MANA’s Board of Directors recently honored Board Chair Ken McGregor (pictured below third from left) for six years of outstanding service on MANA’s Board that will end April 30, and elected John Beaver (far right) to serve as its new Chair effective May 1.

Left to right: MANA CEO Charles Cohon, Director Ed Juline, Ken McGregor, MANA VP and GM Jerry Leth, Attorney Leonard Gambino, Past Chair Tom Hayward, Director John Davis, Director Stephen Fowler, Director Danny Collis, and John Beaver.

McGregor’s firm McGregor & Associates, Inc. has been a MANA member since 1999. McGregor was elected to MANA’s Board after long service on the Board of the Association of Independent Manufacturers’ Representatives (AIM/R), which is reps’ voice in the plumbing industry. “Ken joined MANA’s Board two weeks after I became MANA’s CEO,” notes MANA CEO and President Charles Cohon, “and he was a rock-solid, insightful member of the Board from the very start. He made a huge difference for MANA in a challenging time, so it was no surprise that past Chairs Tom Hayward and John Roba both actively recruited Ken to serve as Chair.”

Beaver founded his firm, GSA Optimum, in 1984 and has been a MANA member since 1990. Beaver’s firm also is a member of the National Electrical Manufacturers’ Representatives Association (NEMRA) and the Electronic Representatives Association (ERA). He also serves as Chair for the ERA Metro New York chapter, where, with his Board, he rebuilt an inactive chapter into one that now has regular functions and a healthy balance sheet. Beaver’s rep firm consists of 32 members total across six business units, including 22 outside sales representatives and engineers. “John has demonstrated his business acumen in the way he has grown his rep firm both organically and by acquisition. He brings a high-level strategic mindset to the Board that will stand us in good stead as we enter MANA’s 70th anniversary year,” said Cohon.