CHFA Board Chair Resigns

Furniture World News Desk on 8/28/2017

CHFA recently announced that after 12 years as Chairman of the CHFA Board of Directors, Laine Reynolds has decided to step down. While he will be resigning from the volunteer Chair position he will continue to serve on the Board of Directors as Past Chair and a member of the Events Committee. In addition to his position as Vice-President, Sales & Marketing for Superstyle Furniture he also sits on the Advisory Committee of the Canadian Furniture Show as a representative of the outside showrooms.

Laine's involvement with association activities commenced in 1984 and in 1989 he became a member of the Events Committee, which he chaired from 2002 until 2005. He has served on the Board of Directors since 2003 and as Chairman of the Board from 2005 - 2017, which is the longest serving Chair in the 127 history of the organization.

Throughout his tenure as Chairman he significantly improved the financial viability of the organization. As Chair Laine took the initiative to reduce staff, negotiate a rent-free office lease and retire long-term equipment lease debt obligations. As well, he initiated the establishment of a substantial Contingency Fund to cover extraordinary expenditures with Board approved guidelines. He also led the movement to reduce the number of Canadian associations representing the home furnishings industry from three regional and one national association to 2 regional associations, resulting in improved industry representation. In an effort to make the CHFA an all encompassing membership-based organization Laine was responsible for expanding the membership categories from manufacturers to include importers, retailers and the buying groups. With this change the CHFA became a broad-based association covering all regions of Canada except Quebec.

Under Laine's leadership the CHFA successfully lobbied the WSIB and Ministry of Labour to ensure that the Safety Group Program continue and was not a victim of government cuts. Along with the Events Committee he successfully implemented a much needed rejuvenation of the Regional Furniture Show and the Canadian Home Furnishings Awards Program. Led by Laine Reynolds the CHFA successfully lobbied Industry Canada to remove the 14% tariff on fabrics which saved the industry tens of thousand of dollars. Most recently he was part of an industry group who met with Global Affairs Canada and Finance Canada to discuss the potential negative affects of promoting a free trade agreement between Canada and China.

John Power, Chair of the Events Committee, Board member for the past 10 years and General Manager Sales and Strategic Development for Mega Group Inc. said, "I believe that one of the most important achievements Laine has made to the CHFA is adapting the Association to current business realities in order to keep it alive through one of the most tumultuous periods in the industry and since the establishment of the association in 1890." John went on to say that, "the organization remains a viable and relevant organization after all the closures of manufacturers, retailers and other industry associations in the past 10 years." "When Laine accepted this position 12 years ago he wanted to make a difference for the association and the industry", said Dino Colalillo, Vice-President of Edgewood Furniture and CHFA Board member for the past 15 years. "I believe he did."



Laine leaves in place a strong and talented Board of Directors. A new Chair will be elected at a Board of Directors' meeting on September 21st subsequent to the Annual General Meeting.