CONTACT: Jennifer Read
678-393-9990
jread@ecianow.org
November 5, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ECIA Announces 2026 North Star Award Recipient
North Star Award is ECIA’s highest annual honor.
Atlanta –ECIA’s CEO and President David Loftus announced the recipient of this year’s North Star Award, Fred Bell.
“Every year, we present one award that stands above the rest,” explained David Loftus." The North Star Award is ECIA’s highest annual honor. It recognizes someone whose vision didn’t just serve this association but changed the course of our industry for the better. This year’s recipient is Fred Bell.”
Fred earned his engineering degree at the University of Illinois and then spent 42 years at Molex, the last 17 as Global Vice President of Distribution. He understands this industry from the inside, and he has given his time to it generously. He served on the ECIA board from 2011 to 2018, then on the ECIA Manufacturers Council from 2018 to 2025. He also served on the EDS board from 2011 to 2017 and was a member of the EDS Marketing Committee.
“Fred is this year’s recipient however for one idea,” David continued. “In 2012, Fred saw a problem. Our best young people were growing up in silos. They were talented and promising, but they only saw their own corner of the business. They didn’t see the bigger picture of how manufacturers, distributors, and reps depend on one another. So Fred asked a simple question: what if we brought them together? That question became the SPARK program.”
In 2013, the first SPARK class gathered twenty participants from about sixteen manufacturers, distributors, and reps. Today, SPARK is a pillar of our industry’s future. It carried on strongly through COVID. Every year, the SPARK happy hour at EDS draws more graduates than the year before. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, SPARK alumni still get together for dinner. These are friendships and professional networks that began in a classroom and became lifelong.
“Fred‘s daughter Julie is a SPARK graduate, now building her career in our industry at Waldom. Fred didn’t just plant the seed. He got to watch it grow in his own family,” he concluded.
Fred and his wife Karen have two children and four grandsons, with number five on the way. When people talk about legacy, they often mean what’s left behind. Fred’s legacy is already alive, in hundreds of leaders across this industry who understand their place in something bigger than their own company.
About ECIA
The Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) is made up of the leading electronic component manufacturers, their independent manufacturer representatives and authorized distributors. ECIA members share a common goal of promoting and improving the business environment for the authorized sale of electronic components. Comprised of a broad array of leaders and professionals representing all phases of the electronics components supply chain, ECIA is where business optimization, product authentication and industry advocacy come together. ECIA members develop industry guidelines and technical standards, as well as generate critical business intelligence. For more information, visit www.ecianow.org or call 678-393-9990.