Julie Kimball named as principal marketing consultant to nation’s top team penning organization

(Wichita Falls, TX) – The United States Team Penning Association (USTPA), the largest not-for-profit sanctioning body for what is the fastest growing sport in the nation, has announced that it has secured the services of Latigo Associates, a marketing and promotional planning firm, to assist in the implementation of an aggressive new marketing plan for the 6,000-member organization. Julie Kimball, owner of the firm, has been named its principal marketing consultant.

“Julie has been working very closely with the USTPA in the past few months, assisting us in the design and structure of our new marketing focus,” said Ronnie Gebauer, USTPA President. “USTPA is going to be working very hard to bring more attention to the sport of team penning, not only for its own growth, but also for the benefit of the entire sport.”

Gebauer emphasized that team penning has a large base of support and participation, but is splintered among several smaller groups.

“USTPA has developed a plan that will position it as the true umbrella sport federation for team penning and one that aggressively addresses the needs of team penners in North America and internationally,” he said. “It is becoming abundantly clear that team penning must create a unified voice in order to attract the attention currently enjoyed by other major sports in this country, including those related to the horse industry. USTPA will be that voice.”

Kimball has a long and successful history in the horse industry, beginning with 10 years of service to the American Quarter Horse Association, where she was a field editor to The American Quarter Horse Journal and Director of Youth Activities. Following her stint with AQHA, she served as Director of Communications for the American Association of Equine Practitioners in Lexington, Kentucky until 1998, when she joined the American Paint Horse Association in Fort Worth, Texas, as its Director of Market Development. She founded Latigo Associates, based in Fort Worth, in 2001 and was recently honored with s silver medal in American Horse Publications competition for her work in corporate advertising.

“I am delighted to be working with a group that is so earnestly seeking ways to increase its presence in the horse industry,” she said. “This sport is filled with opportunity and potential for tremendous growth. I’m grateful to the leadership of USTPA for giving Latigo the opportunity to work with them.”

Kimball will be managing a number of project areas for the USTPA, including brand development, press releases, corporate partnerships and event promotion. For more information, please contact her at 817-367-6563 or by e-mail at julie@golatigo.com.

The purposes of the United States Team Penning Association are to encourage and promote the sport of team penning; to establish and maintain a national association of persons and groups engaged in team penning; to gather, prepare and disseminate information about team penning to members and prospective members of the association, to sponsors and prospective sponsors of events, to the media and to the general public; and to establish and encourage the use of uniform rules of competition at team penning events.

.