NCBFAA Honors Leonard Shayne With Centurion Award

Washington, DC: Washington, DC: During its April Conference in Rancho Mirage, California, the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, Inc., (NCBFAA) honored former President/Chairman (1969-79) and current Senior Counselor, Leonard M. Shayne, with the NCBFAA Centurion Award. Mr. Shayne, who retired from the industry in 1999, is the latest in a distinguished line of honorees that includes NCBFAA Senior Counselor Arthur Litman, the late NCBFAA Customs/General Counsel Harvey Issacs and NCBFAA Senior Counselor Paul Wegener.President of Leading Forwarders, Inc., until it merged and ceased operations in 1996, Mr. Shayne epitomized the very spirit of this award, which NCBFAA Chairman Federico Zuniga created in 2006 to recognize individuals who have demonstrated outstanding support and involvement in the affairs of the Association. 
         "I am very happy that the Association has this award, which gives us an opportunity to recognize some of the people who have contributed so much to the industry," said President Muoio. "Len's tremendous vision recognized early on that the industry needed to move towards more of a national organization, which eventually set the stage for NCBFAA being positioned in the global economy as we are today."
         As one of the founding "fathers" of the modern professional and national Association, the NCBFAA owes much of its current success to his vision and understanding of the need for a national voice to represent this diverse and vibrant industry. Mr. Shayne was instrumental in organizing the first Annual Convention (later renamed the Annual Conference) in 1974 at Tampa, Florida. It proved to be such a great idea that the NCBFAA has been running with it ever since. In addition, his idea for the Government Affairs Conference also caught on and the NCBFAA has been convening one in DC every September ever since.
         Mr. Shayne's legacy is evident in these events and in so much more that is vital to the continuing effectiveness of the Association. For these reasons, and others too numerous to articulate, the NCBFAA is truly pleased to extend this honor to him as a small way of saying thank you for all he has done for the Association and this industry. 
         He has also authored his personal memoir “Not All Importers-Exporters Are Crooks,” in which he recalls the last half-century of our business. The problems, challenges, people, places and events that shaped his career and his firm’s success are presented. He covers the import and export side of the business and has dedicated an entire chapter to the development of today’s NCBFAA.
        Headquartered in Washington, DC, the NCBFAA represents nearly 860 member companies with 100,000 employees in international trade - the nation's leading freight forwarders, customs brokers, ocean transportation intermediaries (OTIs), NVOCCs and air cargo agents, serving more than 250,000 importers and exporters. Established in 1897 in New York, NCBFAA is the effective national voice of the industry. Through its various committees, counsel and representatives, the Association maintains a close watch over legislative and regulatory issues that affect its members. It keeps them informed of these and other related issues through its weekly Monday Morning eBriefing and various meetings as well as conferences throughout the year.

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NOTE: The full text of his Award acceptance speech is available here.