MINNEAPOLIS -- Each year at this time, the NATO membership elects retail, wholesale, and manufacturer candidates to the NATO Board of Directors. This year, more retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers ran for election than ever before. The election results have been finalized and the following individuals were elected to a two-year term:
- Retail Board: Mary Szarmach (The Cigarette Store Corp./Smoker Friendly), Phil Metzinger (Brookshire Bros.), Bob Roberts (Smoke’em Inc.), Bob Sanft (Xtramart Stores), Tony Stapleton (7-Eleven Inc.), and Stacie Tonniges (Casey’s General Stores).
- Wholesale Board: Pete Lippe (Core-Mark International) and Mike Gold (Arango Cigar).
- Manufacturer Board: Larry Sherman (Nat Sherman Inc.) and Bhavani Parameswar (King Maker Marketing).
A special thank you to the following individuals that were also board election candidates: John Cody Gielen (Shop Rite/Tobacco Plus Stores), Ron Jung (Smokes Stores), Keith Canning (Pine State Trading), Michael Shannon (Lorillard Tobacco), Russ Mancuso (Premier Manufacturing), Bill Noah (Scandinavian Tobacco Group), Ralph Brown (Cheyenne International) and John Ostronic (Commonwealth Altadis, Inc.).
Other current board members that will be a part of the 2015 NATO Board of Directors include Jeff Steinbock (Uhles Tobacco Co.), Anne Flint (Cumberland Farms), Frank Armstrong (Blue Ridge Tobacco), Ray Calderon (Discount Smoke Shop), Regan Norman Bartley (Smoker Friendly), Darren Collett (Collett Enterprises), Dan Mulvaney (Swedish Match), Dave Riser (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.), Brittani Cushman (National Tobacco Co.), Molly Slingerland (Altria Client Services), Miguel Martin (Logic Technology), Bill Dunn (Swisher International), and Honorary Director Joel Sherman (Nat Sherman Co.).
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