March 2003

SAFETY WEEK SPEAKERS   SCHEDULE   NEWSLETTER HOME

Toronto to Host Safety Week 2003

SEDA’s annual management conference, Safety Week, heads north to Ontario, Canada. This year’s meeting will be held at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, which is located along Lake Ontario’s shorefront in the heart of downtown Toronto.   

Scheduled for July 26-29, Safety Week will bring together safety equipment distributors and manufacturers for four days of 

 networking, seminars, speakers and social activities.

More than 220 people attended Safety Week 2003 in Keystone, CO.  Safety Week 2003 will be a combined meeting of SEDA Members, the newly formed Industrial Glove Association (IGA) (formerly National Industrial Glove Distributors Association (NIGDA) and the International Hand Protection Association (IHPA)), the Safety Equipment Manufacturers Agents Association (SEMAA) and the Canadian Glove Manufacturers Association (CGMA).   CEO’s and top management of leading safety equipment companies will gather once again at one of the year’s largest events in the safety equipment industry.

This year’s conference will include outstanding speakers, an improved Executive Conference Appointment format, an expanded Table Top Exhibit program and networking opportunities like the Scramble Golf Tournament and Networking Reception.

Registration and promotional materials will be mailed in April, but mark your calendars today for this event.

Outstanding Speakers

The meeting features an outstanding line-up of speakers that can help your company deal with difficult market conditions and plan for growth during better times ahead.

SEDA Distributor Session

Beyond the Numbers:  

Safety Distributor Profit and Compensation Trends

Dr. Al Bates, Profit Planning Group

SEDA’s annual Profit Survey allows members to benchmark their financial performance against industry averages and that of high performing companies.  The biennial Employee Compensation & Benefits Survey is the wholesale-distribution industry’s most comprehensive study of employment practices and trends.

Profit Planning Group (PPG) of Boulder, CO conducts both surveys for SEDA. Dr. Al Bates, President of PPG, brings the survey results alive, highlighting key areas of profit improvement as only he can. He goes beyond the numbers, offering real-world solutions that you can implement as soon as you return to your office.  Dr. Bates will also meet one-on-one with PROFIT Survey participants to help you understand your financial results.

Activity Based Management in Wholesale Distribution

Brent Grover, Evergreen Consulting, LLC

As President and CEO of National Paper and Packaging, Brent Grover put activity based costing to work in the distributor environment and improved their profitability and customer supplier relationship.  In this session, Grover will explain why distributors should think of their customer lists as an investment portfolio and how that customer portfolio comprises the customer profitability for years.  A case study of a real distributor will be used as a guide for implementing activity based costing in your business.

Channel Interdependence Among Channel Partners

Jed Bullard, Bullard

Jed Bullard is President and CEO of Bullard, one of the country’s largest manufacturers of safety equipment products.  He will discuss the interdependence between safety equipment distributors and manufacturers.  Manufacturer and Distributor Breakout sessions will follow this speech and will continue the discussion of channel interdependence in the safety equipment industry.

Hiring Winners

Dr. Robert Gaylor, Associate Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Gaylor will explore how to hire the best and the brightest.  Employers who focus their efforts on smarter hiring will have fewer problems managing employees and will produce a net savings in time and money.  Remember, you're not replacing Fred or Mary, you're hiring the right person to do the work you need done, when you need it done, the way you need it done.

Customer Relations – How to Improve Inside Sales

Chuck Holmes, Corporate Strategies, Inc.

Chuck Holmes is president of Corporate Strategies, Inc., a company specializing in distribution training, research, and consulting.  Chuck has more than thirty years experience in training, sales, and marketing and more than a dozen years in applying that experience to the distribution industry. Chuck has spoken and written extensively on customer service, sales, and marketing in distribution. He is on the faculty of the University of Industrial Distribution and the University of Electrical Distribution. In this session, Chuck will help attendees explore ways to improve their inside sales force in an intensive workshop setting.

Homeland Security

Dan Shipp, ISEA

Mark Dozier, Department of Homeland Security

Dan Shipp of ISEA and Mark Dozier of the Department of Homeland Security will discuss issues related to Homeland Security and the safety equipment industry.

Safety Week 2003 Schedule of Events