April 23, 2026: Donna Snyder, the former VP for marketing and advertising at East Penn Manufacturing, has been named as the 2026 recipient of Battery Council International’s Distinguished Service Award.
The prestigous honour, announced on April 23, follows her retirement last October after 42 years with the company.
Snyder will be formally honoured as part of BCI’s 2026 Convention + Power Mart Expo on May 5 in Nashville.
The award recognizes exemplary service to the energy storage industry and is the association’s highest individual honour. It hails those who have made a sustained, long-term, and meaningful contribution to the advancement of both the association and the battery industry.
BCI president and executive director Roger Miksad said: “It is not an exaggeration to say that BCI would not be the organization it is today without Donna’s leadership and commitment.
“She didn’t just fill a spot on BCI’s committees, she led them – and in some cases, built them – from scratch. Donna’s volunteer service over many years is exactly the kind of selfless work that the Distinguished Service Award was created to recognize.”
Snyder joined East Penn Manufacturing in 1983 as a designer in its advertising department. Over the following four decades, She became the VP of marketing/advertising where she spearheaded the company’s marketing and communications initiatives and maintained a significant leadership presence within the broader battery industry.
In 2009, she was one of the founding members of the BCI Marketing Committee and served as its chairman to promote the value of lead, standardize industry practices and provide valuable member marketing resources.
In 2016, she also helped found BCI’s Communication Committee, championing efforts to strengthen the industry’s message with regulators and the general public. Additionally, Donna served as chair for BCI’s Data Book Committee and participated in BCI’s Product Information Committee.
Before her retirement, Snyder directly led a department of marketing and advertising professionals at East Penn that shaped the company’s presence in the marketplace. However, her broader legacy includes leadership on behalf of the entire battery industry through service on multiple BCI Committees for almost two decades.
In 2025, BCI honoured former BCI board chairs Chris Pruitt of East Penn Manufacturing and Dave Shaffer of EnerSys with its Distinguished Service Award.
The award, founded in 1945, was previously called the BCI Honorary Lifetime Membership, and past recipients include battery industry icons such as Hal Hawk, Roger Winslow, and DeLight Breidegam Jr.
