Longtime Industry Leader Jim Richards Resigns from ACA International Board of Directors

MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- At the last meeting of ACA International's board of directors, longtime member and respected industry leader James F. "Jim" Richards announced his resignation, effective immediately. Subsequently, the board elected Gregg Swersky, chief relationship officer at Wakefield & Associates in Knoxville, Tenn., to fill Richards' vacated seat on an interim basis until July 2019 when the ACA International Council of Delegates officially elects a replacement director to fill the seat.

On behalf of the board, President Jack W. Brown III stated, "Jim Richards served the board of directors and the accounts receivable management industry with the same character and dignity he exemplifies each day as a business professional. While we are saddened that Jim has resigned from the board, we wish him well in his future endeavors and truly thank him for the selfless service and unmatched knowledge he brought to the ACA International Board of Directors."

Richards, a former ACA International board president, is the co-founder and chair of Capio Partners LLC in Lawrenceville, Ga.  He also co-founded Attention LLC, a firm that was once the largest secondary healthcare collection agency in the United States, and served as the former president of Medaphis Services Corp. 

Of his resignation, Richards said, "I have spent six and a half years on the ACA International Board of Directors. I believe I have made my contribution and have enjoyed the friendship and hard work of all the folks who have served on the board over that time. Since Mark Neeb has joined ACA as CEO, the association has gained traction in serving the needs of our members. Thank you all for the opportunity to serve."

Meanwhile, Gregg Swersky, also an outstanding ACA International member and well-known ARM professional, assumed the interim director position on the board upon Richards' departure. Brown welcomed Swersky, stating that the board looks forward to working with him during the next few months as ACA International enters its 80^th year of serving as the leading voice of the accounts receivable management industry.

"Gregg Swersky is a welcome addition to our talented, effective board," Brown said. "As an association that exists to help members succeed, ACA International looks to its board of directors to provide guidance related to our mission, strategy and goals. We are truly honored that Gregg will be joining us to help continue the innovative work the board and membership have engaged in during the past few years as we seek to help shape a regulatory, legislative and economic environment that allows ACA's members to succeed."

Swersky, who holds the esteemed ACA International IFCCE designation, is a past president of the Tennessee Collectors Association and a former member of the board of directors. Swersky began his career in 1976 as a telephone collector using a rotary telephone, index cards and a manual typewriter. Back then, he worked for his brother, Kurt Swersky, who ran a Tennessee-based company called Adjustment Service of Knoxville. Upon his brother's death in December 1990, Gregg Swersky stepped up to the role of president and CEO, managing about 50 employees.

"Over the years that followed, we faced the same collections challenges that you all continue to face today," Swersky said. "Simply communicating with our consumers became, in my opinion, the single largest obstacle in the path of our success as a company and an industry. But we continued to grow."

Eventually, the company became Revenue Recovery Corporation (RRC) and later merged with Wakefield & Associates.

Of his election to the ACA International Board of Directors, Swersky said he intends to assist ACA International in achieving its goals. "With this opportunity, I promise to be a servant to all members and ACA International and to do so with diligence and pride," he said.

ACA International (ACA), the association of credit and collection professionals, is the largest membership organization in the credit and collection industry. Founded in 1939, ACA brings together third-party collection agencies, law firms, asset buying companies, creditors and vendor affiliates, representing tens of thousands of industry professionals. ACA produces a wide variety of products, services and publications, including educational and compliance-related information; and articulates the value of the credit and collection industry to businesses, policymakers and consumers. www.acainternational.org.

Contact: Kim Coghill
VP Communications
ACA International
202-374-7535
[email protected]

SOURCE ACA International