CAWA Chair of the Board, Dan Hanson Jr., of Hanson Distributing Co., has appointed two industry associates to the association’s board of directors.
The new appointees are George Hritz of the California Automotive Teachers organization, and Heather Williamson of Carquest.
Commenting on the appointments, Hanson said, “These two individuals will add value to CAWA and by virtue of their positions in the industry, will assist the association in achieving its goals as a relevant and viable automotive aftermarket industry organization. We know and appreciate the contributions these auto care industry associates will make to the future successes of CAWA and the industry we serve.”
Hritz started his automotive career at age 15, working in an automotive machine shop where he performed engine disassembly and clean-up. Throughout his college years, he worked in a variety of automotive related jobs. In 1975, Hritz began his teaching career at San Marin High School, where he taught six periods of automotive classes. He also worked as an assistant sales manager for Sun Electric, a general technician for an independent BMW repair dealer and as the service manager for a large electrical contracting company, before he accepted a teaching position at College of Marin. Hritz represents automotive educators on the California Bureau of Automotive Repair Advisory Group. He currently serves as the executive director of the California Automotive Teachers (CAT) organization, where he also served as a past president. He is a board member of the Automotive Service Councils of California and the California Automotive Business Coalition.
Williamson is a third-generation automotive industry associate. She grew up in the remanufacturing industry with her father at Python Injection, working there from 1991 to 2005. At the company’s peak, it employed 100 people and reached annual sales of $3.5 million. Throughout the remainder of her career, she has held numerous positions with CARQUEST Auto Parts as store manager, outside sales, specialty markets team, US government sales and strategic accounts, and also as an outside salesperson with Warren Distributing and in her current position with CARQUEST on the independent store team as a market development manager.
The CAWA Manufacturers’ Advisory Council (MAC) has re-elected Jeanette Lorenzo of NAME Inc. to serve as chair and Bob Leone of ADVICS as its vice chair for 2019. Both have served and contributed several years to the association’s MAC. The MAC was formed to be an advisory body and provide a perspective to the association from the manufacturing segment of the auto care industry. The council’s mission is to provide a manufacturer’s perspective, knowledge and insight to assist CAWA in accomplishing its goals.
