Progressing for the membership.(commentary)(National Association of Credit Management)

"You need not look too far to discover the greatest strength of our Association: it's clearly the passion and commitment of each and every member. You can see both--the passion and commitment--in NACM's Board members, Affiliate managers, local Affiliate boards and membership as a whole," said Jim Fried, CCE, CCM, NACM's National Chairman for 2008.

Fried went on to explain that as he has continued to pursue professional, continuing education through NACM for the past decade and a half, he has always been impressed by the commitment of his peers. At a local level, Jim said, NACM members have a thirst for education. "My peers have always wanted to be on the cutting-edge of credit issues so that they can lead their companies to creating more profit through the credit process. Knowing the intricacies of the credit function, whether it's based in law, accounting, finance or customer relations, has always been paramount to me," said Jim. "All facets of our organization--whether that's CFDD, an NACM Affiliate, NACM-National or FCIB--continue to be the leading provider of education to today's credit professional." Jim is manager-treasury operations & assistant treasurer for Timex Corporation in Middlebury, CT where he is responsible for worldwide treasury management (including cash management and investments), foreign exchange, insurance and risk management and world-wide credit and collections.

Prior to his service with Timex, Jim was a financial consultant in his own consulting practice, Working Capital Solutions, which worked with large and small companies in areas such as Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, credit and collection issues, risk management programs and cash management. His assignments included Kaman Industrial Technologies, Baumuller, Inc., Heating Oil Partners, Haynes Group and Levy, Diamond and Bello.

Jim's other positions included serving as regional treasurer for Pirelli North America, director of customer financial services for Edwards Systems Technology and director of credit and treasury for B/E Aerospace. He is an active member of the NACM National Board of Directors and served on the Hartford, CT Chapter Board of Directors for NACM. He also served on the Board of Directors for FCIB. Jim holds a B.S. in Accounting and Management from Post University (formerly Post College) in Waterbury, CT and a dual MBA in International Business and Finance from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT. He is also an ACAP instructor for NACM. Jim earned the Certified Cash Manager (CCM) designation from the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) in 1995, followed by NACM's CCE designation in 1997.

The NACM Board continues to make strides in the areas of strategic planning and governance. "It's been a pleasure--and exciting--to be part of an NACM Board of Directors that primarily focuses on strategy," said Jim. "I've watched the NACM Board evolve into its current role as the director of strategic planning for the organization. We've been true to the organization's vision statement, ensuring that as the advocate for business credit and financial management professionals, NACM realizes its position as the primary learning, knowledge and information source."

The NACM and FCIB staffs are also on board. They continue to search for ways to fulfill their duties as the profession's primary source of education and career growth. In the past six months, it was the NACM staff that asked the Board for approval to upgrade the search engine for the NACM Resource Library. "They also asked the Board to turn the Library into a benefit of membership, making it accessible at no extra cost through the NACM website," said Jim. "This is a perfect example of the NACM Board and staff working together to set and realize the strategic direction."

The FCIB staff realized that an online course would get them closer to their role as a primary learning and information source and again, with the FCIB Board's vision ...