NAW Elects 2019 Officers

Members of the National Association of WholesalerDistributors (NAW), during the association’s Executive Summit in Washington, DC, last week, elected as Chairman of the NAW Board of Directors, George Pattee, Chairman of the Board of Parksite Inc., headquartered in Batavia, Illinois.

Mr. Pattee succeeds Joseph C. Nettemeyer, President and CEO of Valin Corporation, headquartered in San Jose, California. Mr. Nettemeyer will remain active on the NAW Board as Immediate Past Chairman.

Says Mr. Pattee of his new post, “On behalf of the 650 employee-owners of Parksite, I am honored to serve as the 2019 Chairman of NAW. After receiving the benefits of NAW membership for almost 25 years, it’s my time to give back to the organization that has helped Parksite grow and achieve its goals. Over all these years, our team has benefited greatly from the networking and benchmarking opportunities, educational events, best practice thought leadership, and business services that NAW offers. I’ve also developed wonderful business connections with other distributors through NAW. I look forward to working with this association and our members in 2019 and contributing to NAW’s ongoing important work for our industry.”

Parksite Inc. is also a member of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association Inc., North American Building Material Distribution Association, and the Associated Building Material Distributors of America.

The following wholesale distribution industry leaders also were elected as NAW Officers for 2019:

Chairman-Elect
Douglas W. York
Ewing Irrigation Products
Phoenix, AZ
Ewing Irrigation Products is also a member of the Irrigation Association.

First Vice Chairman
Michael Medart
Medart Engine & Marine
Arnold, MO
Medart Engine & Marine is also a member of the National Marine Distributors Association and the Outdoor Power Equipment & Engine Service Association Inc.

Second Vice Chairman
Jeff McLendon
U.S. Lumber Group
U.S. Lumber Group is also a member of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association Inc. and the World Millwork Alliance.

Secretary
Kevin Short
Polymershapes
Polymershapes is also a member of the International Association of Plastics Distribution

Dirk Van Dongen
President
National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors
Washington, DC

Completing the NAW 2019 Board of Directors are Treasurer and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Budget and Finance, John Tracy, Executive Chairman, Dot Foods, Inc., headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri; Chairman of the NAW Association Executives Council (AEC), Ralph Suppa of the Canadian Institute of Plumbing & Heating; Chairman-Elect of the AEC, Rick Long of the Petroleum Equipment Institute; and Past Chair of the AEC, Deborah M. Hamlin of the Irrigation Association.

NAW comprises individual wholesale distribution firms and a federation of national, regional, state, and local associations and their members, which collectively total more than 30,000 companies. NAW represents the nearly $5.7-trillion merchant wholesale distribution industry, which moves to market virtually every kind of product in the U.S. economy and employs 5.9 million people.