Press Releases

ICMA Announces the Next Five Members to Achieve ACE Accreditation

New Test Dates and Locations for 2008 Announced

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ, May 5, 2008— The International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA) announces five members have successfully achieved Advanced Card Education (ACE-M) accreditation. ICMA introduced the ACE program to recognize the knowledge, experience and dedication of leading professionals in plastic card manufacturing.

The first designation, ACE-M, covers general card manufacturing; future designations planned include ACE-A (advanced technologies) and ACE-P (personalization). The following have successfully passed the first designation, ACE-M:

• Guy Meeker, CPI Card Group, Inc.
• Mark Powell, Giesecke & Devrient
• Daniel Szumski, CFC International
• Eric Virostek, Giesecke & Devrient
• Jim Ward, Allegheny Plastics Inc.

The ACE designation is only awarded to people who demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of card manufacturing processes by successfully completing a rigorous exam. ACE accreditation validates expertise and distinguishes employees as motivated experts in the card manufacturing industry. Applicants must be working for an ICMA member company and have a minimum of three years of industry experience. The ACE examination evaluates the skills and knowledge of card manufacturing professionals and is comprised of eight key sections that candidates must have detailed knowledge of, including; PVC/Plastics, Inks, Adhesives, Printing, Collation, Lamination, Die-cutting and Standards/Testing. Those who pass the exam show a minimum proficiency in all eight areas.

“The feedback we’ve received from those who have passed this challenging exam is that the accreditation provides evidence of the employee’s skills and training and also enables their company to showcase to their customers the exceptional level of knowledge their employees possess” said Al Vrancart ICMA Industry Co-Founder and Industry Advisor.

Further testing dates have been planned for:

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Chicago, Illinois (in conjunction with ICMA Workshop)

Thursday, October 2, 2008
Stuttgart, Germany (in conjunction with ICMA Workshop)

Thursday, November 6, 2008
Paris, France, (in conjunction with CARTES)

Friday, April 3, 2009
Puerto Rico (in conjunction with ICMA EXPO)

For more information on the ICMA ACE accreditation, or to learn how to become an ICMA member, call (609) 799-4900; e-mail info@icma.com or visit the ICMA website at http://www.icma.com.

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About ICMA
Based in Princeton Junction, NJ, ICMA is a non-profit association of plastic card manufacturers, personalizers and related industry participants. With more than 200 members globally, the ICMA acts as a clearinghouse for industry issues, including the production, technology, application, security and environmental issues of plastic cards.