December 2005      

Membership Update l Financial Services l NAW News

Chateau Élan to Host Safety Week 2006

Safety Week 2006, the safety equipment industry’s Annual Conference, will be held in Braselton, Georgia from June 25 - 27, 2006. The meeting will be held at the Chateau Élan Winery & Resort, which is located in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains and is 55 minutes from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. DETAILS

Fall QSSP Course Graduates 31

The fall session of the Qualified Safety Sales Professional (QSSP) course concluded on November 18, 2005 in Louisville, Kentucky. 

This was the 21^st session of this outstanding program that has become the gold standard in safety sales training. DETAILS

Fall 2005 FOSH Review

The Fundamentals of Safety and Health was offered again in October. FOSH is a unique training program for sales professionals new to the safety and health industry. DETAILS

Time to Register for University of Industrial Distribution

SEDA is pleased to once again co-sponsor the University of Industrial Distribution (UID). UID 2006 is a concentrated educational program focused on the unique needs of wholesale distributors. Known worldwide for excellence in education, UID is sponsored by the leading industrial distribution professional associations, in cooperation with the Industrial Distribution Program and Indiana University/Purdue University. DETAILS

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

SEDA Welcomes New Distributor Members

Two new distributor members have joined SEDA, Ritz Safety and P&I Supply. Ritz Safety is located in Pompano Beach, Florida and is a distributor for a wide variety of safety products with retail stores in Jacksonville and southern Florida as well as a catalog and website for customers elsewhere. Ritz Safety has been in business for 16 years and their principal contact is Lenn Bell, General Manager and he can be reached by phone at 954-971-3176, by email at lenn.bell@ritzsafety.com or by fax at 954-971-1272. Their web site is www.ritzsafety.com.

P & I Supply is located in Evansville, Indiana and has been in business since 2000. P & I Supply hosts a versatile inventory of safety products as well as construction, industrial and janitorial products. The company serves the US nationwide and has a branch office in Mariett, Ohio. The principal contact is Brad Ruppel, Product Manager and he can be reached by phone at 812-421-4141, by e-mail @ bruppel@pisupply.com or by fax at 812-421-4133. Their web site is www.pisupply.com.

SEDA Elects New Affiliate Member Director

Wayne Johnson was recently elected to serve on the SEDA board as an affiliate member director. Johnson will be serving out the term formerly held by Fred Ryan of Moldex-Metric, who retired from the company in May. DETAILS

Canadian Distributor Celebrates 50 Years

Things are golden these days at Windsor Factory Supply—in more ways than one. With 2004 sales at nearly $100 million, according to president Duncan Brown, the company has enjoyed consistent profits and growth for the past several years. DETAILS

Safety Today Acquires Colonial Industrial Products South

Safety Today, Inc., a leading provider of personal protective equipment, headquartered in Groveport, Ohio, announced its acquisition of Colonial Industrial Products South (CIP-South), located in Deerfield Beach, FL. Safety Today will operate this as a full service branch with local sales, customer service, warehousing and delivery to service the South Florida marketplace. DETAILS

Kaymie Thompson Owen Joins SEDA Staff

Kaymie Thompson Owen has enlisted as SEDA’s new Director of Meetings and Member Services. She will work with Executive Director Jackie King in orchestrating association events and facilitating membership duties. DETAILS

SEDA Board to Meet for Strategic Planning Session

The SEDA board will be meeting January 26-28, 2006 to embark on a strategic planning process focusing on membership.  Mike Marks of Indian River Consulting Group will be facilitating this process for SEDA.  SEDA Headquarters will be sending you a survey via email asking you about SEDA member benefits and services in the next few weeks.  Please take a few moments to complete the survey.  It will help us determine what SEDA’s strategic objectives should be and how we can continue to provide value to our members in the 21^st century.

Legal Update

SEDA's legal counsel, Keeley, Kuenn & Reid, provides updates on cases impacting the distribution industry. DETAILS

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Winning the Compensation and Benefits Battle: 2006 Employee Compensation Study

SEDA has joined together with more than 35 other distribution organizations in sponsoring the largest cross-industry compensation survey ever conducted. It is anticipated that approximately 2,500 firms will take part. DETAILS

Closing the Profit Gap

For the first time in several years, profitability is on the rise.  However, profit improvements are not being enjoyed in equal proportion by all firms. One of the key characteristics of top profit producers is that they have implemented a plan for ensuring the success of their firm. That plan is based upon specific profitability benchmarks. SEDA can help supply you with the benchmarks needed to be a top profit producer through the 2006 SEDA/SMG PROFIT Survey Report. DETAILS

Driving Sales Volume: Thinking Inside the Box

One of the oldest adages in the business is that “sales solves all problems.”  The reality is closer to “sales sure helps with a lot of problems.”  Either way, there is no denying the importance of sales volume in impacting distributor profitability. DETAILS

Distributor Profitability Trends from 2002 - 2004

The five exhibits in this report demonstrate how distribution organizations weathered the recession of 2002-2003 and recovered in 2004. On each of the exhibits, the “all distributors” number reflects the median results across forty different lines of trade where the Profit Planning Group collects data on an annual basis. DETAILS

NAW NEWS

NAW Releases New Publication

NAW/DREF is pleased to release this new book: Outlook 2006: An Executive's Companion to Facing the Forces of Change  -an all-new executive's companion to Facing the Forces of Change: The Road to Opportunity. OUTLOOK 2006 is a diverse collection of insights from a power-packed group of 10 wholesale distribution analysts, authors, educators, and consultants. DETAILS

IRS Issues Proposed Regulation: Income Tax Deduction for Certain U.S. Production Activities

On November 4, 2005, the Internal Revenue Service published proposed regulations in the Federal Register (70 Fed. Reg. 67220-67276) under Internal Revenue Code section 199, on the recently enacted deduction relating to domestic production activities. DETAILS

Lemelson Patents on Bar-Code Technology Held Unenforceable by Federal Appeals Court

Since 1992 hundreds of companies have settled Lemelson patent infringement claims and paid over $1.5 billion in licensing fees to the Lemelson Foundation.  On September 9, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the Lemelson patents are unenforceable. DETAILS

Caveat Venditor-Let the Unsecured Seller Beware

The old legal maxim of caveat emptor -- let the buyer beware -- has little application today to the customer who purchases goods on open account. In extending unsecured credit, a modern day seller can more closely identify with another maxim, caveat venditor, or let the seller beware. DETAILS