Spring 2022 – Chapter News
Chapter News reports the local activities of the 22 chapters of ERA. The chapters sponsor educational and training workshops, local trade shows, legislative and industry projects to enhance the professionalism of individual members and to advance the goals and mission of the national association.
CHAPTER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
At its annual Conference, held Feb. 27 – March 1 in Austin, TX, the ERA announced the chapters that have been selected as Chapters of the Year award recipients for their 2021 activities.
The award recipients were: Education: Southern California Chapter for their virtual event “Marketing Your Agency on LinkedIn;” Membership and Member Services: Florida-Sunshine Chapter for their annual DTAM analysis; Networking: New England Chapter for their inaugural golf event.
Congratulations to all recipients!
ARIZONA
The Arizona chapter started off strong in 2022 with its first Board of Directors meeting to discuss events for the year and set plans in place for a minimum of one event per quarter for the year. The chapter also discussed strengthening its Board and membership as main objectives for the year. The first event was simply a happy hour to engage with reps and distributors to explore the benefits of becoming members. The event boasted over 20 attendees. And the chapter also announced adding Jason Schouten of Spectrum Marketing Associates as a new member of the Board of Directors.
Metro Phoenix, as well as the Tucson market, are rapidly expanding their footprints in the electronics industry. From the major foundry expansions from Intel and TSMC to the incredible influx of the EV industry, there are countless opportunities for the Arizona chapter to bring value to its members.
The chapter’s Q2 event will be a golf tournament intended to be both a social and a recruiting event. In addition to existing members, invitations will be extended to other reps and distributors to broaden our reach in the region. The chapter is looking forward to taking the lessons learned at the conference and delivering valuable messages to our business partners.
CAROLINAS
Carolinas Chapter continues to host their monthly virtual networking events focused on various industry topics of discussion for each session. The chapter held their annual DTAM and scholarship event virtually on March 28.
CHICAGOLAND-WISCONSIN
On March 17, the chapter hosted its first in-person meeting of 2022 in Kenosha, Wis., welcoming over 25 attendees for a St. Patrick’s Day event that included a recap of the 2022 ERA National Conference. The group enjoyed a breakfast buffet with a robust discussion covering best practices and takeaways from the educational sessions that were presented at the conference.
The chapter’s Board of Directors hosted a virtual meeting in early April to continue planning for events for the remainder of the year.
EMPIRE
Empire Chapter is pleased to announce their new officers and directors for 2022. Elected to the following officer positions were: Laura Senn- Sanborn, president; Patrick Coyne, MARCOM; Melissa Peters, secretary/treasurer; Rick Wray, vice president of programming; and Rob O’Rourke, director. Additionally, the chapter approved Jim Gleason as national delegate, and Chuck Tanzola as alternate director/delegate.
Empire Chapter hosted its annual DTAM study and forum on March 22 at Ravenwood. This year’s event featured speaker Dennis Reed from Edgewater Research. Dennis recently presented a breakout session at the ERA National Conference and the Empire Chapter is thrilled to have Dennis present to the group. The chapter is pleased that Rick Wray ran the DTAM with well over 20 years of historical data.
Empire Chapter is excited to host its 2nd Annual Julie Baker Golf Tournament on August 1 at Ravenwood Golf Club. Based on last year’s very successful event, the chapter looks forward to another great turnout this year. Stay tuned for more information coming soon.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
The Southern California Chapter of ERA kicked off the new year with a planning meeting regarding events schedule for 2022. The planning meeting included not just members, but other stakeholders in the Southern California rep community.
The chapter has developed a list of significant events both educational and social. Events include four educational owners forums. Topics include digital marketing, new tax regulations and hiring/ retaining employees. Planned events that include the rep community, distributors and manufacturers are a reception tied to Del Mar Electronics Show, a chili cook-off, local economic update, a tabletop show centered on the boarder manufacturers and the Sagebrush social. The chapter will finish the year with their annual golf tournament in November. ERA SoCal looks forward to an active year and the success of its members.
SOUTHWEST
The Southwest ERA Chapter donated $500 each to both Uplift Summit and Plano ISD High Schools for their FIRST Robotics programs. The chapter wanted to use these donations to help these schools enter the FIRST Robotics competition, and to encourage these students to stay in the STEM field and encourage them to enter the electronics industry one day. The chapter will hopefully be getting a demo from one of the schools on their robotic achievement, but that is dependent on the school districts allowing visitors.