Sylvain Garneau elected Board President of BIFMA

For immediate release

SAINT-PIE, QC, June 16 2016 - Groupe Lacasse is proud to announce the election of its Chairman and CEO, Mr. Sylvain Garneau, as Board President of the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA), the trade association for North American business and institutional furniture manufacturers. Sylvain Garneau will the first Canadian to lead this prestigious North American organization.

Sylvain Garneau is President of Groupe Lacasse since 2010 and Chairman of the board since 2012 following the acquisition of the company from Haworth with founder Guy Lacasse and his son Robin. An MBA graduate, Sylvain Garneau has professional experience that includes more than 25 years in the manufacturing sector where he has occupied various executive positions from Executive Vice-President to CEO within large North American companies with multi-location operations. Throughout his career, Sylvain and his family have had the opportunity to live in Chicago, IL and in Vancouver, BC prior to their return to Montreal in 2010 where Sylvain now assumes the leadership of Groupe Lacasse.

Mr. Sylvain Garneau acted during the past year as the BIFMA Board Vice-President. He was recently nominated in May as the trade association’s new president of the board of directors for a one-year renewable term in June 2017.

Founded in 1973, BIFMA is the voice of the North American commercial and institutional furniture manufacturers industry. It has close to 250 members spread across Canada, the United States and Mexico. BIFMA’s mission is to develop and promote the safety, performance and sustainability standards relative to commercial and institutional furniture. The BIFMA standards have become the global benchmark for quality and specifications. The organization also provides an important forum where members can cooperate and collaborate on crucial industry issues.