In 2025, the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) marked 125 years serving the independent home improvement channel and fulfilling its mission of helping independent home improvement, paint and decorating retailers, regardless of affiliations, become better and more profitable retailers. 

Building on the legacy of the association, NHPA is announcing several leadership changes that are all part of an orderly transition in the executive team that will be unfolding over the next several years.

“Internally, we have been working on these changes for the better part of the last 24 months,” says Bob Cutter, NHPA’s president and CEO. “This association has been supporting the industry for more than 125 years and making sure that the organization is around to serve its members for many years to come is of the utmost importance to the current leadership team. That’s why we have been very serious about addressing our leadership succession in a way that will ensure continuity in the services we provide and a strong vision for how the NHPA will serve the industry well into the future.” 

One of the first changes to take place as part of this transition will occur at the end of 2026 when Dan Tratensek, NHPA’s chief operating officer, will be retiring from full-time service with the association. Tratensek has been a part of NHPA for 30 years, joining the organization in 1996 as an assistant editor on the association magazine, then known as Do-it-Yourself Retailing.
Over the past three decades, Tratensek has served as editor and publisher of the association’s media brands, then as a vice president and EVP with NHPA’s executive team prior to taking on his current role as COO. 

“I have been working at NHPA for the better part of my adult life and I have always been proud that I might have played some small role in helping independent retailers in this industry run their businesses better and more profitably,” Tratensek says. “While I will continue to work with NHPA and throughout the channel  in consultative roles moving forward, I look forward to spending the balance of the year helping NHPA position the next generation of leadership to continue its ardent support of the industry I have come to love.”

Shortly after Tratnsek’s retirement, NHPA chief financial officer Dave Gowan will be retiring after Q1 2027. Gowan has been with NHPA for 13 years and, in addition to managing the ongoing finances for the association, Gowan has also helped spearhead the launch of a number of NHPA programs and training initiatives, including the ongoing production of the annual Cost of Doing Business Study.

“As I prepare to retire, I’m most proud of the role NHPA plays in helping retailers become better operators and more profitable businesses,” Gowan says. “Supporting their long-term success has been incredibly rewarding, and I’m deeply grateful for the dedicated NHPA staff whose talent and commitment made that work possible. I’m confident the association will continue to deliver meaningful value to the industry.”

With Tratensek and Gowan stepping away at the end of 2026 and in early 2027, Scott Wright, current vice president of content development and publisher for NHPA, has been promoted to the role of NHPA president as of the first of the year. The current executive team and NHPA’s board of directors has tabbed Wright to succeed Cutter as president and CEO upon Cutter’s planned retirement at the end of 2027.
“I am truly humbled and excited for Scott, and even more excited for the next chapter of the NHPA,” Cutter says. “Scott has been instrumental in so many valuable program launches, journeys of success for our independent retail constituency and above all, has taught us all the path to servant leadership.”

Wright joined NHPA in 1994 as assistant editor on the association’s magazine staff. During his tenure at the association, he has held roles in custom publishing, member services, education and training, and played a key role in launching and running NHPA’s popular Retail Management Certification and Foundations of Retail Programs. 

“It has been a privilege serving our members and this incredible industry since I started with the association 32 years ago, and I am so honored to have been chosen to lead this organization into the future by our board of directors and executive team,” Wright says. “Serving alongside Bob, Dan and Dave for the past two decades has been a great honor, and this industry owes them a huge debt of gratitude for all they have done to help serve our mission.”

The NHPA Board of Directors elected Joanne Lawrie, owner of The Lawrie Group of Home Hardware Stores in Nova Scotia, Canada, as board chair. Ash Ebbo, CEO of Clement’s Paint in Austin, Texas, is serving as vice chair. The board welcomed three new directors: Emily Wood, Wood’s Ace Hardware and Mercantile in Summerville, South Carolina; Katie Prus, Abbotsford Paint and Decorating, Abbotsford Commercial Paints, Chilliwack Decorating Centre and Garrison Village Paint and Decorating in British Columbia; and Jeremy Peterson, Family Hardware.