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August 16, 2010 - The
Specialty Sleep Association (SSA) held its first
general membership meeting under its newly revised
by-laws at the recent Las Vegas Furniture Market, where
its board of directors, a new slate of officers, and the
group's first professional president was named.
Deslee Textiles USA President Bart DeHaerne was elected
to the new position of chairman; Ergo Customized Comfort
Founder & President Michael Nermon is now vice chairman;
and Chili Technology President Todd Youngblood is the
new secretary/treasurer. For the first time in the SSA's
history, Dale Read was appointed to a newly defined
president's position, which is now a paid professional
of the organization. He will focus on membership
development and implementation of the group's Safety &
Environmental Program (SEP). Tambra Jones remains
executive director with her primary responsibility
continuing to be leasing for the group's World Market
Center showroom, and overseeing operations and finance.
“This has been a tremendous year of growth for the SSA,
particularly with the introduction of our SEP seal. We
needed a professional who could dedicate their time and
effort to continue to lead this effort, and with Dale
scaling back his involvement with Bedroom magazine, we
had the opportunity to engage him on a part-time basis
to spearhead the program,” said DeHaerne. “Already, a
number of manufacturers are working with us to implement
the seal and Dale is playing an important role in
facilitating this. We are glad he was able to find more
time to commit to our organization.”
SSA officers are elected by the board of directors, of
which they are also members. In addition to the
officers, other directors re-elected at the meeting
included: Denny Boyd of Boyd Specialty Sleep; Mark
Miller of InnoMax, Jeff Scorziell of Anatomic Global;
Scott Smalling of Simmons; and Dave Brummett of Mattress
Firm.
Prior to joining Deslee Textiles in 2005, Dehaerne,
worked in FMCG. He holds a degree in commercial
engineering from KU Leuven, one of Europe's leading
universities and a master's degree in business
administration from the University of Chicago. He joined
the SSA board in 2008.
Nermon founded Ergo Customized Comfort, a specialty
retailer in Southern California. He has an extensive
30-plus-year career in the bedding industry, formerly as
executive vice president of Maxwell Products, the
adjustable bed division of Leggett & Platt. He joined
the SSA board in 2000.
Youngblood of Chili Technology has held positions in
sales and product management at American Recreation
Products and Stearns/K2 Inc. He joined the SSA board in
2009.
Read had been publisher and editor-in-chief of Bedroom
magazine since 2003. Earlier in the year, he stepped
aside from those roles and became a senior writer. He
has been active in the SSA for many years and was
elected its volunteer president in 2008.
Founded in 1995, the Specialty Sleep Association (SSA)
is a national not-for-profit organization created to
facilitate the growth and positive awareness of the
specialty sleep category. Its members develop and/or
sell specialty sleep products, including natural and
organic bedding, latex, memory foam, air, gel, water,
adjustable, new spring technologies and related
products. SSA membership includes more than 100
manufacturers and retailers ranging from small,
family-owned businesses to large corporations.
For more information regarding the SSA, please
contact Executive Director Tambra Jones at: 559-868-4187 or 559-676-8639, or e-mail at
tambra@sleepinformation.org. |
