The Insulating Glass Manufacturers Association of Canada (IGMAC) and the Sealed Insulating Glass Manufacturers Association (SIGMA) officially became IGMA-The Insulating Glass Manufacturers Alliance on October 2, 2000 as a result of a vote of the membership of both organizations to combine strengths and resources for the North American Insulating Glass industry. The new IGMA Board of Directors held its first meeting in Toronto on October 11, 2000. Member firms of both organizations voted nearly unanimous in favor of the merger.

    As part of the transition process, current Board members of both organizations will serve on the new Board. A strategic plan will be written for the new organization based on recommendations of a task force assigned to this project.

    Both management firms, of the former SIGMA and IGMAC, Smith Bucklin and Associate and the Canadian Lumbermen's' Association, will continue to serve IGMA during this transition period.

    New IGMA Alliance President Frank Caporiccio (PPG Canada, Inc., Toronto) expressed his thoughts about the merger with the following statement "IGMA will be an association of inclusion…not exclusion. No one will be left out of the process as the two associations become one."

    Mike McHugh, (Edge Seal Technologies, Inc., Walton Hills, OH), outgoing President of SIGMA stated: "From our similarities will come strength; from our differences will come the future direction of our united association. Every organization has a different approach. We have the good fortune of blending the best of both worlds."

    The First Annual Meeting of IGMA will be held on February 28-March 4, 2001 at the Sanibel Island Resort on Sanibel Island, Florida.