The American Lighting Association (ALA) has announced the appointment of Larry Lauck as its President and Chief Executive Officer. This announcement comes following the decision last fall by current President and CEO Eric Jacobson to retire.
According to ALA, the search committee was formed under the guidance of the ALA Board of Governors and Executive Committee and tasked with advertising, interviewing and selecting the candidate to replace Eric. Over the past four months, ALA dedicated 94 hours to this task and followed a very diligent process. This included reviewing 28 resumes, completing multiple interviews of candidates and deliberating before making a recommendation to its board.
With more than 27 years of experience working for ALA, Larry most recently served as Executive Vice President. During his time with ALA, Larry has worked as a member of the association’s senior management and helped lead the association in its growth from 385 members in 1996 to the more than 1,300 corporate members it has today.
Larry was instrumental in creating ALA’s consumer marketing program and it was through his leadership that the more than 17-year-long partnership with Better Homes & Gardens was formed to create Lightingmagazine. During his tenure with ALA, Larry has consistently placed a focus on improving the association and taking strategic steps to enhance its programs and membership. He was responsible for spearheading the research and execution of the association’s training and education programs. He also developed the association’s website and has since led multiple redesigns and improvements.
Prior to working for ALA, Larry managed affiliate public relations at HBO. He studied journalism and public relations at The University of Texas at Austin and holds his MBA with a focus on business strategy from Southern Methodist University.
The committee learned several lessons about ALA association throughout the process. The association spoke with many within the industry, and heard their feedback. It approached the candidate review process with all these things in mind and are confident Larry’s experience and background, coupled with his openness to growth and new ideas, make him a good fit to lead ALA in its next chapter.
Along with ALA's recommendation to promote Larry and based on its collective assessment of member feedback, it also made recommendations to the ALA Board of Governors to act on several key areas, including membership engagement. With guidance from the board, Larry and the team at ALA are developing a plan to increase focus on these key initiatives to better serve ALA members and make the association stronger.
