IFMA president, CEO Michael J Licata announces that he will retire in 2009

Nation's Restaurant News,  March 3, 2008  

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CHICAGO -- Michael J Licata, the veteran association executive who has served as president and chief executive of the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association for the past three decades, said he plans to retire in 2009. IFMA has said it will begin searching for Licata's replacement later this year. Licata plans to work with his successor during 2009.

His plans were announced recently to IFMA's Silver Plate jury, which includes several trade publication editors and the 2007 Silver Plate award winners.

Licata was named to IFMA's top post in 1977. Previously he had served as the executive secretary to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare during President Gerald Ford's administration and as an international trade specialist for the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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During his tenure at IFMA, he helped to transform it from a nearly bankrupt organization into one of the industry's most influential trade groups with more than 400 members and a $10 million budget.

Licata also was responsible for building important relationships with the National Restaurant Association and its Educational Foundation; the International Foodservice Distributors Association; the National Council of Chain Restaurants; the Women's Foodservice Forum; the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers; the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance; and the American Hotel & Motel Association.

Today IFMA offers its members a wide range of services from educational programs and training seminars to detailed surveys that quantify the industry's buying power. It also hosts the annual Chain Operators Exchange, or COEX, and the Gold & Silver Plate Awards banquet.

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