Leading the Association as president will be Tim Burenga, vice president of sales and purchasing at Worksaver, Inc., in Litchfield, Ill.

The focus will include lawn, landscape, small farm and rural lifestyle equipment.

Director elections are scheduled to be held this summer for the EDA Regions of North Central and Mid-Atlantic.

At its recent meeting, the OPE Council discussed the need to expand on the internet sales issue by focusing on direct sales by manufacturers and how this is addressed in the manufacturers’ internet policy.

In a joint meeting held June 11, the Board of Directors of Mid-America Equipment Retailers Assn. and the Ohio-Michigan Equipment Dealers Assn. unanimously agreed to pursue a merger of the two associations.

The Western Equipment Dealers Assn. (WEDA), an international trade association representing equipment dealers since 1889, has announced the selection of Andrew P. Phillips as its new vice president, SouthWestern Region. Phillips will fill the vacancy created by Jeff Flora's retirement. The selection was made after a national search and selection process conducted by Tryon & Heideman LLC.

The joint membership of SouthWestern Assn. (SWA) and Canada West Equipment Dealers Assn. (CWEDA) have voted overwhelmingly in favor of moving forward with a merger of these two associations to form the new Western Equipment Dealers Assn. (WEDA).