SEMDA Hires Executive Director

ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwire - Jun 16, 2011) - The Southeastern Medical Device Association (SEMDA) has hired Ashley Hancock as its first executive director to help increase services to members, reach out to companies to encourage participation, and support ongoing organization growth.

"We are delighted to be able to bring someone with Ashley's talent and industry knowledge onboard," said David Hartnett, SEMDA's 2011-2012 president and Vice President, Bioscience Industry Development at the Metro Atlanta Chamber. "With more than 200 members, and a history of five successful annual conferences, SEMDA has established itself as a leader in the medical device industry."

Hartnett continued, "We intend to build off this base of success to provide greater value to our members and to more fully support industry development throughout the southeast by coordinating with existing organizations and seeding new groups. Ashley will play an instrumental role in helping the Board of Directors achieve these goals."

SEMDA was formed in 2004 and is a member-driven organization that holds an annual conference and quarterly member meetings. The organization is unique in focusing solely on the medical device industry, and limits vendor participation to sponsorship roles.

"As a member of SEMDA, I was impressed with the quality of the speakers, the networking and the membership," Hancock said. "As the executive director, I look forward to helping the organization reach even more people and companies within the medical device field, and to find new ways to support industry growth."

In addition to serving as SEMDA's executive director, Hancock is president of Innovetica, LLC, which provides strategy and marketing services to small and mid-sized medical device, equipment, supply and service companies. Prior experience includes serving as senior product management at EndoChoice and C.R. Bard, and multiple positions at BP Chemicals. Hancock received an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

About SEMDA
The Southeastern Medical Device Association (SEMDA) is a non-profit trade association that supports and promotes medical device companies in the Southeast. The association provides a unique resource and networking opportunity for medical device companies, inventors, physicians, and investors interested in accelerating the growth of the medical device industry in the Southeast. Learn more at www.semda.net.