First safety meeting draws strong crowd
By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 9/1/1998
Carlsbad, Calif.--The first safety equipment industry annual meeting held at La Costa Resort July 11-15 drew more than 300 distributors, manufacturers and spouses."We're very pleased with the turnout," said Fred Loepp of W.W. Grainger, president of the Safety Equipment Distributors Assn.
SEDA and the Industrial Safety Equipment Assn. co-sponsored the convention and meeting. It was the first time the two groups met together at one national event. A second joint meeting is scheduled for next May in Florida. Speakers at this first-ever combined meeting included John McDevitt, corporate economist for the 3M Corp., who described global economic conditions for 1998 and beyond. McDevitt predicted an economic slowdown in the last quarter of this year with a gradual increase in the prime interest rate.
Dave Kahle, a consultant and speaker who specializes in helping companies create sales and marketing programs, focused on the ABCs of sales automation, noting that sales automation is the single most effective initiative a company can undertake to increase sales productivity.
Another speaker, Dr. Albert Bates, president of the Profit Planning Group in Boulder, Colo., reviewed the results of the SEDA profit and compensation surveys. Bates pointed out that SEDA chief executives pay themselves better than CEOs in other distribution industries, but still lag in terms of retirement planning.
He also recommended that SEDA members plan for small but systematic changes in performance and "get real sales gains" where sales grow faster than expenses.
Loepp was re-elected to another term as president of SEDA while John T. Ryan III of the Mine Safety Appliances Co. was elected chairman of ISEA. Ryan succeeds Edward T. Bullard of the E.D. Bullard Co.
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