Bill Dalley,
the founder of Colorado Optics, was raised on a farm near
Liberty, Missouri. He grew up hunting, fishing, and
trapping, as most farm boys did in the 1950's. In 1966
he entered the United States Army and served in Viet Nam
as a Staff Sergeant in the 11th Light Infantry Brigade,
Americal Division. Upon discharge from the Army in 1969
he went to work as a Deputy Sheriff in Clay County,
Missouri (Kansas City). He obtained the rank of Captain
before he turned 30. During his tenure on the Sheriff's
Department he attended Central Missouri State University
and graduated with a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice
Administration. In 1977 he departed law enforcement for
the private sector and went to work for Yellow Freight
Systems. In 1980, Bill was transferred to Greeley,
Colorado as Terminal Manager, and has managed
multiple terminals in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota,
and Nebraska. He is now retired and devotes his time to
Colorado Optics, and hunting and fishing with his
Grandson, Luke.
History
Colorado Optics
was created in the fall of 1989 by Bill Dalley in Greeley,
Colorado. Originally, the company started as a mail order
business in the basement of his home. Bill states that the
sole purpose of establishing the hobby business was to make a
few extra dollars to pay for hunting trips. Greeley is also
the home of Burris Manufacturing, and Colorado Optics
specialized in only Burris products for the first five years.
During the fall of 1994, the business had grown to a level
that he could not handle the volume. Bill hired a full time
manager when he moved the company into a store front in La
Salle, Colorado, just a couple of miles south of Greeley and
the Burris factory. The first retail store was opened, and the
mail order was handled in the back room of the store. Demand
grew and other product lines have been added, which include Leupold, Nikon, Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, and Kahles. Bill
recently retired after 26 years in management with a large
Fortune 500 Company. The first thing he did was move to the
mountains near Rocky Mountain National Park and the Cache La
Poudre River, north of Fort Collins, Colorado. The second was
to move Colorado Optics from La Salle, to Fort Collins.
In addition, Bill has recently opened a firearms company in Fort
Collins; Liberty Guns.
