> Tobi Cornell, CPMR, is Named Senior Vice President of Membership on ERA’s Executive Committee
ERA PRESS RELEASE
March 24, 2025
Contact: Clare Kluck / Communications Director / ckluck@era.org
The Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) announces that Tobi Cornell, CPMR, President of Kruvand Associates, has joined the ERA Executive Committee as the Senior Vice President of Membership.
“ERA is very pleased to have Tobi Cornell join the Executive Committee as the new Senior Vice President of Membership,” said John O’Brien, CPMR, Chairman of the Board. “As president of a large and successful rep firm in Texas, and with many years of experience volunteering in this industry — including leading one of our main chapters — we know Tobi will champion the manufacturers’ rep function and work to foster the continued success of ERA membership during her tenure.”
Tobi Cornell graduated from Texas Christian University in 1994 with BBA, and entered the electronics industry that same year working for manufacturers’ rep firm, DJ Sales (Dallas, TX). Tobi worked in inside sales covering the Houston market for 2 ½ years, and then moved into outside sales in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for DJ Sales. In 1998, manufacturers’ rep firm Kruvand Associates acquired DJ Sales, and Tobi took on the distribution manager role, in addition to account responsibility. She continued to work in that capacity for 17 years, and was named vice president of distribution in 2015. Tobi continued fostering and growing close relationships with Kruvand’s manufacturers, channel partners and customers in her market, and was honored to be named president of Kruvand in 2023. Tobi also currently serves as president of ERA’s Southwest chapter.
“I’m honored to join the ERA Executive Committee and excited to strengthen the membership sector of ERA,” said Cornell. “ERA provides a unique, indispensable value to its members, and I look forward to amplifying that message and spearheading initiatives that drive our collective, long-term success.”
The updated list of officers on the Executive Committee are:
Chairman of the Board – John O’Brien, CPMR
President – Tom Griffin, CPMR
Sr. Vice President Fiscal & Legal – John Hutson, CPMR
Sr. Vice President Industry – Ellen Coan, CPMR
Sr. Vice President Education – Lori Bruno, CPMR
Sr. Vice President Membership — Tobi Cornell, CPMR
Sr. Vice President at Large – Kingsland Coombs, CPMR
Sr. Vice President Manufacturers – John Guetens
Sr. Vice President Distributors – Lou Copley
Sr. Vice President at Large — Ken Bellero
Chief Executive Officer — Ed Smith
About ERA
The 91-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 wh
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> Congratulations to all the award winners from the 2026 ERA Conference!
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‘Tis the season for chapter events! Our active regional chapters around the U.S. host many wonderful networking/charity events over the holiday season. We encourage you to attend a local ERA chapter event soon! 
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> Scaling up at ERA
Ed Smith, CEO of ERA
I would like to thank you all in advance for attending the annual 2026 ERA Conference, and for Conference Chair Perry Thornton and Conference Vice Chair Julie Carr and all the committee members who have worked many hours to make this an industry-leading event.
We will have more than 650 attendees and a new home at the Hilton Austin in downtown Austin. This is a record crowd, and this shows that people find value in the three days in Austin. Our goal is to have speakers and breakout sessions that help and guide you in your day-today duties. I appreciate the support of all our sponsors which enables us to have a world-class event in a world-class venue. This was my first year putting this event together and I was impressed by the ERA staff of Kate, Karin, Clare, Ama, Natalie and Susan and the work they do to organize this great event.
The main stage will have fantastic speakers talking about reaching the unreachable and about human connection in a digital world. They will speak about the fast pace of a supply chain in the new world politics (just keeping up with the tariffs last year was dizzying). We will have someone speak about how to collaborate when we live in a world where AI is being used to a greater degree. I could not be more excited to see how the main stage inspires and motivates Conference attendees.
The breakout sessions will dig deeper into topics of importance to reps, manufacturers and distributors and will be geared towards tactical and practical actions and takeaways. AI will be featured in multiple sessions, which will highlight some available tools and how to use them in practical applications. We will have sessions on relationships and some deeper discussions on communication. We will have some conversations about CMMC and how to comply with the flow downs. We will have a market trend update that will feature new data on lead times and sales, and I will also give an ERA update.
There are many other things that ERA is working on that will be rolled out later this year. We are working to provide our members a new data resource that reports all parts shipped in Mexico, Canada and the U.S. sorted by HTS code. We are also working on some data about the value of rep firms with real-life examples and numbers to support our position.
We are busy at ERA, but never too busy to help support local chapter efforts and events. If you need our help, just reach out to me or one of the ERA staff. I have attended quite a few chapter events and have been impressed with the enthusiasm and work put into each of the events. Thank you and keep up the great work!
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