Head USA's president is a 'hands-on CEO'

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As new president of Head USA, Kevin Kempin was thrilled to see a photo of company-sponsored skier Lindsey Vonn atop Monday's Salt Lake Tribune sports page.

Not just because she bounced back from an arm injury to win a third World Cup race in three days, but also because the Head brand name on her ski was displayed prominently as Vonn waved to a crowd afterward.

To Kempin, a Salt Lake County resident who regularly commutes to various company offices, the photo is symbolic of Head's successful re-emergence as a skiing power, just as it was in the mid-1950s when Howard Head's company sold more laminated metal skis in the United States and Europe than any other company.

"We got away from the things that made Head skis successful and are resurrecting them," said Kempin, 50, a former Utah collegiate tennis player and coach who rose to the top of the company's American operations through its racquet sports division.

"My goal is to make skiing or tennis easier sports for recreational athletes to play and enjoy," he told The Tribune on Monday. "Whether you're a 'C'-level player or a guy just coming off the tour, you want your equipment to better your performance. We're reconnecting our athletes and the passion we have to our equipment."

With next month's Vancouver Olympics approaching and Head having high hopes for strong performances by Vonn and skier Bode Miller, Kempin said, "We have a chance to make a comeback on the ski side."

"We're not where we want to be yet," he added, citing a goal of elevating Head from its current status as the No. 4-to-No. 6 U.S. ski company.

Head USA already is No. 2 in racquet sports behind Wilson, with U.S. sales of almost $80 million.

It's a side of the business Kempin knows well. A Chicago native, he moved to Utah with his parents for his senior year in high school and promptly won the state's No. 1 singles tennis title for Jordan High School in 1976.

Kempin went on to play four years at Weber State before joining the professional ATP tour, where "I made enough in tournaments to see Europe and spend nine months there."

After that, he taught the University of Utah women's tennis team for three years before taking over the men's team from legendary coach Harry James.

But coaching was "never the end game" for Kempin, who was steered toward a job with Rossignol when the French ski company was moving into tennis in the mid-'80s. After a short stint there, he moved to then industry-leading Prince Manufacturing, where he rose to run the company's U.S. operations.

A change of corporate ownership persuaded Kempin to move in 1993 to Head's racquet division. He played a key role in that company's 1999 acquisition of Penn, merging its ball-making business with Head's strengths -- making racquets, strings and footwear.

"It's been a great fit," said Kempin, noting Penn had a 50 percent share of the U.S. tennis ball market and a 70 percent share in racquet balls. "It made a ton of sense for our sales reps, our sponsored athletes and our teaching pros."

With his background, Kempin was a good fit for the company's prospects of improving its products.

"I can talk to our research and development staff as much as I can talk to [racquet tester] Andre Agassi and our teaching pros. I'll go out and hit with them. It's fun being a hands-on CEO."

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