Charlie Willis, center, holds the coveted “Top Hand Award” presented to him at a recent ceremony in Denver, Colo. Willis is flanked by his wife and business partner, Nancy, and Gene House, president of WESA. (Photo courtesy of WESA)
WASILLA, AK (February 8, 2012)—Wasilla businessman Charlie Willis has received the Western & English Sales Assn. (WESA) 2012 Top Hand Award for Industry Excellence, the equestrian and Western industries’ top award for service and contributions. The Top Hand Award recognizes individuals in the Western and equestrian industry for “outstanding contributions” that have enhanced the strength of their communities and the equestrian industry as a whole, according to Toni High, executive director of WESA.
Willis has owned and operated CW Tack & Western Wear with this wife, Nancy, in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley for 28 years. The 1,400-square-foot-store is located at 991 S. Hermon Road in Wasilla “Charlie does wonderful work promoting the industry in Alaska,” High commented. Besides selling riding gear and equipment, and Western apparel in Wasilla, Willis hauls a 24-foot trailer full of apparel and equipment to equestrian events and rodeos throughout Alaska. The Willises have dubbed their business “Alaska’s Cowboy Store.” In addition, Charlie and Nancy produce the rodeo at the Alaska State Fair, frequently with the help of their adult children, Garrett and Callie. The fair is held in late August through Labor Day every year in Palmer.
“I am surprised and humbled at receiving this award,” Willis says. “We were chosen from among hundreds and hundreds of people. It makes us feel even more humble to be chosen over so many very worthy people and businesses.” Willis takes pains to make it understood that even though the award has his name on it, Nancy’s name deserves to be there, too. “When we think of CW Tack, it’s both of us,” he says. “When we go to functions, it’s both of us.”
Willis became involved with horses and rodeos as a youth in California. He moved to Alaska in 1974 to work in the oil fields, where he met Nancy. They married and bought property in the Mat-Su Valley to start a family and run horses. The Willises helped launch Alaska’s first rodeo in the ‘70s, and started selling dairy and riding supplies and equipment from a converted barn and the back of a truck in 1984. By the late ‘80s, they introduced Western apparel into the product mix and moved the business twice before settling in their current location. He and Nancy took over the Alaska State Fair Rodeo in 2005; during the fair, they shut down the Wasilla store and set up shop at the fairgrounds for 12 days. The Willises also actively support and honor men and women in the armed forces, especially wounded veterans.
The Top Hand Award is the highest honor available in the equestrian and Western industries by the oldest and largest professional group in these industries, WESA. The award has been given every January since 1994 at WESA’s trade-only market in Denver, Colo. The WESA trade show attracts over 800 exhibitors and as many as 6,000 retailers from around the world every January. Membership in the 90-year-old non-profit organization is put at 1,100-1,200 sales reps, company principals and distributors.
For more information, contact Charlie or Nancy Willis at 907-376-2668 or cnw@mtaonline.net.