Termax CEO Elected PMA Board Chairman

The Precision Metalforming Association (PMA; Cleveland, OH) announced that William R. Smith, the chief executive officer of Termax Corporation (Lake Zurich, IL) was elected 2015 chairman of its Board of Directors.

PMA also announced that Ron Lowry, the chief executive officer and owner of Dayton Rogers (Minneapolis, MN), will serve as Board first vice chair, and David Arndt, the president of Pentaflex, Inc. (Springfield, OH), will serve as Board second vice chair and treasurer.

“I’m honored to be elected chairman for 2015,” said Smith. “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank 2014 PMA chairman Jody Fledderman for his leadership over the past year. Jody was a tremendous spokesperson for our association and our industry and I look forward to building on his accomplishments.” Smith announced that the theme of his one-year term as chairman is “To Whom Much is Given, Much is Expected,” which features three core goals:
1) Develop a PMA mentorship program. Smith stated that the relationships he’s forged through PMA have allowed him to grow, and he intends to develop a formal program to offer those same opportunities to others. “I’d like to set up a system to pair senior executives with the next generation of industry leaders.  The value of mentorship is something I believe in very strongly, and I want PMA to get involved.”

2) Establish a new funding initiative for the PMA Educational Foundation (PMAEF). The PMAEF has helped to develop a trained and motivated metalforming-industry workforce, worked to set national skill standards for metalforming jobs, and developed curriculum and training materials to allow companies to train their employees at various levels.

Smith called on PMA and the metalforming industry to direct some of the industry’s recently earned profits to help support the next generation of metalforming companies through investment in the PMAEF. “PMAEF’s accomplishments would not be possible without the generosity of several companies and individuals who contributed more than $2 million to the PMAEF Endowment Fund,” said Smith.  “We need to establish more funding sources to ensure that the next generation of metalforming companies has the support they need.”

3) Raise awareness of the PMA-NTMA (National Tooling and Machining Association) One Voice advocacy program. Since 2004, Smith has been actively engaged in the PMA/NTMA One Voice joint advocacy program, which represents small and medium-sized manufacturers and gives a voice to the millions of middle-market manufacturing companies and employees who supply tooling, components and other manufactured products.

For the past several years, Smith has been at the forefront of tax-policy discussions, having met with the Senate Finance Committee, House Ways & Means Committee and the Office of the Speaker and testified before the House Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access. “Our activity on Capitol Hill has proven incredibly valuable and has made a tangible difference,” Smith says. “Manufacturers have a seat at the table in Washington, DC, thanks in part to our One Voice efforts.”

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