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Meet Your New SBC Board of Directors

Election Graphic

Posted on August 21, 2020

The 2020 election for the Safer Buildings Coalition Board of Directors is in the books.

Dennis Burns, of ADRF, was elected Vice President while Ron Schachter, RF Solutions, becomes SBC’s new treasurer. Commdex's Prince Niyyar will fill Dennis Burns' spot as Board Secretary as Dennis takes his new position. Per the rules of the Board, Dennis will step into the role of President after serving one year as Vice President.

Current Board President, Patrick Lau, of Comba, will take the role of Immediate Past President, and current Vice President, Eric Toenjes, Graybar, becomes your new SBC President.  

With the elections successfully concluded, this is the make-up of the 2020-2021 SBC Board of Directors:

President: Eric Toenjes, Graybar
Vice President: Dennis Burns, ADRF
Immediate Past President: Patrick Lau, Comba
Treasurer: Ron Schachter, RF Solutions
Secretary: Prince Niyyar, Commdex
At-large: Kevin Persing, Fiplex

“Well, as they say in show business ‘that's a wrap’ as it relates to our 2020 election for our Board of Directors. Congratulations to Dennis Burns, Ron Schachter and Prince Niyyar. I believe a strong family has well-worn seats at the dinner table, and we want to welcome these leaders to our SBC Table of Influence. We are excited about the new ideas and energy everyone will bring to our table to make the SBC even stronger,” Chief Alan Perdue, SBC Executive Director, said.

“While 2020 has certainly presented all of us with some unique challenges I'm reminded of a quote from Oprah Winfrey: ‘Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.’ As we near the end of what could be considered a broken-down 2020, I know we have tremendous opportunities awaiting us in 2021. I'm thankful for everyone who chooses to ride the bus with us. By working together, the sky is the limit to what we can accomplish,” Chief Perdue continued.

Congratulations to all of the board members. We will do great things together for the Safer Buildings Coalition and all of our members. 

Your incoming SBC Board President, Eric Toenjes, welcomed the new members during our Members’ Meeting this week:

Meet Your New Safer Buildings Coalition Board Members

PRESIDENT
Eric Toenjes, Graybar

Eric Toenjes, MBA, serves as National Market Manager of Wireless Solutions at Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical and data networking products and solutions. In his role at Graybar, Eric is responsible for setting strategy, sales execution and working with the wireless ecosystem to bring best-in-class solutions to customers. He has more than 20 years of experience in the wireless market working with cellular carriers, system integrators and distribution providing solutions to end users and enabling contractors.  He works with organizations like the HetNet Forum and Safer Buildings Coalition to understand issues facing building owners, influence codes and help develop an understanding of business drivers behind the solutions. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and currently serves as President of the Board at the Safer Buildings Coalition.

VICE PRESIDENT
Dennis Burns, ADRF

Dennis J. Burns is the Director of Public Safefty, and Public Safety Subject Matter Expert(SME) at ADRF, in charge of developing & driving revenues from carrier, enterprise, system integrators, distributors and third-party operator customers in the northeast & mid-atlantic region. Dennis is also responsible for the National Public Safety strategy for ADRF. He has more than 27 years of experience in developing direct and indirect new business strategies within the wireless industry, with a particular expertise in public safety in-building communications. Dennis is an active member and strong advocate of the Safer Buildings Coalition and elected to its Board of Directors in 2019. He is also a member of the Code Committee & Education Committee of SBC. Dennis is also a member of the NEDAS Advisory Council providing industry thought leadership to help shape the associations programs and areas of focus.

TREASURER
Ron Schachter, RF Solutions

Ron brings 20 years of RF wireless business development experience to the RF Solutions team. Prior to founding RF Solutions, Ron served as the Director of Business Development of Mobility Practice at Axispoint Technology Solutions Group (ATSG), where he sold and integrated over $25 million in Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) including some of the tallest towers and largest buildings in New York City. Before that, he spent 10 years at Sprint, where he was awarded President’s Club Circle Winner for his sales acumen several times during his tenure, landing major clients such as NewsCorp and Reuters. Ron swam for Indiana University, and you can still find him in the pool most mornings.

SECRETARY
Prince Niyyar, Commdex

Prince Niyyar is the CEO of Commdex. Since founding Commdex in 2001, Prince has led the company from a startup to a recognized national leader in public safety communications technology, with current operations in over 23 states. 

He has spoken as an invited guest at FCC Headquarters and on talk shows like “Thrive America” and “Business Leader Radio” and he frequently presents at business conferences. He was honored by Georgia’s Lt. Governor Casey Cagle as the “Small Business Person of the Year”.  Prince was also Gwinnett Chamber’s “Business Person of the Year”, and was honored with the “Pinnacle Award.

Prior to founding Commdex, Prince served many years as a consultant for Fortune 100 telecom companies like Motorola, AT&T and Sprint.  Prince holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from University of Cincinnati and is a registered Professional Engineer and Certified Professional Manager.