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First Woman Takes Top Office of SEMA Board; Charlie Van Cleve to Lead Aftermarket Into New Millennium

6 July 1999

First Woman Takes Top Office of SEMA Board; Charlie Van Cleve to Lead Aftermarket Into New Millennium

    DIAMOND BAR, Calif., July 6 -- Charlie Van Cleve, vice
president of sales for Hedman Manufacturing, is set to take office as the
first female chairman of the board for the Specialty Equipment Market
Association (SEMA), the leading advocacy organization for the automotive
aftermarket industry.
    Van Cleve, as well as the rest of the organization's board, will assume
their new titles at the SEMA Installation Banquet, Friday, July 16.
    "Charlie is the perfect chairman to lead us into the next millennium,"
said Charles R. Blum, SEMA president.  "She is a hard working and savvy
businesswoman with one foot firmly in the present and a focus on making great
strides toward the future."
    Starting as an inside salesperson, Van Cleve has worked her way up as the
current vice president of both Hedman Hedders and TD Performance Products.  At
SEMA, she chairs the Executive and Compensation Committees and has served on
the Person of the Year task force and the Scholarship and Businesswomen's
Network committees.  Charlie is also a board member of the Automotive Hall of
Fame in Detroit.
    Rounding out her honors, Van Cleve was the first woman to be selected as
the Performance Warehouse Association (PWA) Person of the Year; she was the
SEMA Person of the Year in 1989; and won the Athena Award for her efforts to
enhance the image of women in the industry in 1996.
    "I'm very excited for Charlie but even more thrilled for the industry,"
said Brian Appelgate, the out-going Chairman of the Board and president/COO of
B&M Racing & Performance.  "This is more than just a woman taking the key
leadership position in a traditionally male industry; this is the right
individual in the right time for a forward looking industry."
    Van Cleve will be followed as chairman by Nate Shelton, K&N Engineering,
who was chosen by a vote of the membership as chairman-elect, and will become
Chairman of the Board in 2001.
    SEMA is a trade group comprised of more than 3,400 member companies that
make up the specialty automotive aftermarket industry.  The seven diverse
niches in which SEMA members specialize include light-truck, off-road, racing
and performance, street rod and restoration, and restyling.  All combined the
markets add up to $21.2 billion in retail business annually.