The Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) announces that Gerald Newman, a partner in the law firm of Schoenberg Finkel Beederman Bell & Glazer, LLC, and ERA legal counsel, is the recipient of the ERA Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award was presented to Newman during the ERA mid-year board meeting held virtually on October 29, 2020, in recognition of his service to the electronics industry, manufacturers’ representatives and ERA.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was created to recognize individuals who play an integral role in supporting the manufacturers’ representative model in the electronics industry.

For five decades, Newman has provided outstanding legal support to thousands of manufacturers’ representatives leveraging his expertise in trade association representation, sales rep matters, commission collection issues, corporate mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs, business continuation and succession plans and financing, business counseling, estate planning, and intellectual property matters.

He has written many articles dealing with rep issues and has conducted numerous seminars for trade and professional associations on manufacturer-rep-principal issues and general business matters.

ERA President Chuck Tanzola, CPMR, of Fusion Sourcing Group, Inc., presented the award and said, “It gives me great pleasure to present Gerry Newman the ERA Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of and with the deepest and sincerest gratitude for his legal guidance, wisdom and friendship to the ERA community.”

ERA Chairman of the Board David Norris of Norris & Associates, Inc., added, “We want to take this opportunity to thank Gerry who has made such a difference in our industry and in our profession. It is hard to measure the impact that Gerry has had on our industry during his decades of support of the manufacturers’ representatives’ role and enhancing the relationship between manufacturers and manufacturers’ reps.”

“I am truly humbled to be the recipient of the ERA Lifetime Achievement Award,” Newman said. “I was fortunate to work alongside great mentors such as Ray Hall, Tim Coakley and Bob Trinkle, who taught me about the role of the independent sales representative, the electronics industry, ERA and the strength of an active association, not just through membership, but actually participating in programs and activities. I thank all my good friends at ERA for bestowing this honor upon me. I will cherish the memories. It has been a two-way street. I’ve learned much more from you than you may have learned from me.”

About ERA

The 85-year-old ERA is the international trade organization for professional field sales companies in the global electronics industries, manufacturers who go to market through representative firms and global distributors. It is the mission of ERA to support the professional field sales function through programs and activities that educate, inform and advocate for manufacturers’ representatives, the principals they represent, and the distributors who are reps’ partners in local territories. For more information about ERA, visit www.era.org.