Slingshot Celebrates Twenty-Five Years

A Heart for Students & Affordable Course Materials

Slingshot started in 1997 in a small city in Indiana. Founders, Darren and Nancy Campbell along with her parents and sister opened a 1200 square foot bookstore coffee shop in a Walmart shopping plaza. They had a heart for the local college students and wanted a place where people could come together and meet, grab a coffee, and find resources they needed for classes at the local Christian colleges. At the time, they didn’t know their small family business would one day become a team of over 350 people who impact thousands of students’ learning experiences across the country. 

So much has changed since that little shop opened its doors, and yet not much either. 

Today, Slingshot still has the same friendly, approachable personality as it did 25 years ago: a place that’s personal, puts an emphasis on character, and embraces innovation. This month marks its 25-year anniversary, and we begin by taking a look back at how a spirit of adaptability inspired the evolution of an innovative company.

1998

The family owned small bookstore opened their 2nd location managing a local college on-campus store. 

2000

Slingshot introduced the first textbook rental service in the industry. At the time, rentals offered an innovative solution for saving students money on course materials and staying competitive in the marketplace. 

2007

With the rise of competitors moving into the online space, the Slingshot team had a decision to make: evolve and compete with the big players in the textbook industry or step back from the fight. 

“Many of our colleagues in the business just got out. They said there’s no way, it’s over,” Nancy said. But the Slingshot team decided to continue reinventing themselves to ride the current of the tech boom and find a way to remain competitive in the marketplace, which led to expanding Slingshot into online spaces and offering online buyback services. 

2010

In another evolution that would disrupt the course materials industry, Slingshot designed and developed what is known today as equitable access (EA). EA is a subscription model for course materials that levels the playing field for all students and ensures delivery of materials by the first day of class. 

2017-Today

Since then, Slingshot launched its proprietary software Slingshot Pro, which offers an auto-adoption feature, a seamless adoption process for faculty, adoption metrics, and more. In recent years, Slingshot has also helped colleges and universities become more efficient by combining the campus store, print shop, and mail room into one centralized service location. 

Darren says faith, family, and focus have been integral in reaching this milestone. 

“We are a family business, and we consider each of our 350-plus employees to be family,” Darren said. Slingshot’s growth has hinged on its people—resilient thinkers and doers who stick it out through the growing pains while creatively imagining the next big disruption in the industry. “It’s their hard work, determination, commitment, and creativity that built this company.” 

For the last 10 years, Slingshot has been focused on implementing equitable access programs in its partner schools, believing that the model would eventually win out. Today, it’s now being widely adopted across the industry.

So, what’s next for Slingshot? 

Darren believes the next five years will be critical for the industry. With major changes on the horizon, including the adoption of equitable access, Slingshot is ready to guide institutions through the turbulence.

“We intend to build on that lead and return significant course material market share back to the local store while offering affordable course material solutions to students.” 

To learn more about Slingshot, visit slingshotedu.com/about.