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Jon E. Jenson, CAE

Jon Jenson has devoted 41 years to organization management -- the past 25 years as president of Precision Metalforming Association (PMA), headquartered in Cleveland.  He was also president of its for-profit subsidiary, PMA Services, Inc., before his retirement on October 31, 2000.

PMA represents the $41 billion industry that manufactures precision metal components and assemblies for autos, appliances, computers, communications equipment, and thousands of other products.  The industry employs over 360,000 workers and uses about one quarter of the steel produced in North America.

Since joining the PMA staff in 1975, Jenson has directed the growth of the Association from fewer than 500 members, a staff of 13, and an annual budget of less than $500,000 to its current membership of more than 1,600 companies, a staff of 45, and budget of $11 million.  Services to members have increased from a handful to more than 165 separate offerings every year.

He established and managed the Association's for-profit subsidiary, and served as publisher of its MetalForming magazine (60,000 circulation).  He also initiated the Association's educational foundation and the industry's premier annual trade show, which showcases some four and one-half million pounds of metalforming equipment. 

He managed construction of the organization's world headquarters building in Independence, Ohio, which was completed in 1998.  To position the Association and the industry for B2B e-commerce, Metalforming.com and two subsidiary web sites were created shortly thereafter.  In the Spring of 2000, the staff became the first U. S. trade association to be registered to the ISO 9002 international standard for quality management.

Over his 25-year tenure, he helped lead PMA to prominence in the International Council of Sheet Metal Presswork Associations, a group comprising the metalforming associations of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the U.S.  In 1995 the British government recognized PMA as one of three associations in the world exhibiting best practices, and invited Jenson to the U.K. for several consulting sessions aimed at strengthening the U.K. trade association community.

Prior to his presidency at PMA, Jenson served 16 years as Director of Marketing and Technical Services of the Cleveland-based Forging Industry Association, and was Executive Director of the Forging Industry Educational and Research Foundation.  He was editor and publisher of Forging Topics magazine and authored the Forging Industry Handbook and various industry standards.

A Certified Association Executive, Jenson has been active in the American Society of Association Executives, and is the former president of its Cleveland affiliate. He is past-chairman of the national Board of Regents of the U.S. Chamber's Institute for Organization Management, which trains some 2.500 executives annually.  He instructed in Institute programs for a number of years at various universities, and consults with several organizations on management issues.  He was selected for membership on the U.S. Chamber's prestigious Association Committee of 100.

Given the honorary title of President Emeritus upon his retirement, Jenson provides consulting services to PMA on governmental matters in Washington, and works with other groups on management issues.  He currently serves as Chairman of the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition, an organization seeking trade law reform, and recently has been appointed to the Industry Sector Advisory Committee for Trade Matters on capital equipment, jointly administered by the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Jenson is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, and a member of Iron Cross, the senior men's honorary society.  He completed post-graduate studies (on a Rotary International Fellowship) at the Universities of Frankfurt and Cologne in Germany, and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.  He is listed in Who's Who in America.