TMA News

IN TMA NEWS>> TMA Presents Annual Awards

President Don Young honors two TMA members who have made significant contribution to TMA and the industry.

On Wed., October 21, 2020, in the course of TMA’s General Membership Meeting, TMA President Don Young had the honor of presenting TMA’s two highest awards - Stanley C. Lott Award for Exemplary Service and the Mel Mahler Award for Outstanding Service to the Monitoring Industry.

The 2020 Stanley C. Lott Award for Exemplary Service was presented to former TMA President Ivan Spector, President, Sentinelle Alarms.

In presenting the award, President Young stated, “This year the award is given to a man who has not only served TMA through many leadership positions on committees and the TMA Board, but who was a founding member and longtime board member of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC).

In addition, he has been a leader in advancing alarm management in both Canada and the United States.

For CANASA, he served on the Board of Directors, was national president, and chair of the Response Committee. In that role he proved instrumental in driving many false dispatch reduction initiatives. He is also a Superior Court of Canada-acknowledged and accepted expert witness.

This year’s winner is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal and is the owner of Sentinel Alarm in Montreal, Canada.”

Young then presented the 2020 Mel Mahler Award for Outstanding Service to the Monitoring Industry to Steve A. Schmit, Senior Staff Engineer, UL.

In presenting the award, President Young commented, “When deciding on a recipient for this year’s Award, one name came immediately to mind. He is an individual who has served our industry for more than 39 years, but with the onset of Covid 19 earlier this year, he worked tirelessly on behalf of the TMA membership to develop work at home standards that would allow our industry to continue to operate under safe conditions.

This year’s winner is an experienced Engineering Manager with a history of working in the public safety industry. He holds a BS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and serves as Senior Staff Engineer for Underwriters Laboratories.

I am very grateful for all of the help and guidance this year’s recipient provided on the establishment of the new standard.”

Please congratulate our award winners, Ivan and Steve for their extraordinary contribution to our industry.

New Committee Chairs Appointed The Associate Members’ Liaison Committee and the Proprietary Council both welcomed new chairs in October.

Jennifer Holloway, CIBC Bank USA, is joining DMP Vice President of Marketing Mark Hillenburg, as co-chair of the Associate Members’ Liaison Committee, which represents suppliers and Associate Members to the TMA Board of Directors. “As a long-time member of the Associate Members’ Liaison Committee, I look forward to partnering with Mark Hillenburg to represent my fellow associate members’ needs and concerns to the TMA Board and with general membership,” Holloway stated.

“Every member plays a role in reaching TMA’s goals, and I am grateful to have this new opportunity as co-chair.”

With the recent resignation of TMA’s longtime Proprietary Council Chair Dan Jackman, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Don Young appointed Michele Levcik, Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., to the position of Council chairman. “I am very excited and honored for the opportunity to serve on the TMA board. My goals are to increase proprietary participation and retention and continue to build relationships and knowledge in the industry,” commented Levcik.

Richard Flores, Puget Sound Energy, will support Levcik on the Proprietary Council as its new vice chair. Flores has served as the Council’s Secretary since 2017.