox Racing team encouraged us in 2019 to expand into Vietnam, and we chose to invest in that future. Phase 1 was completed in October 2023, and the first container of Fox helmets left the factory the following month. Work on Phase 2 began immediately, on October 2023.
"When we finished Phase 1, we were too busy getting that first container out the door to stop and celebrate," said Norman Cheng, Managing Director of Strategic Sports. "This time, we wanted to celebrate and thank everyone properly."
Honoring tradition
The day began at 9 am. Part of being a truly global organization that respects and prioritizes its people is respecting our many cultures. So, following Vietnamese tradition, the Strategic Sports leadership team paid respects to the local spirits. Just after the customary three bows, a gust of wind swept through the ceremony site and tipped over some of the offerings, as though the spirits had heard us.
Once the guests had gathered, the Lion and Dragon dance began. Drums boomed and echoed off the buildings. Nature took part in the celebration as the sky opened up to pay its respect with a torrent of rain, as if giving its approval.
Norman’s Speech
Click above for full speech on Youtube
Cheng welcomed the guests and thanked each of them for their part in the inspiration that led to this day. "Many of the people here asked us the hard questions and pushed us to look ahead," he said. "This factory is our answer, and we built it together."
[Click above to view the full Strategic Sports Vietnam Phase 2 video]
Then a video was shared, with Cheng recounted the story of how Strategic Sports Vietnam came to be, showing time lapse aerial photography of an empty field in the countryside as it transformed into an advanced production facility. Other key Strategic Sports staff joined and detailed the numerous challenges we faced and overcame along the way.
Words from our partners
But on this day, the most important words spoken were not our own, they were the heartfelt stories of our journey as told by some of our closest friends and partners.
Jeff McGuane, President of the Revelyst Adventure Sports Group, home to Fox Racing, Bell, Giro, and CamelBak, looked back on our partnership that started in 1998 with a single Bell helmet model made in one factory in Dongguan, China. Today, after years of tremendous growth together, Strategic Sports is Revelyst's number one helmet partner.
McGuane pointed to the Vietnam expansion as an example of what makes a great partner: "Anticipating the needs of your customer before they become obvious." His central message was simple. "We are one team," he said. "While our companies may have different names on the building, we share a common purpose and promise."
He also spoke directly to the people who build our helmets. "Every helmet that leaves this facility represents something important. It represents trust. It represents protection. And in many cases, it helps keep someone safe."
Fred Van Steirteghem, formerly Production Leader for Southeast Asia at Decathlon and now South East Asia Purchasing Leader & Vietnam Community Leader, spoke next. "Our partnership is not based on costing alone, or quality alone, or even shipping on time. It is based on our shared values of transparency, cooperation, and trust," Cheng said.
And of course, along with our key partners, this celebration was a chance to come together to honor and thank our own hard working global team for helping us come so far, so quickly.
The ceremony closed with a children's dance, a Strategic hallmark. It had poured through every speech. As the children danced, the rain stopped and the sun came out.
Planting a Future Together
Under the sunshine, we moved outside to plant a Yew Plum Pine. The tree is resistant to termites, and is considered to bring good fortune. Cheng, Van Steirteghem, McGuane and Sherry Tai, our Global Director of Sales, planted it together.
"The memories of today's ceremony will fade in time," Cheng said. "But the tree we planted will grow. Twenty or thirty years from now, people from our organizations can gather around it and remember this day."
That evening at dinner, Van Steirteghem serenaded the room with his rendition of "Hello Vietnam" and even coerced Tai to join him on the chorus.
Phase 2 gives us more room to grow and build a strong future for Strategic and our partners, but the day was really about the people who made it possible. "Ten years ago, a partner asked us a question," Norman said. "Today we stood in the rain and the sun with our partners and celebrated the answer we came up with, together. That is what one team looks like."
The work continues. Phase 3 is well underway.