Leadership Evolution Client Partner: Jay Bell, CEO/President

Jim Bell founded MAST in 1990 in Las Vegas, NV, with three business partners. Jim Bell was the only partner with any significant ammunition history, and by 1996, his partners went their separate ways and MAST became family owned. Since then MAST has had any where from 15 to 114 team members that are involved in different areas of the business. These include government contracting, machinery sales, machinery consulting, general ammunition consulting, tooling manufacture, gaging sales, and ballistic equipment sales.

In 2010, MAST had a transition of ownership within the Bell Family to Jay and Justin.  In many businesses an ownership change can mean trouble; not in this case.  Jay has been working for MAST full time since 1994.  He has held one of the top two roles within the company since 1999.  During this timeframe MAST has experienced a massive growth in revenue and profitability.

When Jay states he has been in the ammunition business his entire life, many people do not know he has literally spent his entire life growing up in this business.  At the age of 5 his first job at Brass Extrusion was cleaning sinks and bathrooms.  By the age of 10 he was running case manufacturing equipment that head turned and pierced cartridge cases.  When Jay was 13 he learned to change electrical ballasts’ on florescent lights, with live circuits.  During High School he formed custom cases on RCBS presses after school.  So when Jay states he has been in the ammunition business his entire life, he is not kidding.