Global Fastener News

After 31 years with the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association, including 26 as CEO, one of Georgia Foley’s favorite STAFDA memories was an event prior to her first full-time job with the association.

In 1990 Foley was managing another association when her father, Morrie Halvorsen, STAFDA’s first executive director, left her alone in the green room with the keynote speaker – former president Ronald Reagan.

“He had just come out of office,” Foley recalled. While Reagan had tea and honey before going on stage, the two talked “about bees, nature and other generalities. He was the nicest, most congenial man and you’d never know he was the immediate past president of the United States. We laughed and had a delightful conversation.”

The 1990 STAFDA convention in Anaheim provided “a wide range of emotions” for Foley. The evening before she was “screaming like a teenager” on roller coaster rides during the opening party at Knott’s Berry Farm. The next mornings was “having buttoned-up conversation with the former president of the United States.”

“I’ll never forget President Reagan’s kindness and genuineness towards me,” Foley reflected.

Foley subsequently was hired by STAFDA and was promoted to CEO upon Halvorsen’s retirement.

At the 2025 convention, it was announced that beginning in 2026, STAFDA will be managed by Frontline Co., a Springfield, IL-based association management company. Frontline has a team of 30 employees providing expertise in accounting, governance, marketing, data and technology, education, meeting planning, advocacy and leadership.

Foley and STAFDA member services director Cathy Usher, will become Frontline employees. Foley will reduce her hours and an executive search has been launched to find her successor.

Looking back at her quarter-century tenure as CEO, the economy naturally has been up and down. STAFDA has handled the economic ups and downs “by being very flexible in both instances,” Foley said. That includes “carefully investing during good times to create a ‘rainy day’ fund when things turn south,” Foley said.

“And during down times, managing expenses and pulling back in areas that don’t impact the overall health of the association.”

Though she “enjoyed all our locations” for STAFDA conventions, the 2013 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas stands out, with Earth Wind & Fire performing at the opening party and the general session featured a panel of sports legends Tony LaRussa, Jim Calhoun and Terry Bradshaw, and moderated by Roy Firestone.

Foley said that after the program, Bradshaw got lost trying to leave Mandalay Bay and “the hotel staff, security, board members, and myself had to spread out throughout the property trying to find him! We found him on a loading dock!”

With all the member company consolidations what will trade associations look like in a decade? “We’ll all have to pull together in order to survive,” Foley suggested.

“No doubt about it. Associations continue to have an important role, but we too need to consolidate, at least on shows and joint programs,” Foley said.

Foley described the 1,900-member STAFDA as “a relationship organization” and said it “will continue to be so. We’re the only organization with a show that specifically serves construction/industrial distributors and I see STAFDA building on that to incorporate more facets within our channel to create a ‘Super Show.’ I’d love to be in the background sewing that all together!” Foley added.

What is next for Foley?

“As I pull back from STAFDA, I’ll be serving as the new executive director of the Concrete Sawing & Drilling Association,” Foley said. “We have overlapping members and two years ago, I tried to acquire CSDA when it was looking for a new management company.”

CSDA ended up with Frontline, which Foley saw as “a natural home” for STAFDA.

“It’s exciting for me to stay in our industry and I’m grateful to Frontline’s owner, Kim Robinson, for adding me to her team.”