Washington, DC, March 18, 2008— Members of the Hearing Industries Association (HIA) met on March 6-8 to elect new leaders for the Association and affirm the organization's commitment to passage of a tax credit for hearing aid purchases. Cathy Jones, Phonak, and outgoing HIA Chair, welcomed the hearing aid companies and announced two new member of HIA, Audina and Hansaton. She observed that efforts of the industry are clearly resulting in greater press coverage of hearing aids that leads to better understanding of hearing loss and ultimately more use of amplification.
Jerry Ruzicka, Starkey, was elected to the Chair of HIA, recommitting to maximum levels of effort to pass the hearing aid tax credit and moving forward with "Exploring the Consumer's Journey." Completing the HIA Executive Committee, Sam Westover, Sonic Innovations, was elected Vice Chair and Jeff Taylor, Sonion was re-elected as Secretary/Treasurer. Cathy Jones will serve as Immediate Past Chairman and Carole Rogin continues as chief staff executive.
Board elections held at the meeting re-elected the following directors for two-year terms on the HIA Board: Cathy Jones, Randy Raymond, Jerry Ruzicka, Jeff Taylor and John Zei. Robert Tong, AMI Semiconductor, Ian Roane, Sound Design and Todd Murray, Beltone were elected to sit on the HIA Board.
The meeting was keynoted by Boomer and New Media expert Dr. Mary Furlong. She highlighted an array of websites and technologies that are focused on baby boomer issues and technologies and urged the hearing industry to reach beyond traditional communication channels using non-traditional vehicles. Other featured speakers included Dr. Lucille Beck, Veterans Administration, and Rich Galen, political analyst.
HIA, headquartered in Washington, DC, is the national trade association of manufacturers of hearing aids, implantable hearing devices, assistive listening devices, component parts and power sources for amplification devices.
