Setting sights on a state-of-the-art dream

Entering the store feels like entering an intimate Cabela's or Bass Pro Shop. The parking lot is spacious, the sales floor has high ceilings, the merchandise is meticulously displayed and there are military showpieces throughout that look like they belong in a museum.

Welcome to Parro’s Gun Shop, a 20,000-square-foot facility in Waterbury completed in 2021 where patrons come from hundreds of miles away.

“For 20 years I dreamed of having an indoor shooting range. At the time I was looking to expand and thought about building an addition at my previous store, but I knew if I wanted it done right, I was going to have to build a new facility, top to bottom,” said Henry Parro, founder and owner of Parro’s Gun Shop.

In 2016 five acres of commercial real estate became available about two hundred yards from the previous location, so he jumped at the opportunity and purchased the land. To build his new facility, Parro worked with Community National Bank and Granite State Development Corporation to secure a Small Business Administration 504 loan. The 504 Loan Program provides long-term, fixed rate financing of up to $5 million for the purchase or improvement of land, buildings and major equipment.

Besides building a firing range, this was an opportunity for Parro set up the shop the way he always wanted.

“I didn’t want to be a stereotypical gun shop. I wanted this to be a destination,” said Parro. “One thing I really wanted was something different. Parro traveled the US looking for that “different.” In Best Buy he noticed all the cell phones were on tethers, by brand. You can walk up and pick up a phone and compare it to the one next to it. I thought, why can’t I do that with handguns? So that is exactly what I did,” said Parro.

The new store has hundreds of firearms on display tethered so patrons can pick them up and get a feel for them. It also has a classroom for various firearm safety and training workshops. But the crown jewel is the 10 lane, 25-yard indoor shooting range. The state-of-the-art range is the first of its kind in Vermont open to the public, and allows shooters to practice in a safe, controlled environment year-round.

When Parro first started out in 1983 it was a much simpler operation. All he had was a card table and three handguns to sell.

“I never thought I’d be here today. I Always wanted to grow. It’s a dream every small business has and wants, but I didn’t think I’d end up here. I grew my business by selling three guns and then I’d buy four. I’d sell those four and turn around and buy five,” said Parro.

Back then selling firearms was mostly a hobby. Parro was a newly appointed police officer in Waterbury and had recently left the service after being a Vermont National Guardsman for seven years.

“In high school I realized I had to do something with my life and decided to enlist in the Army. A recruiter convinced me and several friends to enlist in the Vermont National Guard. Several months later I was on a plane heading to Fort Knox. It was the service where I became goal-oriented and decided to make something of myself,” said Parro.

That first year Parro’s Gun Shop made about $10,000. It grew slowly but steadily in the first few years, but the store really started to take off when Parro became an authorized Glock Law Enforcement dealer. With his police background he started contacting police departments he had relationships with to try to convince them to convert their service revolvers to a more modern firearm, like the Glock.

“At first, they weren’t that receptive. When I tell people it was lightweight because a Glock has a polymer frame, many would say ‘the last time I bought a plastic gun, I was six years old.’ But at the time all the three-letter agencies were converting to Glock and that helped with the sell,” said Parro.

Glock became so popular with local police departments Parro’s sales started overflowing into other states. Word of mouth spread throughout the area, and he soon was selling throughout New England and New York. Parro’s now has two full-time employees selling Glocks to police agencies.

Today the gun shop is a multimillion-dollar enterprise with 27 employes, 60 percent of which are either Veterans, former law enforcement or both. It’s also the 40th year of business. Ruger is currently making a commemorative rifle for Parro’s 40th anniversary. Parro feels now that his business is right where he wants it, so he’d like to slow down and have his son take over the business.

It’s like a supergroup of advocates.

Brian Hsiang has an experiential education background, Ita Meno-Baker was a housing inspector, Dr. Sherwood Smith was part of the diversity, engagement, and professional development unit at UVM, and Kathy Johnson was working to break down equity barriers in schools. Paul Yoon joined the group in 2014 while he was a school-based administrator. 

Together, they are all now equal partners in CQ Strategies, a partnership registered as an LLC. CQ Strategies helps organizations become more culturally proficient and equity literate through education, resources, and on-going support. However, 13 years ago, when they first started meeting, they were just a book club centered around issues of equity brought together by Tracey Tsugawa and Dr. Daniello Balón, 2 of CQ’s other founding members. From this unassuming book club the foundation for CQ Strategies was laid.

In 2010, the City of Burlington’s Community & Economic Development Office (CEDO) was looking for help to design a curriculum, facilitate workshops, and provide coaching and support to increase equity in the city. CEDO asked several members of the book club to partner with the city on an AmeriCorps project - and that is how it all started.

Since 2010, CQ Strategies has worked with more than 250 organizations across New England, New York, and Virginia, trained more than 7,500 people, and facilitated more than 500 workshops. Workshops address topics such as race, gender, class, sexual orientation, age, ability, and the interrelated dynamics of power and intersectionality.

CQ has never paid to advertise services. Their work has been advertised by word of mouth, and word continues to get out about their individualized, high-quality services.

CQ selects clients with great care as they will not work with just any organization. “At our best, there is cultural change in the organizations we work with. We don’t want this work to be an add on. We want equity to be part of who they are. That is when we have real success. We don’t want the company to say we have checked that box for training or it’s just that time of year again to do this training. The organizations we are helping need to want to change,” said Smith.

Over the past 13 years, CQ’s level of service, reach, and revenue has steadily increased but the pandemic materially changed things for them. During the pandemic, CQ accessed the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) through the Small Business Administration. PPP loans were forgivable loans intended to help businesses stay afloat and they were important to CQ.

“As an organization, we are determined to bring a deepened awareness and understanding of social justice, especially racial justice, to the community in ways that are practical and useful. We are grateful to work with so many different people across the region, and we hope our work will inspire others to help make the world a better place,” said Yoon.

The Small Business Administration has named Parro’s Gun Shop as the 2023 Vermont Veteran-Owned Business of the Year.