Jay Deutsch, co-founder and CEO of distributor Bensussen Deutsch & Associates (BDA) (PPAI 109381), is stepping down from the board of the Quality Certification Alliance (QCA). Deutsch, the architect behind the QCA’s creation, has served on the organization’s board for 10 years, including eight as president. The QCA is an independent, non-governmental accreditation organization dedicated to helping promotional products industry companies provide product quality, product safety, supply chain security, social accountability and environmental stewardship.
“Jay was instrumental in creating industry standards for brand safety and ethical sourcing. Without his passion and vision, QCA would not exist today. He has been an integral part of building QCA into an innovative, industry-leading organization and his valuable counsel has played a huge part in QCA’s growth and impact on the industry,” says Tim Brown, MAS, QCA executive director – operations.
“Jay is leaving the board in a solid position and is passing the torch to the current and future leaders of QCA. The organization is poised for growth as end buyers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of responsible sourcing processes that are independently validated.”
Deutsch provided vision, leadership and expertise in his role as president and member of the governance committee. He has also contributed time and support to several QCA committees and the formation of its Distributor Advocacy Council (DAC).
“QCA would not exist without Jay’s 2008 vision of a product responsibility accreditation body for the promotional products industry,” says Larry Whitney, who replaced Deutsch as board president in 2016. “Jay’s contributions to the success of QCA are too numerous to count.”
Deutsch was recognized at The PPAI Expo 2018 in Las Vegas during QCA’s annual meeting with the organization’s first Heritage Award. The Heritage Award recognizes pioneers and visionaries who have demonstrated unwavering dedication, innovation, and leadership in the creation and sustainability of QCA and the organization’s mission.
“Over the past decade, we’ve worked tirelessly to deliver a set of exacting quality standards to the promotional products industry,” say Deutsch. “With more than twenty-five years of working in the Far East, BDA brought to the table our world class supply chain QC program and associated best practices as the foundation of QCA. This set a high bar for what is today QCA’s proprietary auditing protocols.
“I’m really proud of the work that we accomplished, and the great suppliers that opened their doors to improve and certify their supply chain practices,” adds Deutch. “There are many professional suppliers working hard to protect both our clients’ brands and our overall industry—I thank them as well. Now it is time for me to focus 100 percent of my attention on how fast BDA is growing, and I feel good with QCA in the capable hands of Tim Brown and Dee Fenton. BDA will continue to lead by example as a champion of the Distributor Advocacy Council for QCA and will support the ongoing development of the QCA platform.”
