The AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) was a nationwide

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

trade association that represented all segments of the technology industry. It lobbied governments at the state, federal, and international levels; provided access to capital and business opportunities; and offered select business services and networking programs. AEA Councils, in Tech Centers nationwide, began forming in 1977, after the Board of Directors approved the nationwide expansion. Membership exploded to 3,000 from high tech centers from Boston to California. In 2008, the AeA merged with the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) to form

TechAmerica TechAmerica was an American technology trade association that was created in 2009, through the merger of several American trade associations including the AeA and Information Technology Association of America. In May 2014, CompTIA, a nonprofi ...

History

AeA was founded in 1943 by David Packard and 25 of

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

's suppliers to help lobby for government contracts. It was originally named the West Coast Electronic Manufacturers Association (WCEMA). In 1969, WCEMA changed its name to the Western Electronic Manufacturers Association (WEMA) to reflect the growing membership outside

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 1977, the association once again changed its name to the American Electronics Association, in an effort to more accurately represent its 750 members nationwide. With the addition of an experienced CEO and EVP’s the association grew to 3000 members from Tech Centers throughout the USA, Japan and Europe. With the internet age at the turn of the century, a final name change occurred in 2001, as the American Electronics Association was shortened to AeA with the tagline "Advancing the Business of Technology." AeA had 18 offices across the United States, and had two international offices in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. AeA had nearly 3,000 corporate members (and the 1.8 million employees they represent nationwide) at the time of the merger. The membership was drawn from a wide range of high tech sectors, including the aerospace/defense, business related services, computers, medical equipment, semiconductors/electronic components, software, and telecommunications industries. Since 1959, AeA has awarded an annual Medal of Achievement to a recipient selected for contributions and advances within the high-tech industry, their community, and humankind. AeA also produced an annual ''Cyberstates'' report which quantifies the high-tech industry on a state-by-state basis in the United States. On September 11, 2008, The Boards of Directors of weakened AeA and the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) announced that they are in discussions to merge the trade associations’ memberships and programs. On December 9, 2008, the Boards of Directors of AeA and ITAA announced that they have each approved the merger of the two trade associations' memberships and programs. The combined associations became

(The Technology Association of America) on January 1, 2009.

Chair & Board of Directors

Peter J. Boni is the Chairperson of the AeA Board of Directors and the President and CEO of Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. As President and Chief Executive Officer of Safeguard, Peter J. Boni is responsible for developing and executing Safeguard’s corporate strategy. In addition to acting as CEO for several publicly traded and privately held companies, he has served as a chairman, a Fortune 500 corporate executive, a NYSE Fortune 1000 president, a management consultant, board member, investor and advisor to institutional investors in both early- and later-stage hardware, software and technology-enabled services firms. After his CEO experience, Peter served as an Operating Partner at Advent International, a leading global private equity firm managing $10 billion. Select companies represented on the Board include Agilent, Citrix,

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

, Symantec, and

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

Senior staff at the time of the merger

President & Chief Executive Officer
Christopher Hansen Financial Operations
Samuel J. Block
Vice President/Controller Government Affairs
Robert J. Mulligan
Senior Vice President International Legal
Benjamin Aderson
Association Counsel and Secretary Operations
Matthew Kazmierczak
Senior Vice President, Operations Services
Elaine Sanders
Senior Vice President for Financial Conferences, Executive Education, and Affinity Programs Eric Meyer
Senior Vice President for Insurance Programs

AeA's Regional Offices

AeA's main offices were located in Washington, DC and in Silicon Valley, CA. AeA had a total network of 18 offices across the country and two overseas.

Sources

{{Reflist

External links

TechAmerica
Technology trade associations Lobbying organizations in the United States Organizations established in 1943 1943 establishments in the United States Trade associations based in the United States Defunct organizations based in the United States Organizations disestablished in 2009 2009 disestablishments in the United States Entertainment companies of the United States