New SEDA President Ted Cowie recognizes outgoing president Heidi Levitt for her service to the association.

SEDA announced its new slate of officers and directors for 2007 during Safety Leadership Forum (SLF) in Lake Tahoe, California on June 12. Frederick H. “Ted” Cowie was elected to a two-year term as President. Cowie is president and COO of Safety Today, Inc., headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Eric Emery, COO of Bennett, Bowen & Lighthouse, Inc. in Santa Fe, California, was elected to a two-year term as 1st Vice President. Michael Standley, Sales Manager of Oxarc Safety Products Division, located in Spokane, Washington was elected to a two-year term as 2nd Vice

President. Former President Heidi Levitt of Levitt-Safety will be continuing on the SEDA board as Immediate Past President for two years.

The following individuals were elected to serve as directors on the SEDA board:

Director: John C. Cincotta is President of Reliable Safety Products, located in Monroe, North Carolina. Reliable Safety Products was founded in 1971, originating in Carolina, Puerto Rico and is considered a leading distributor of safety equipment products and services on the island.

John has a B.A. degree in Business Management, with a minor in Spanish, from Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA and has been in the safety industry for twenty-five (25) years. John has attended the University of Industrial Distribution and is a Qualified Safety Sales Professional (QSSP). He has served on the MSA Distributor Advisory Board from 2002 – 2005, acting as Chairman for his final year served and is currently on the Kimberly-Clark Distributor Advisory Council. John was elected to serve a three year term as director.

Director: Tim Higgins is Vice President of Sales and Customer Service for Conney Safety Products, LLC. Conney is a full service national marketer of personal protective equipment, safety equipment and first aid supplies. Conney was founded in 1946 and is comprised of two brands, Conney Safety and Direct Safety.

Tim graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1980 with a BA in Economics. Mr. Higgins joined Conney in 1997 in his current role. He began his career with 12 years at Philip Morris in the Sales Department in a variety of roles. He then held the position of Director of Sales at Capital City Distribution and Playscapes Children’s Environments for a combined 5 years. Tim was elected to serve a three year term as director.

Director: S. Sam Yadav is President of Quest Environmental & Safety Products, Inc. headquartered in Fishers, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis, IN.

Quest® is a leading distributor of Personal Protection Equipment in the Medical products manufacturing, Industrial and Environmental Remediation industries. Quest® is celebrating their 10th year in business.

Before becoming the President of Quest Environmental & Safety Products, Inc, Sam was the Area Manager for C.R. Bard – Davol Division, Divisional Sales Manger for U.S. Surgical Corp – Now Tyco Healthcare Medical Division, and President of Acu-Care Medical, A Johnson & Johnson Orthopedics technical sales group.
Sam earned his Dual Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing and Finance from St. Louis University (St. Louis, MO), MBA from Butler University (Indianapolis, IN) and Executive Management Training from Dartmouth’s Tucks School of Business (Hanover, NH). Sam has attended the University of Industrial Distribution.

Sam is also a board member of the Indiana Business Diversity Council, Veolia Water – Indianapolis Review committee, Past Board Member of Park Tudor College Preparatory School, Past President of Park Tudor Father’s Association. Sam was elected to serve a three year term as director.

Affiliate Member Director: Wayne Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Accuform Signs, Brooksville, FL, was re-elected to a second two year term as Affiliate Member Director on the SEDA board. During his near thirty year career with Accuform, Wayne has been instrumental in guiding his company’s growth within the marketplace. He is also the co-owner and President of Safety Marketing Services, which provides catalog development, printing and marketing services to fellow industry professionals and is the preferred catalog provider for SEDA.

Wayne has served on the SEDA Board of Directors for the past year. He currently chairs the SEDA membership committee.

SEDA President Ted Cowie (right) thanks Rick Rivkin for his service to the association. SEDA President Ted Cowie (left) recognizes outgoing director Jay Arnold for his service to the association.

Jay Arnold of Hagemeyer has retired from the SEDA board after dedicated service to the association as a director since 2003. Jay has served on the Joint SEDA/ISEA education committee that oversees the QSSP program and has chaired the SEDA education committee for the last two years. He has been a strong supporter of the QSSP program and other SEDA educational programs. Jay was honored with a plaque recognizing his years of service to the organization at the Annual Awards banquet during SLF on June 12. Larry Loizzo of LSS has left the SEDA board after dedicated service to the association as a director and an officer since 2002. Larry has served as First Vice President for the last two years. Larry was unable to attend this year’s meeting due to another commitment, but we would like to acknowledge his service and thank him for his support of the association. Rick Rivkin of Saf-T-Gard International has served on the SEDA board since 2000. Rick has been a strong supporter of SEDA in the last seven years and has

served as SEDA’s president for two years and immediate past president for the last two years. He has also served on the SEDA Nominating and Government Relations committees in his tenure as SEDA director and officer. Rick was presented with a commemorative clock recognizing his years of service to the organization at the Annual Awards banquet during SLF on June 12.

Continuing on the SEDA Board are Ray Aldridge of Orr Safety Corporation in Louisville, KY and Jan Beattie of Hazmasters in Pickering, ON, Canada. Congratulations to all of our new directors and officers.