NARCA Wraps Up 10th Anniversary in Orlando

The National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA) gathered for their annual Fall Collection Conference this past week. More than 700 members of the retail collections community were in attendance, a record number for the association celebrating its tenth anniversary. NARCA’s Exhibit Hall showcased 34 booths of the leading providers of goods and services for retail collection law firms over the three days.

Charles G. Pona was inaugurated as NARCA President during the conference. His message for the retail collection community was a call “to educate our members so that we remain ahead of the competition...to expose our members to all of the latest technologies...to provide you with the latest concepts and strategies for making your collection staff more productive...to keep our fingers on the pulse of the legislative efforts within the credit industry.” Chuck Pona, from Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, Co., LPA, in Cleveland, OH, has served as a board member of NARCA for seven years and as chair or co-chair of several committees.

New Board of Directors members and officers for NARCA were elected and installed during the conference. Ron Opher of Ron Z. Opher, Attorney at Law will serve as Treasurer, and Ira Leibsker of Blatt, Hasenmiller, Leibsker & Moore LLC will serve as Secretary. Newly elected Vice Presidents are Barbara Adams of Shermeta, Chimko & Adams, PC, Fred Blitt of Blitt and Gaines, PC, Perry Silverman of Perry R. Silverman Co., LPA, Herb Rosenthal of Herbert A. Rosenthal Chartered, Lynn Olivier of Olivier and Olivier, PC, and Wayne Babovich of Babovich Spedale & Chauvin, PLC. Selected by the Board to fill the un-expired Board term of Ron Opher is Eric Berman of Eric M. Berman, PC, and appointed Parliamentarian is William Hicks of Messerli & Kramer, PA.

NARCA was pleased to present the first ever Donald Kramer Award, “presented to those whose work has changed our industry and community forever,” to Don Kramer, the namesake of the award and NARCA’s founder. “Without Don’s vision and hard work, there would be no NARCA. This organization has grown and thrived with his continuous care,” Chuck Pona stated while presenting the award.

Founded in 1993, the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA) is a 501(c)(6) organization dedicated to serving law firms engaged in the business of retail debt collection. For more information contact Cindy White, Executive Director at 202-861-0706 or cindyw@narca.org.