State of the State illustrates why company continues to grow in South Dakota
Jan. 17, 2024
This paid piece is sponsored by Silencer Central.
Silencer Central founder and CEO Brandon Maddox was, appropriately, out hunting when a team member let him know the business had been recognized in the South Dakota Capitol.
Gov. Kristi Noem mentioned Silencer Central in this year’s State of the State address as a business that illustrates the opportunities that exist in South Dakota for the firearms industry.
Maddox, she noted, “moved to South Dakota for a better life” and became among the state’s entrepreneurs who have “built thriving companies that employ South Dakotans and help our people exercise their Second Amendment rights.”
After relocating from Florida to be near his wife’s family, Maddox realized he’d be leaving a career in big pharma behind. As it turned out, South Dakota “was a great state for an entrepreneur, especially one in the firearms industry,” he said.
“They don’t automatically look down on you here. The culture was accepting of me. My first business activity was selling at a gun show in Sioux Falls, and they let me into the mix, and that really started it off.”
As the business itself has taken off, South Dakota has continued to be an exceptional place to grow. It’s centrally located – “we love the Sioux Falls airport and how it’s grown over the years” – and there are “much fewer regulatory headaches,” Maddox said.
Silencer Central now is licensed in 42 states – so he has the experience to compare.
“I have to deal with places where there are different tax codes within a county, within municipalities, and just in general you have so much red tape, and I don’t feel like that here.”
Quite the opposite: He feels supported.
“During the pandemic, when we were able to continue operating more or less as normal, it was huge,” Maddox said. “We were shipping silencers all over the country, and it became a major growth opportunity for us. And at the same time, we were able to hire so many people because it felt like a good business environment and people were willing to relocate.”
Noem even visited Silencer Central after it was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing businesses.
“For her to come here and buy a suppressor – she’s going to take it hunting this spring – was a really big deal,” Maddox said.
“She’s helped make South Dakota a cool place to live for conservatives. That’s had a huge impact. I was just at an event in Dallas, and I used to be self-conscious going to an event in Texas because most of the vendors are from Texas and it’s their biggest market. And now, I say, ‘I’m from South Dakota, and I know you know my governor.’ It’s a big deal, and people say it to us in Sturgis and everywhere we go.”
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is another selling point for being located in South Dakota, giving Silencer Central a huge annual opportunity to reach customers.
“Sturgis is big for us, and during the pandemic, it was the only event we could go to,” Maddox said. “One hundred percent of our revenue used to come from events, so it was significant in growing the business.”
Recently, Noem signed an executive order stipulating that the state won’t do business with any financial institution that discriminates against firearms companies.
“We’re fortunate our financial partner, First Dakota National Bank and Rocky Rehfeldt, is fantastic, but that’s not the case across the banking world,” Maddox said. “This was a big statement to make that our state will only do business with institutions willing to consider doing business with homegrown companies like ours.”
The biggest benefit to locating in South Dakota, though, is workforce, he said.
“For sure. It’s our ability to recruit people because we are located in South Dakota,” Maddox said. “We attract a lot of people who like the outdoors and want to work for a company that’s all about the outdoors, and that’s been huge. To get paid to come to work every day and do something related to a hobby you love is unique.”
Silencer Central asks its team, which includes about 130 people in Sioux Falls, about employee engagement, and nearly 100 percent say they like what they do every day.
“There’s always an opportunity to fix things and be a better employer, but to have that many people say they enjoy what they do is huge,” Maddox said.
“In South Dakota, people understand hunting, and they enjoy hunting. Because of that, they understand how what Silencer Central does can make hunting even better, and they support us. And once we introduce other people to South Dakota – like my own experience – they never want to leave.”
