Directors, trustees seek re-election Six board members have been nominated for re-election
to the Michigan Retailers Association Board of Directors and the Retailers
Fund Board of Trustees. Ballots for voting on the nominees have been mailed to
all MRA members and Retailers Fund participants. Directors and trustees
will be elected at the respective annual meetings of the Association and
the Fund, to be held July 1 at Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville. MRA board members seeking re-election to their three-year
terms are: Joseph McCurry, past chair of the executive committee
and retired district general manager for Sears, Roebuck and Co. Previously
he served as a store general manager for Sears in Illinois and Wisconsin.
A former staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, McCurry was educated at
Governors State University and Husson College. He was first elected to
the MRA board in 1997. Larry Mullins, chair elect of the executive committee
and owner of Brandon Tire & Battery in Ortonville. He is former chair
of Michigan Retailers Services, Inc., past president of the Michigan Tire
and Vehicle Service Association and a past member of the Tire Industry
Association board. A graduate of Lawrence Technological University, Mullins
is also past president of the North Oakland Chamber of Commerce and Rotary
District 638. He was first elected to the MRA Board in 1996. Joseph Reid, chairman, president and CEO of Capitol
Bancorp Limited, Lansing. He holds degrees from Eastern Michigan University
and Wayne State University Law School and spent 20 years in the legal
profession before founding Capitol National Bank in 1982. He has served
on the board of directors of the chambers of commerce in Phoenix, Arizona,
and Lansing, where he served as chair. He was first elected to the MRA
board in 2000. Peter Sobelton, owner-operator of Sundries Plus
in Troy, a chain of six sundry stores and cafeterias in office buildings
in greater Detroit, and previous owner of Churchill’s Ltd. tobacco
and gift stores. He is a former chair of Retailers Fund and past president
of the Tobacconists Association of America. Sobelton, who holds an MBA
in finance and a BS in marketing from Wayne State University, was first
elected to the MRA board in 1998. John K. Godfrey, CEO of Godfrey Jewelers, Battle
Creek, a family-owned business established in 1911. Godfrey is a Battle
Creek city commissioner and serves on the board of the Downtown Battle
Creek Association and the Citizens Downtown Parking Advisory Committee.
A graduate of Michigan State University, he is a former president of the
Michigan Jewelers Association and was first elected to the Retailers Fund
board in 1985. Jean Sarasin, secretary and treasurer of the Retailers Fund board. She joined MRA in 1981 after working in the banking and accounting fields. Named vice president of finance in 1990, she was promoted to senior vice president in 2001 and oversees MRA’s finance and customer service areas. Sarasin also serves on the board of the South Lansing Hilltoppers Adult Day Care Center. She was first elected to the Retailers Fund board in 1997. |