Spring 2025 – News Beat

SAVE THE DATE FOR STEP IN FALL 2025

ERA’s STEP (Sales Training for Electronics Professionals) will return this fall for its fourth year. It will take place Oct. 7-9, 2025, and will offer electronics professionals a chance to take a “step” up in their careers and sharpen their skills. This live, virtual training, sponsored by TTI Family of Specialists, will include an array of useful topics and be conducted by a mix of professional sales trainers and electronics industry experts. Stay tuned for information throughout the summer regarding registration information and a program agenda.

ERA ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF 2025 WHITE PIN INTERNSHIPS

The ERA White Pin Group is pleased to announce a record six Mark Motsinger White Pin summer internships for 2025. They are: Seamus Carey, Arizona State University — Spectrum Marketing Associates; Liam Gordon, Baylor University — Logix Sales and Marketing; Nicolas Ramirez, ITESO, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara — Insight Demand Creation; Adam Pankow, Winona State University — Josco Melius, Inc.; Tommy Giudicianni, University of Rhode Island — MacInnis Company; and Lauren Lurie, Indiana University — Cain-Forlaw Co.

“It’s exciting for the White Pin Group to welcome this new group of interns for the summer of 2025, said Kingsland Coombs, CPMR, CSP, senior vice president at large for the ERA Executive Committee and chair of the White Pin Group. “These interns will bring a variety of fresh perspectives and raw talent, helping these rep firms with innovative ideas and new energy. I’m certain both the interns and rep firms will learn a lot from this experience.”

ERA launched this internship program in 2022 as a way to help the rep community introduce the rep model to college students and attract, hire and retain young people to keep the electronics industry fresh and relevant. The program allows rising college juniors or seniors to work for a manufacturers’ representative firm over the summer months to gain a better understanding and hands-on experience of the electronic components industry.

ERA AWARDS LIFE MEMBER RECOGNITION TO TWO ERA MEMBERS

In February 2025, ERA awarded Life Member recognition to Tom Stevenson from Pacific Northwest ERA and Dave Hurlbut from Rocky Mountain ERA. ERA congratulates these two individuals on their Life Member status and recognizes the extraordinary time, talent and effort they have dedicated to ERA and the manufacturers’ rep function within the electronics industry.

IN MEMORIAM: STAN HERZOG

ERA mourns the passing in late March of Stanton B. Herzog, CPA, who served as ERA’s accountant and tax resource for more than six decades. He was 96. Among his countless contributions to ERA and its members, Stan wrote “The Subject Is Taxing” column for The Representor from the inception of the magazine in 1989 until 2020, and was one of the first consultants who launched the long-standing ERA Expert Access member service. He was inducted into the ERA White Pin Group in 2011. Most of all, Stan’s gift was the ability to write with clarity and wit about complex tax issues, making them easily understandable to his ERA audience.

IN MEMORIAM: JAMES W. HOUCK

James William Houck Jr., an ERA member of the Chesapeake chapter and ERA Life Member, passed away in January. Jim was inducted into the ERA White Pin group in 1979. Houck enlisted in the Marine Corps at Quantico after high school and spent 18 months on Okinawa.

Jim had numerous business ventures throughout his life, always revolving around sales. His career began working in his father’s company, J-H Electronic Sales, for 20 years before establishing his own manufacturers’ rep firm. Three of his four children worked in the family business. Jim enjoyed swimming, playing tennis, juggling, snow/water skiing, mountain climbing, gymnastics, scuba diving, spelunking, sailing and holding handstands at crazy locations.

Jim and his wife vacationed around the world (22 trips) from the time of his retirement in 1995 to 2008. A lifetime member of Towson United Methodist Church, he worked as an usher and participated in mission trips to rebuild areas affected by devastation. He spearheaded Camp Hope for 13 years, a youth mission to rehabilitate low-income housing. Read the full obituary at: https://www.peacefulalternatives.com/obituary/james-houck-jr.