March 9, 2023 - The Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) has elected Jeff Aznavorian, president of Plymouth, MI-based Clips & Clamps Industries, as its 2023 chairman of the board. Gregg Boucher, group COO of North Haven, CT-based Ulbrich Stainless Steels and Special Metals, will serve as vice chairman and treasurer. Both will serve one-year terms.

Aznavorian succeeds outgoing PMA Board Chair Doug Johnson, president of Cheshire, CT-based Marion Manufacturing Co.

“I’m honored to be elected chairman and thank Doug Johnson for his outstanding leadership this past year,” says Aznavorian. “I look forward to building upon his successful efforts to grow a stronger metalforming community.”

Aznavorian, whose father Mike served as PMA chair in 1996 and preceded Jeff as Clips & Clamps president, offers “Optimizing Connections: PMA United” as his theme as chair.

“The strength of PMA always has resided in its member companies and their people,” Aznavorian says, explaining the significance of his theme. “A wise person once told me that an asset we all can utilize is the ‘power of people’ and the ‘synergy of sharing.’ The challenge, then, is finding out how we can harness that power and take full advantage of the synergies. One great way to overcome that challenge is to optimize the connections that we already have in place. I feel like I have a partner in PMA that’s a webinar away, a phone call away, a click away. My goal is to convince others to feel the same way.”

PMA, Aznavorian says, connects people through four key areas—education and training, networking, benchmarking and advocacy. He points to several ways that these connections have helped move his business forward, including executive-level coaching for senior leadership, networking opportunities for his middle managers, education for his employees using PMA-generated content, and benchmarking data to help him compare his company to others in the industry using information from PMA’s Metalforming Insights business reports.

He also stresses the importance of PMA’s advocacy efforts to help the metalforming industry compete long into the future. PMA, through its One Voice government relations and public affairs partnership with the National Tooling and Machining Association, will focus on several key issues in 2023 deemed top of mind by association members, including workforce recruitment and training, taxes and raw material prices, among others.

“Moving forward, the association must continue to stand strong for its members,” Aznavorian says, “while at the same time standing on the strength of its members. A lot of change is coming to our industry; rate of change will not slow down. Our trade association then needs to be the port in the storm, where members can turn for direction and guidance.

“By leaning on the collective experience and knowledge that resides in our member companies and people,” he continues, “our connections will be strengthened, and our knowledge and potential will grow. We will be a Precision Metalforming Association that is united in our goals to support the best companies in the world of metalforming.”

Learn more about Aznavorian’s plans during his term as chairman in the March 2023 MetalForming magazine article.