Contact: Marti Pupillo
mpupillo@idfa.org
(202) 220-3515
(Washington, D.C. – February 27, 2013) International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) President and CEO Connie Tipton was elected last month to the board of directors of the National Association of Manufacturer’s (NAM) Council of Manufacturing Associations (CMA). The announcement was made during CMA’s Winter Leadership Conference in Annapolis, Md.
The CMA is made up of more than 200 industry-specific manufacturing associations that provide resources and networks to members in order to broaden the reach of the NAM’s advocacy efforts. CMA members have also been a driving force in advancing the NAM’s workforce development and skills certification programs.
“It’s a great privilege to serve on CMA’s board of directors,” said Tipton. “I look forward to serving in this role with the National Association of Manufacturers, as we work to grow manufacturing in North America.”
Tipton will serve a three-year term on the board. She joins Chair Donna Harman, president and CEO of the American Forest & Paper Association, and others elected to the board of directors, including Kate Offringa, president and CEO of the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association; Heidi Brock, president of the Aluminum Association; Ed Youdell, president and CEO of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International; and Stephen Gold, president and CEO of the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation.
Tipton joined IDFA in 1981 and has served as president and CEO of IDFA since 2004. She has managed activities in virtually every area of the association, including legislative and international affairs, economic policy analysis, communications and public relations, marketing programs, education and training, trade shows, and office management. She also was involved in strategy, policy and budgeting for the overall management of the organization.
Named vice president in 1989, Tipton was promoted to senior vice president in 1994 and to senior group vice president in 1999. She was promoted to executive vice president in January 2003 and took over as the association's president and CEO the following year.
During her tenure, Tipton helped to launch such well-known programs as the annual Capitol Hill Ice Cream Party, assisted in passing legislation to create the famous "milk mustache" campaign and other positive measures for the industry, and helped promote policies that allow greater competition and growth in dairy markets.
Tipton also helped to build the industry's political action committee — Ice Cream, Milk & Cheese PAC — and, in 2002, was selected by two Capitol Hill publications as one of the top trade association lobbyists in Washington. She was named Association Executive of the Year in 2009 by ASSOCIATION TRENDS magazine.
In addition to CMA, Tipton serves on the boards of BIPAC, a business-oriented political action committee, and the Capitol Hill Day School. She also is board member emeritus of the Bryce Harlow Foundation, a group that provides scholarships and leadership in professional advocacy.
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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, DC, represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies representing a $110-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's 220 dairy processing members run more than 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States.
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is the preeminent US manufacturers association as well as the nation’s largest industrial trade association, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs nearly 12 million workers, contributes more than $1.6 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, is the largest driver of economic growth in the nation and accounts for the lion’s share of private sector research and development. www.nam.org