A member of countless committees, an early president of SEMA and a member of its Board of Directors, Els has no equal when it comes to undivided service to SEMA and the industry it seeks to protect. Els founded Eelco, a racing products company; he later owned Ansen Enterprises. He also had an impressive history of racing and setting records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Els was actively involved in the SEMA Scholarship Fund, was voted SEMA Person of the Year for 1976, and in 1990 was knighted by the order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights.