2021 Women in Engineering
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Tobi Cornell VP, Distribution
Kruvand Associates, Inc.
Tobi Cornell graduated from Texas Christian University in 1994 and entered the electronics industry that same year working for a Manufacturer’s Rep firm, DJ Sales (Dallas, TX), in an Inside Sales position. She went into Outside Sales after 2-½ years before the firm was acquired by Kruvand Assoc (Dallas, TX) in 1999. She continued in field sales at Kruvand for these past 22 years and counting with an account base in the Dallas/Ft Worth area, and was appointed VP of Distribution during this time to continue to foster and grow the close relationships with channel partners in the industry.
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Tell us about your company and how they support your involvement with ECIA. Kruvand is a Manufacturer’s Rep firm located in the Dallas, TX area serving the states of TX, OK, AR, LA and the country of Mexico. We have just under 40 employees located in the US and Mexico territory that we serve. Our involvement with the ECIA began early on as one of the original reps to join the organization. We also always attend the ECIA Executive Conferences in the Chicago area each year. My company is very supportive of my individual involvement with the ECIA’s various task force activities, which over the years have included me working with the groups that helped create the new Design Reg form, the planning of Regional ECIA meetings when they were held in Dallas, and most recently the DR Task Force to research the Design Registration program/system in our industry. Describe a recent project with ECIA (in which you were involved). What were you most proud of or what is most notable about this project? The most recent project has been the DR Task Force. I began when it formed in early 2020 and spent that full year working with the ECIA team and our other task force members who came from Distribution, Rep firms, and Manufacturing companies. Together our team came up with survey questions for the industry, took the first long draft of surveys ourselves, paired down that research and survey, and then helped recruit others to take the revised surveys. Finally, we analyzed all the data and categorized it for the ECIA Board’s review. When 2021 came around, I elected to stay with this DR committee as it entered the second phase of research, and we welcomed many new members to the task force this year from different Distributors, Manufacturer’s Reps, and Manufacturers. I must say that having the history participating in the first phase has made this second phase very satisfying, as I get to see something that has been discussed for one full year move on to the next full year of evolution…and it continues to be very eye opening! By the end of the year our project will come to a close with what should be a fascinating and amazing outlook of the future of the DR Program in the Electronics Industry. Describe your biggest career challenge. I think the biggest career challenge would be facing the years of drastic change. Whether it be a market segment decline, a large product line loss, or a natural disaster. I think right now we’re seeing the biggest career challenge in history as we all face and deal with COVID and how it has changed our lives. It is the biggest challenge I’ve faced, yet it’s also an opportunity to grow, to rethink how we do things, and to come out of this stronger on the other side. For the rest of Tobi Cornell’s insights, visit www.designworldonline.com/WiE.
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October 2021
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10/14/21 2:21 PM
