The New AKTI President is Kurt Ronacher of Boker.
Kurt Ronacher, President, Boker USA, has stepped up to lead the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI) as its tenth president. The nonprofit membership organization’s mission is to ensure that Americans will always be able to make, buy, sell, own, carry, and use knives and edged tools.
“I’m proud to serve the organization that is committed to the growth of our industry and to ensuring that our customers can freely use the knife of their choice,” said Kurt Ronacher. “I believe AKTI best represents those interests, and I’m pleased to work with our united team solving common industry issues. We have also successfully reduced and simplified knife laws and provided reliable knife law information.”
Kurt Ronacher has been President of Boker USA, Lakewood, Colorado, since 2016. Before that, he served as Boker’s General Manager. His previous work experience included National Sales Manager for Pentax and Ignite USA.
The nonprofit’s position of president is a two-year term following a two-year term as vice president. While serving as vice president, Kurt Ronacher oversaw AKTI’s finance committee and served on the membership committee. Boker, a member of the organization since 2001, accepted the invitation to serve on the Board of Regents in 2014.
The American Knife & Tool Institute is governed by a nine-member Board of Regents that includes a broad cross-section of the knife industry. Member companies include American Outdoor Brands, Benchmade Knife Company, Boker, Buck Knives, CRKT, Gerber, Ontario Knife Company, SOG Knives & Tools, and W.R. Case & Sons. Regular input to the Board from Advisory members also adds to the organization’s knowledge, credibility, and professionalism to represent a broad spectrum of issues for the knife community. All member companies pay their own expenses to attend meetings and support the organization with staff help and other contributions.