> ERA Announces the Retirement of CEO Walter Tobin
ERA PRESS RELEASE
May 16, 2025
Contact: Clare Kluck / Communications Director / ckluck@era.org
The Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) announces that CEO Walter Tobin will retire from the association after 10 years.
“After a 10-year career as ERA CEO, with success that cannot be overstated, Walter Tobin has notified us of his intention to retire,” said Tom Griffin, CPMR, President of the ERA Executive Committee. “Whether we measure Walter’s success in membership, revenue growth, ERA Conference attendance, sponsorships, perception in our industry or anything else, Walter has performed beyond our wildest expectations. We are very grateful for his passion and leadership.”
“The ERA Executive Committee has formed a search committee and will work diligently to find a new CEO,” Griffin continued, “and Walter has agreed to continue to serve during this transition period.”
“I have had the distinct pleasure and honor of serving on the ERA Executive Committee for Walter’s entire 10 years as CEO,” said John O’Brien, CPMR, Chairman of the ERA Executive Committee. “His commitment to our Association and its membership has been unparalleled. I am fortunate to not only have had the opportunity to work with Walter, but can call him my friend.”
Throughout Tobin’s tenure as CEO of ERA, he has brought new life into the association, growing its membership and annual Conference attendance by three-fold. He has carried forth fully the association’s mission of advancing the rep function while joining together the “three legs of the stool” – manufacturers’ reps, distributors and manufacturers. He oversaw the implementation of the ERA HoverMap®, SearchLink.ai, the significant growth of ERA’s distributor membership category, the revival of many regional ERA chapters, an ERA podcast, ERA LIVE and the ERA/Edgewater partnership industry survey, among many other initiatives.
ERA’s annual Tobin Bridge award, created and presented for the first time in 2020, was named after Walter and refers to a famous bridge in Boston. It recognizes individuals who successfully “bridge” and unite people across the electronics components industry.
Before joining ERA as CEO, Tobin was an electronics industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience in sales, marketing and executive/corporate management positions. For nine years prior to joining ERA, he was the corporate vice president of Future Electronics, and prior management positions included 12 years at Pioneer-Standard (acquired in 2003 by Arrow Electronics) and 15 years at Arrow Electronics. He holds both a B.S. and MBA from Boston College and is a former U.S. Army Captain.
Walter looks forward to in retirement spending time at his second home in Cape Cod, golfing, spending time with his wife Janice, his three daughters and sons-in-law and eight grandchildren.
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.
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> You won’t want to miss the new 
You won’t want to miss the new 
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What is the Manufacturers’ Rep Toolkit? It is a centralized hub of podcasts, conference presentations, webinars, videos, magazine articles and white papers. For industry veterans and newcomers alike, this invaluable resource can help answer questions such as: “Manufacturers’ rep v. direct sales?“ or “What is the ROI when using the rep model?”
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> Attention 2025 ERA Conference attendees: Less than 1 week until the Conference begins!
> Hope is not a strategy
By Tom Griffin, CPMR – ERA President
As we enter our third year of hope that our businesses will begin recovery in Q4, we remember that “hope is not a strategy.” We wonder how much excess inventory could have been purchased in 2020 and 2021, and will it really all be consumed by Q4 2025?
We also remember that 2021 and 2022 were amazing sales years, as we enter the tariff economy and wonder what that will bring. The good news for the many manufacturers that were among nearly 700 attendees of this year’s ERA Conference in Austin is by virtue of their decision to outsource their sales force to manufacturers’ representatives, their cost-of-sales figures remain aligned with sales regardless of what happens. Speaking of the conference, the energy and enthusiasm were high, and the outlook encouraging.
The reviews were positive, and we are all looking forward to a new venue at the Hilton in downtown Austin in 2026. This year’s content continued to impress, and our commitment to an educational event with practical takeaways will continue in the new venue. The EDS Leadership Summit will again be at the wildly popular Resorts World on May 19-23, 2025.
After searching the country for an acceptable alternative to the week prior to Memorial Day, the EDS Board could find no alternative to Resorts World that could provide the number of suites at the budget we require. EDS will again offer the SPARK development program to help new, upand- coming professionals to grow their abilities and advance their careers in the electronic components industry. Remember, you must be a registered EDS attendee to attend any of the meetings at the EDS Leadership Summit.
Please visit edssummit.com for more information on EDS and Spark. Right now, the markets are tumbling, the excess customer inventory is extensive and the future is uncertain. The only remedy we have is to arm ourselves with preparation and education.
Thank you for attending the ERA Conference — we will see you at EDS!
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