PPAI has announced its 2020 Board of Directors officers as Ira Neaman, CAS, chair; Todd Pottebaum, MAS+, chair-elect; and Bill Mahre, CAS, vice chair, financial services. Current chair Brittany David, MAS, will take on the role of immediate past chair when the new board officers begin their one-year terms immediately following The PPAI Expo 2020.
Neaman steps into a role vacated by Sharon Willochell, CAS, who has left the industry. Neaman will immediately assume the role of the 2019 chair-elect. His appointment, along with the other board officers, was made by the PPAI Board Officer Nominating Committee in accordance with the Association’s bylaws and after thoughtful, careful deliberation. Their selection is supported by the entire PPAI board.
Dale Denham, MAS+, immediate past chair of the board, who led the nominating committee says, “Having served with these extremely talented colleagues, I am confident in the future of PPAI with them as our volunteer leaders. These individuals are intelligent and dedicated to the success of our industry and have consistently provided valuable direction during their terms on the board so far. Each of these individuals deeply understands the challenges and opportunities available to our members and I’m confident in their ability to navigate the road ahead.”
Neaman, founder and president of Avenel, New Jersey, supplier Vantage Apparel, joined the PPAI board in July 2018. He founded Vantage in 1977 and has been an active volunteer in the promotional products industry for more than 40 years. Neaman has served on several PPAI volunteer committees, including the Leadership Advisory Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee and the Marketing and Research Committee, as well as the Promotional Products Education Foundation board and numerous industry task forces. He is currently the PPAI board liaison to the Supplier Foresight Committee. In 2002, he became the inaugural recipient of the PPAI Education Lifetime Achievement Award, and Counselor magazine named him its Person of the Year in 2003, and has included him in its Power 50 since 2008.
Pottebaum, president of distributor Quality Resource Group, Inc., in Plymouth, Minnesota, was elected to the PPAI board in 2017. He has spent 19 years in the promotional products industry and has served as a member and chair of the PPAI Market Research Committee, and as a speaker at several PPAI Expo education events. He is currently the PPAI board liaison to the Distributor Foresight Committee. A member and former board president of the Upper Midwest Association of Promotional Professionals (UMAPP), he was named UMAPP Volunteer of the Year in 2015.
Mahre was elected to the PPAI board in 2018. As president of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, supplier ADG Promotional Products, he has worked in the promotional products industry for more than 10 years, and has assisted with multiple startups and turnaround ventures throughout his career. He was an active member of the Product Responsibility Advisory Group and now acts as the group’s board liaison.
