BETHESDA, Md. – The National Catalog Managers Association (NCMA) has presented a gift of $2,200 to the Aftermarket Foundation as a result of various fund-raising activities during its recent annual conference in St. Petersburg, Fla. A surprise donation of $500 was made to the foundation by Terry O’Reilly of Pricedex Software to further increase the sum.

Since 1959, the Aftermarket Foundation has assisted individuals and families of the automotive aftermarket industry that have fallen on hard times due to an unexpected death, catastrophic illness or financial hardship.
 
NCMA also welcomed two new members to its board of directors during the conference – Christa Walthall of Gates Corp. and Brian Rowland of U.S. Auto Parts, as directors. Gail Volpe, Autopart International and Brian Griffin, IMC, were re-elected to continue serving on the board. Mark Boyer of CARQUEST and Duane Meadows of DENSO Sales of California continue their terms on the board; and Milt Grimes of CARDONE Industries was appointed to a one-year term as president of the association.

“I am pleased to take responsibility for this wonderful organization and thank Mark Richardson of Exide Technologies for his leadership over the past two years,” said Grimes, incoming NCMA president and coordinator – global catalog services, CARDONE Industries. “NCMA is stronger than ever and I am excited about the valuable programs and services we can bring to this very important profession.”
 
The NCMA annual conference featured three days of education, professional development and networking with peers and vendor partners. Membership in NCMA stands at record high levels with more technology and solution vendors exhibited in the trade show.
 
“This was the best NCMA show ever,” said Adrian Klingel, president and CEO, Illumaware. “You can point to the quality of the speakers … and other improvements. But from a vendor standpoint we felt the quality and growth of the attendees has improved and the vendor show was especially great this year… Best ever.”

To read more coverage from this year’s NCMA Knowledge Conference, click here.


NCMA has announced the dates for the 39th annual Knowledge Exchange Conference, which will take place April 21-24, 2012 in Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. Membership is open to those catalog and content professionals in the aftermarket distribution chain whose employers are AAIA member companies. Print, technology and information service providers are welcome to exhibit at the annual trade show and network with the membership throughout the year.