The Association Grows — 1978
July 5, 2016
CEDA, by the year 1978, had grown to represent 70 Canadian companies, with a total of more than 400 branches and annual sales of $1.4 billion. In concert with this growth, the structure of the Association was expanded. The divisions increased from five to eight, geographically defined as British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Maritime (PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia), and Newfoundland.
Divisions (except Ontario and Quebec) each nominated one person to serve on the Board of Directors. Ontario and Quebec were allowed two Directors each. There were to be four Directors-at large nominated by a committee. Shown in the photo: some of the 1976 Board members.
The President and Vice President positions, which had previously been filled by a vote of the Board, would now be determined by a vote of the membership at the Annual Meeting. It was further decided that there would be at least two, but not more than three, Vice Presidents, and that the Executive Committee should consist of the President, all of the Vice Presidents, the Immediate Past President, Secretary, Treasurer and the Executive Director.
Realizing that working together with wholesale distributors from other industries would be beneficial, CEDA helped form the Alliance of National Distributor Associations (ANDA). Other members of this alliance included wholesaler associations from industries such as plumbing and heating, automotive, shipping and warehousing.
The Board saw this association as being especially helpful in such areas as education and government regulations. Although ANDA would meet infrequently, CEDA hoped a regular exchange of information would be generated to the benefit of electrical distributors.
Source: CEDA: Fifty Years of Service – An Historical Review of the Canadian Electrical Distributors Association, 1934 to 1984, Kerrwil Publications. Please feel free to reach out to us any time if you have great photos, historical anecdotes or perspectives. We would love to hear from you; linegoyette@kerrwil.com.
