Winter 2024 – News Beat

ALL SYSTEMS GO: SEE YOU AT THE 2024 ERA CONFERENCE!

The 2024 ERA Conference will be another sold-out event, with approximately 650 people registered and 130 sponsors supporting the event. We’re excited to see all of our industry colleagues in Austin, Texas on Feb. 25-27 where we will gather, learn and gain inspiration while focusing on the theme of “Energizing Our Customers’ Experience!” View breakout session details, keynote and general session information, speaker biographies, agenda and more on the ERA Conference webpage at https://era.org/era-conference/.

2024 EDS SUMMIT: DATE AND LOCATION CHANGE

The 2024 EDS Leadership Summit, initially set for May 13-17 at the Mirage in Las Vegas, is relocating to Resorts World Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. The event will now take place Tuesday, May 21 through Friday, May 24—one week later than originally planned. This is due to the fact that the extensive renovations and expansion of the Mirage, originally slated for later in the year, have been moved up. General registration for the 2024 EDS Summit is expected to begin in early February. Stay tuned to EDSSummit.com and ERA.org, emails and social media channels for updates.

ERA ANNOUNCES 2024 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENT

ERA is pleased and honored to announce that Dick Neumann, former vice president at Grayhill, Inc., has been named the 2024 recipient of the ERA Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented to Neumann at February’s ERA Conference in Austin, Texas, in recognition of his service to the electronics industry. Neumann retired from Grayhill, Inc. in August 2022 after 47 years of service to the company.

After graduating from TCU in 1962, he started working at Grigsby as a purchasing agent. From there, he joined the sales rep firm Hill Gray, where he was first introduced to Grayhill products. Dick was recruited to Grayhill in 1976 as the western regional sales manager. Over his career in sales, he held the roles of national sales manager, vice president of sales and marketing and vice president of special projects.

“Dick’s 40-plus year career with Grayhill was a testament to his ability to manage and motivate his rep network by creating an atmosphere of collaboration, hard work and a bit of fun,” said Walter Tobin, CEO of ERA. “His dedication to family, Grayhill and our industry is what drove Dick right up to his retirement. He has been a mentor to so many of us. ERA is proud to recognize Dick with this Lifetime Achievement Award.”

“It’s a special time in one’s life when he receives a special award for doing what he loves,” said Neumann. “For the last 50 years, ERA has helped me build relationships with our representatives, with other manufacturers and with distributors…I have many people to thank from the more than 59 years in the industry that I love.”

SEMICONDUCTOR MARKET TO HIT $588.36 BILLION IN 2024

The global chip market will bounce back from its recent slump to grow 13 percent next year, reported the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics.

The industry body expects the market to rebound to a record $588.36 billion in 2024 up from $520.13 billion this year. It says the boom in demand for chips used for artificial intelligence is the key reason for its optimistic forecast. Discrete semiconductors in particular, primarily propelled by power semiconductors, are on target to experience 5.8 percent year-over-year growth.