Weekly News (July 25, 2011)

Editor’s Note: For those wanting your IPCPR recap, today is another day a disappointment. Friday will be the day when the “full” IPCPR list along with my thoughts get posted, so until then, another Weekly News lite. The explanation is simple: we had most of the IPCPR releases up in list form before the show, and the idea is to try to get thorough, unique and readable content up at a reasonable pace after the show. — el niño diablo.

• Nat Sherman’s New Distribution — Michael Herklots has officially left Davidoff and is beginning to make major changes at Nat Sherman. His first public move was to announced that Nat Sherman would be introducing new lines later this year and would have new distribution. The deals for both distribution and manufacturing are still in the works, however, Herklots announced at the IPCPR trade show that Nat Sherman would no longer be distributed by Lew Rothman’s Santa Clara/JR Cigars.
• Ashton VSG TAA Robusto Especial — Ashton confirmed that they had in fact released the rumored TAA cigar, known as the Ashton VSG TAA Robusto Especial, more details to come. The cigar was released shortly before the trade show, which featured the VSG Pegasus.
• A.J. Fernandez Fires Independent Reps — A.J. Fernandez let go of some of their independent reps. One side of the story is at Cigar Brief.

The IPCPR appointed its new CEO…

Premium Cigar Association Names Spann Chief Executive Officer The International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association based in Columbus, Georgia, has named William S. Spann as its new Chief Executive Officer. Spann was introduced to the association at its 79th Annual Convention & International Trade Show held July 17-21 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Columbus, GA (PRWEB) July 17, 2011

The International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association based in Columbus, Georgia, has named William S. Spann as its new Chief Executive Officer. Spann was introduced to the association at its 79th Annual Convention & International Trade Show held July 17-21 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Spann had served as chief of staff of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation and, before that, as president and chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of Greater Florida. He served as part of Governor Jeb Bush’s executive leadership team first as communications director and then chief of staff at the Florida Department of Children & Families. He earned the rank of Commander during a 20 year-career with the U.S. Navy. His final duty station was as Director of Communications for the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis where he also taught Ethics and Moral Decision Making for the Junior Officer

Spann replaces Joe Rowe who retired as Executive Director after ten years at the helm of the IPCPR.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors of the IPCPR, I want to extend a hearty welcome to Bill Spann who, we are confident, will help continue moving the association forward in behalf of its retail and manufacturing members. At the same time, we wish Joe Rowe a long and happy retirement. He will be missed,” said Gary Pesh, president of the IPCPR.

Regular programming resumes fully next week, Friday is the day you’ve been waiting for. — el niño diablo.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.