John Park of SCM Group North America was elected president of the Woodworking Machinery Industry Association at the group's annual meeting during the 2013 Woodworking Industry Conference. Park assumes the presidency after many years of service to WMIA in a variety of leadership roles, most recently as vice president for the past two years.

"I believe in WMIA, its members and our industry, and I look forward to the opportunity of serving as WMIA's president," Park said in accepting the position.

Park outlined several goals for his presidency:

· Expand the services and programs offered to members.

· Continue to strengthen WMIA's leadership.

· Develop programs to attract young people to the woodworking industry.

· Provide a forum to discuss key issues and identify strategies to address them.

· Increase communication to WMIA members.

· Continue to enhance the Woodworking Industry Conference.

Park will be supported in this effort by newly-elected Vice President Scott Mueller of Edward B. Mueller Co., Inc. and Secretary/Treasurer Dave Rakauskas of Colonial Saw Company, Inc. John B. Henderson of John Henderson & Company will continue on the board as immediate past president.

In addition to its officers, WMIA also elected four new members to its board of directors: Stan Paszkowski of First Choice Industrial, Jason Neafus of Hoosier Woodworking Machinery, Andreas Muehlbauer of Stiles Machinery and Pascal Doucet of Doucet Machineries. They join current directors Jim Besonen of Wood Machinery Systems, Inc., Madison Burt of WEIMA America, Roberto Ghizzoni of OMGA, Inc. and Robert Heskett of West Coast Machinery to complete the WMIA leadership team.

Park's first action as president was to appoint WMIA's committee chairs for the next two years. WMIA's committees drive all of the association's activities. The chairs are:

· National Affairs Committee - Frank Quis, Quis Machinery, Inc.

· Education Committee - Jason Howell, Michael Weinig, Inc.

· Marketing Committee - Jason Neafus, Hoosier Woodworking Machinery, LLC

· Nominating Committee - John Henderson, John Henderson and Company

· ANSI Committee - Mark Craig, Giben America, Inc.

· Technology Review Committee - Pascal Doucet, Doucet Machineries, Inc.

· Membership Committee - Roberto Ghizzoni, OMGA, Inc.

WMIA is an association of companies whose primary business is providing the North American market with the latest woodworking technology, equipment, computer software and distribution service channels available globally. The association maintains a website at www.wmia.org. For more information, contact WMIA Headquarters, 27 Main St., Suite 1, New Milford, CT 06776. Phone: 860-350-9642, Fax: 860-354-0677, E-mail: [email protected].

Source: WMIA