SCOGGIN IS 2014 RECIPIENT OF JESS SPOONTS – ERA WHITE PIN SCHOLARSHIP
The ERA White Pin Group has announced that Bruce Scoggin, CPMR, of Electro-Rep Associates in Charlotte, N.C., is the 2014 recipient of the Jess Spoonts – ERA White Pin Scholarship. He will receive a $1,000 grant to fund his continuing education as a professional field sales rep.
“It is an honor and a privilege to recognize Bruce with this award,” said Mark Motsinger, CPMR, of Wallace Electronic Sales in Kernersville, N.C., a past president of ERA and the coordinator of the White Pin Group. “He has served his Carolinas chapter and ERA National in countless ways for many years and is always the first one to step up to offer his assistance with any task. He epitomizes the unselfish, enthusiastic volunteerism that Jess Spoonts brought to ERA.”
When notified of the award, Scoggin described how he was “blown away,” adding “I give ERA programs and networking the credit for helping me navigate the challenges of business survival. Jess Spoonts, and many who mentored him and were mentored by him, created the value in ERA seen in the management conferences and CPMR training. The folks who invested their time, talent and resources developing those programs are the spirit of ERA, and I have truly benefited from all they have shared and given on behalf of the representative sales function … ”
The ERA White Pin Group was established in 1960 and is comprised of member reps who have served in volunteer leadership positions for a minimum of two years. The scholarship award was created in 2006 to honor the group’s long-time coordinator, the late E. Jess Spoonts of Dallas, Tex., a half-century veteran of the electronics industry, a past president of ERA and a member of the association’s Hall of Fame.
2015 SEMICONDUCTOR REVENUE TO GROW BY 9+ PERCENT
Worldwide semiconductor market revenue is on track to achieve a 9.4 percent expansion this year, with broad-based growth across multiple chip segments driving the best industry performance since 2010, according to IHS Technology, the information, research and analysis organization. IHS says global revenue for 2014 is expected to total $353.2 billion, up from $322.8 billion in 2013, according to a preliminary estimate. The nearly double-digit-percentage increase follows respectable growth of 6.4 percent in 2013, a decline of more than 2.0 percent in 2012 and a marginal increase of 1.0 percent in 2011. The performance in 2014 represents the highest rate of annual growth since the 33 percent boom of 2010.
“This is the healthiest the semiconductor business has been in many years, not only in light of the overall growth, but also because of the broad-based nature of the market expansion,” said Dale Ford, vice president and chief analyst at IHS. “While the upswing in 2013 was almost entirely driven by growth in a few specific memory segments, the rise in 2014 is built on a widespread increase in demand for a variety of different types of chips.”
EDS 2015 IS ‘FUTURE FOCUSED’
EDS has established a “Future Focused” theme for its 2015 event, to be held May 12-15 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, the show’s first time at this venue. The show board had previously announced that the start of EDS-related events is being moved back from the traditional Monday to Tuesday to avoid conflicts with Mother’s Day on May 10. EDS exhibits and meetings will run Wednesday to Friday. Because of the date pattern change, the annual EDS breakfast program, co-sponsored by ERA and the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA), will be held on Thursday morning, May 14.
MRERF SCHEDULES 2015 CSP COURSES
The Manufacturers’ Representatives Educational Research Foundation (MRERF) has scheduled its Certified Sales Professional (CSP) courses for the coming year. They will be held: March 24-27 in Irvine, Cal.; April 14-17 in Atlanta, Ga.; Sept. 15-18 in Chicago; and Oct. 6-9 in Portland, Ore. The foundation’s Certified Professional Manufacturers’ Representative (CPMR) course and its Manufacturers’ Best Practices (MBP) course were slated to run in early January in Austin, Tex. For information on all MRERF’s educational offerings, visit mrerf.org.
IN MEMORIAM
ERA mourns Carmine A. Vignola, a 40-year member and volunteer leader of the association, who passed away in mid-September. He was 83. He was the president of Carmine A. Vignola Associates in the Kansas City area from 1954 to 1989. He was an officer of ERA’s Heart of America chapter, a past national vice president of the association, a White Pin member and recipient of he ERA Key Award.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Please go to the Special In Memoriam page of this issue to read ERA President Paul Nielsen’s special tribute to the late Jim Kimball, the retired vice president of sales and marketing of Sola HD.