The U.S. Hemp Industries Association (HIA) says it will elect a new president after parting ways with Joy Beckerman, who had led the trade group since last year. Beckerman’s departure was announced in a press release March 19, 2020.
HIA said it will hold an election to replace Beckerman during an executive summit tentatively planned for next month. Beckerman told Colorado-based Hemp Industry Daily she was surprised by the press release, which announced in a headline the parties had “mutually agree(d) to part ways.”
‘Needed change’
“Joy has been an immense asset to the HIA and the hemp industry in general,” HIA Vice President Rick Trojan said in the release. “However, when she outlined her time constraints and many responsibilities with other organizations it became clear that the HIA needed a change.”
Beckerman, who runs the consultancy Hemp Ace International, is a vice president at U.S. Hemp Authority, and an executive vice president at the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, according to her company’s web site.
HIA recently gave her its “2019 Lifetime Achievement” Award.
‘Challenges ahead’
“Though we are post-prohibition, we still have many challenges ahead such as navigating banking regulations and the issues surrounding digital marketing for our members,” said Trojan, who is to manage the Association’s leadership duties until a new president is elected.
HIA is also without an executive director after Colleen Keahey Lanier left that position in December 2019 following a two-year stint.
