LAS VEGAS — The American Teleservices Association elected five new members for its board of directors and picked vice chairman Bill Miklas to succeed Tim Searcy as chairman, the ATA said yesterday at its 18th Annual Convention & Exhibition.
Miklas said his goals for his yearlong tenure as ATA chairman include continuing to build up the association's membership, strengthening its finances and setting a strategic direction for the future. Miklas is vice president at teleservices agency Sitel, Omaha, NE.
Searcy will stay an active member of the board and is slated to head a new ATA committee dedicated to preparing short-term and long-term plans for the association. Searcy took over as chairman earlier this year after former chairman Gordon McKenna resigned following published allegations of mismanagement at his former company.
Miklas and others have credited Searcy with providing much-needed stability for the organization.
The five new board members are Gary Cohen of ACI Telecentrics; Ben Harris of Unicall International; Dennis McGarry of Personal Legal Plans Inc.; Tom Rocca of Assurant Group; and Stephanie Spade of SHS Marketing Group. Spade and Rocca have served on the ATA board in the past.
The total number of board members now stands at 14. A maximum of 15 members are allowed by the ATA's bylaws.
Other officer elections include Lisa DeFalco of TPG Telemanagement to vice chairwoman, Andrew Miller of MemberWorks to treasurer and Kathryn Barber of Barber Consulting Services to secretary.
Board members serve three-year terms. Board officers are elected yearly at the ATA's annual convention.
