TIA Updates Members at Annual General Meeting; Re-Elects Four Board Members

February 20, 2017 | At its “Annual General Meeting” today, the Toy Industry Association (TIA) shared with members results of its work on behalf of the toy community as well as important updates regarding the Association’s new strategic plan, rebranding efforts to be unveiled this spring, and its 2016 fiscal performance. Four members were also re-elected to TIA’s board of directors.

The Association is “moving into an exciting 2017-2020 strategic plan focused on our members’ needs,” said TIA Chairman and Strategic Advisor for Hasbro, David Hargreaves. “In about two months we will announce a comprehensive rebranding effort taking the Association forward into the second hundred years. So indeed we have good news to share. We have taken advantage of new opportunities and we have successfully defended your businesses.”

He noted that the Association is healthy, ending 2016 with strong financials. TIA entered 2017 with more than 1,000 member companies, equating to growth of 16% in 2016.

Going forward TIA will be focused on creating even greater value for members, according to Steve Pasierb, TIA’s president and chief executive.

“TIA is the first place members should turn when they have a question – certainly when they’re in trouble – [but also] if they’ve got product questions, if they’ve got testing results they don’t understand,  the first place should be TIA. If we don’t have the answer we will find the person who has the answer for our members. That’s what we are here for,” Pasierb said during the meeting.

Besides the networking and business connections at Toy Fair, members have noted that the Association’s external affairs efforts have been a top membership benefit for them, according to Pasierb. TIA’s external affairs department has been hard at work navigating the federal, state, and local legislative and regulatory landscape for members, but the team has also been increasingly adding global issues to its priority list.

“As American toy companies grow and look to new markets, we’re going to need to represent their interests around the world. Our team has been everywhere in the past year,” said Pasierb.

During the general meeting, TIA members re-elected four directors to the Board, each for two-year terms of office expiring in 2019.

Howard Kahn, chairman of Madame Alexander and CEO of Kahn Lucas and Bruce Raiffe, president of GUND (a division of Enesco, LLC) were each re-elected for a second term. Richard Barry, global chief merchandising officer at Toys“R”Us, Inc., was re-elected for a third term, and Manuel Torres, executive vice president of worldwide consumer products at NBC Universal, was re-elected for a third term as a member of the board’s executive committee.

Open to both members and non-members, the 2017 TIA Annual General Meeting was held in conjunction with the 114th North American International Toy Fair currently underway at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.