Association for Retail Environments Elects Officers/Board Members

HOLLYWOOD, FL — Three new officers have been elected to lead the Association for Retail Environments (ARE), a not-for-profit trade organization dedicated to the international retail environments industry. Three new ARE members have also been added as directors of the ARE board.

Bob Rosean, owner and CEO of T.J. Hale in Milwaukee, has been elected president. Rosean has led the National Association of Display Industries as president, and has been a member of the ARE board since 2010.

Joel Katterhagen, president of Synsor Corp. in Everett, Washington, and ARE Board Member since 2011, has been elected vice president.

Steve Varon, CEO of Crown Metal Manufacturing in Elmhurst, IL, and former chair of ARE’s Manufacturing Seminar Committee, has been elected treasurer. 

New directors of the ARE board include Eric Jones, vice president of J.R. Jones Fixture Company in Minneapolis, who has also served on A.R.E.’s General Management and Summit Committees. Charles Sparks, CEO, president and corporate creative director for Charles Sparks + Company in Westchester, IL, has also been elected to the board, along with Christine Taylor is founder and CEO of Christine Taylor Collection (CTC), in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and Hong Kong-based Christine Taylor Asia (CTA), which manages CTC’s offshore manufacturing.

 “I would like to welcome all of our new board members and say thank you to those who served and are now stepping down,” said A.R.E. Executive Director Todd Dittman. “I would especially like to thank our outgoing president Alan Harvill for his leadership and passion for the organization. This group of people played a pivotal role this past year guiding A.R.E. and giving us a clear roadmap for 2015.”

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