Storm Products Inc. is an American company involved in the manufacture and sale of
bowling balls and
bowling-related accessories. The company headquarters and main manufacturing facility are in
Brigham City, Utah
Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 19,650 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, up from the 2010 figure of 17,899. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It l ...
. Storm has produced many bowling balls used in the sport by competitive players, and has numerous sponsorship agreements on both the
PBA and
PWBA Tours. Storm currently employs about 165 people (about 120 in Utah). The company manufactures about 500,000 balls a year, and ships to 70 countries.
Storm Products also owns the Roto Grip and 900 Global bowling ball brands.
History
Storm Products was founded by Bill and Barbara Chrisman in 1985. The company originated as High Score Products, a chemical company that developed bowling ball cleaners.
In 1991, with assistance from Bill's friend and fellow bowling enthusiast Keith Orton, the company began manufacturing high-performance bowling balls, creating a subsidiary called Storm. At the time, High Score Products was still the parent company, but by 1994, the company changed its name to Storm Products Inc.
In 1997, Storm acquired the Roto Grip brand of bowling balls. Storm has also acquired the Master brand of bowling accessories.
In 2000, Storm Products Inc. patented a process to add fragrances to bowling balls.
[
In 2014, Storm Products announced it had made an investment in Global Manufacturing LLC of ]San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
, makers of the 900 Global brand of bowling balls and 3G bowling shoes. However, Storm stated that 900 Global will operate as an independent company with separate research and design teams. Further, bowlers with Storm sponsorships on the PBA Tour could not use 900 Global equipment, and vice versa. In April 2020, 900 Global's manufacturing moved from Texas to Storm's Utah facility, due to executive orders by the Governor of Texas related to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The design, research, development and marketing teams remained in San Antonio.
On September 29, 2020, Storm fully acquired all assets of Global Manufacturing, adding 900 Global and 3G products to the Storm marketing portfolio. As a result, Storm and Roto Grip sponsored players on the PBA and PWBA tours can now use 900 Global equipment, and vice versa.[
In 2021, both Bill and Barbara Chrisman were inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame for meritorious service. It marked the first time ever that a husband and wife were inducted into this Hall of Fame in the same year. Bill had previously been inducted into the Utah State USBC Hall of Fame in 2005.
On September 28, 2023, Storm co-founder and CEO Bill Chrisman passed away at the age of 74.
In February, 2024, Bill and Barbara Chrisman were voted into the PBA Hall of Fame for meritorious service. They were officially inducted at a ceremony in ]Akron, Ohio
Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...
on April 27, 2024.
Notable Storm-sponsored bowlers
Bowlers sponsored by Storm brands as of June 30, 2023.
Storm
* Diandra Asbaty
* Josie Barnes
* Jason Belmonte
* Verity Crawley
* Norm Duke
* Tom Hess
* Leanne Hulsenberg
* Liz Johnson
*Kelly Kulick
Kelly Kulick (born March 16, 1977) is an American professional bowler, bowling coach and sportscaster. She has won ten professional women's bowling titles (six of them majors), one PBA Tour title (a major) and a professional mixed doubles tit ...
* Thomas Larsen
* François Lavoie
* Tim Mack
* Danielle McEwan
*Brad Miller
*Randy Pedersen
Randy Pedersen (born May 28, 1962) is an American sportscaster and former professional Bowler (ten-pin), bowler as a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He is currently a color analyst for Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports ...
* Mike Scroggins
* Kyle Sherman
* Jesper Svensson
* Darren Tang
* Kyle Troup
* Chris Via
* Pete Weber
* Diana Zavjalova
Roto Grip
*Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for having played the Fourth Doctor, fourth and longest-serving incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television ...
* Carolyn Dorin-Ballard
*Stefanie Johnson
* Wes Malott
* Kevin McCune
* BJ Moore
* Shannon O'Keefe
* Kristopher Prather
* Rocio Restrepo
* Jordan Richard
*Anthony Simonsen
Anthony Walter Simonsen (born January 6, 1997) is an American professional Ten-pin bowling, ten-pin bowler. He has been a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2014. Simonsen became known in bowling fan circles early in the ...
* Michael Tang
* Stuart Williams
900 Global
* Andrew Anderson
* Chris Barnes
*Ryan Barnes
* Mitch Hupé
* Daria Pająk
* Sean Rash
* Stephanie Zavala
References
{{Bowling
Ten-pin bowling equipment manufacturers