Editing Billy Ceranski (section)

== Paintball industry career ==

=== Early business activities ===

Ceranski began working in paintball retail and field operations before moving into equipment distribution.

While playing for Aftershock in Chicago, he worked at [[Direct Connect]], a wholesale paintball equipment business.

Following the merger of Direct Connect and PMI, Ceranski joined the company's sales department full-time in 1997.

He was promoted to sales manager in 1998.[1]

=== KEE Action Sports ===

In 2006, PMI and [[National Paintball Supply]] merged to form KEE Action Sports.

Ceranski remained with the business, holding several senior management positions, including vice-president of international sales, vice-president of worldwide sales and vice-president of marketing.[1]

KEE operated a portfolio of established paintball equipment brands, including [[Empire Paintball]], [[JT USA]] and [[Spyder]].

=== GI Sportz ===

Following GI Sportz's acquisition of KEE Action Sports in 2015, Ceranski retained his position as vice-president of worldwide sales.

He was promoted to president of GI Sportz in 2019.[1]

=== Kore Outdoor ===

In 2020, GI Sportz underwent a financial restructuring that resulted in the sale of its operations to a newly established company, Kore Outdoor Inc.

The transaction was completed on 1 December 2020.

Ceranski, previously president of GI Sportz, was appointed chief executive officer of Kore Outdoor.[3]

The new business retained a portfolio of major paintball brands, including GI Sportz, Empire, [[Tippmann]], JT, Spyder and [[VForce]].

In December 2021, Kore Outdoor completed the acquisition of GI Sportz Europe Limited through its European subsidiary.[13]

In 2022, Kore Outdoor announced the completion of a further ownership transaction involving Ironbridge Equity Partners and members of the company's management team.

Ceranski continued serving as chief executive officer.[14]

As of 2026, Kore Outdoor's official management directory continued to identify Ceranski as CEO.[1]