ERA PRESS RELEASE
March 3, 2025
Contact: Clare Kluck / Communications Director / ckluck@era.org
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Bob Walsh, CPMR Named Recipient of the 2025 ERA Lifetime Achievement Award
The Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) is pleased and honored to announce that Bob Walsh, CPMR, former president of Coakley Boyd & Abbett, Inc., has been named the 2025 recipient of the ERA Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award was presented to Walsh at the 2025 ERA Conference in Austin, Texas, in recognition of his service to the electronics industry.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was created to recognize individuals who play an integral role in supporting the manufacturers’ representative model in the electronics industry.
Walsh joined Coakley, Boyd & Abbett, Inc. (CBA) in 1982 as an inside salesperson. He quickly moved to outside sales, handling both OEM accounts and distributors. In 1992 Bob became a partner at CBA, and then president in 1998.
Over his extensive career at CBA, Walsh was very active in ERA. In 1989, he joined the New England ERA’s Board of Directors in the membership role. Over the next 10 years, he circulated through every chair on the New England Chapter Board, including Chapter delegate from 1990 to 1995. Walsh received his CPMR designation in 1994.
Walsh was vice chair of the 1999 ERA Conference in Hawaii and chair of the 2000 ERA Conference in Baltimore. He also served two terms on the EDS Board of Directors.
In 2001, Walsh was elected to the ERA Executive Committee as senior vice president of membership. In subsequent years, he also served as senior vice president of groups and senior vice president of fiscal/legal.
In 2009, Walsh was selected to be president of ERA National and then went on to serve as chairman of the Board where he served for 16 years. All told, he served 12 years and helped guide the ERA through some difficult times. His leadership help set the ground work for today’s ERA. He received the Spirit of Ray Hall Award in 2013 and the ERA Key Award in 2000. He was also inducted into the White Pin group in 2000.
In April 2024, Walsh retired from CBA and now enjoys time with his family and traveling.
About ERA
The 90-year-old Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) is the international trade organization for professional field sales companies in the global electronics industries, manufacturers who go to market through representative firms and global distributors. It is the mission of ERA to support the professional field sales function through programs and activities that educate, inform and advocate for manufacturers’ representatives, the principals they represent and the distributors who are reps’ partners in local territories. For more information about ERA, visit era.org.