The National Marine Electronics Association elected Steven Katz as chairperson of the board of directors. He served as vice chairperson for several years and begins his new position in January. Katz succeeds Mike Spyros, who completes his three-year term at the end of December.

Katz owns and operates Steve’s Marine Service, a marine electronics dealership in Ocean City, Md. He was an industrial engineer for large corporations before transitioning to information technology and eventually starting his own marine-service company. He also holds a Coast Guard 100-ton captain’s license.

“Thank you to the members of the NMEA for your continued confidence and support,” Katz said in a statement. “I look forward to serving our members and working with the entire board. I will work hard to grow our successful programs and benefits, along with researching new offerings we, as an association, can provide the marine electronics trade and the boating public.”

Also elected to the NMEA board were Brian Kane of GOST as vice chairperson and directors Paul Comyns of Intellian, Peter Braffitt of Gemeco and Brian Swanke of CWR.