Edited by Kimberly Griffiths

Members who attended the Power Transmission Distributors Assn.'s 2003 Convention, held in October in New Orleans, elected its new crop of officers, board of directors and the Manufacturer Council for 2004. Elected officers include Don R. Latham, president of Canadian Bearings, Ltd. in Mississauga, Ontario, as president; John R. Neal, vice president of Root Neal & Co. in Buffalo. N.Y., as vice president; Andrew H. Nations, president of Bearings & Drives, Inc. in Macon, Ga., as second vice president; and Jeffrey H. Pickelman, owner and CEO of Northern Industrial Supply in Saginaw, Mich., as treasurer.

James Lamb, vice president marketing and sales for Drives, Inc. in Fulton, Ill., assumes the duties of PTDA's Manufacturer Council chair; and William R. Demmel, director of sales from Martin Sprocket & Gear, Inc. in Arlington, Texas, became Manufacturer Council vice chair.

For more information, call (312) 876-9461 or visit www.ptda.org.

The National Assn. of Electrical Distributors is seeking training information from the entire electrical industry to create a centralized All-Industry Training Clearinghouse of distributor resources. Hosted through its Web site, www.naed.org, NAED encourages its affiliates to submit their training materials to the association.

"Many of our members have expressed a need for a central location for industry training," said Michelle Jaworowski, NAED vice president. "This is a service we feel is essential to provide for the industry. Although many excellent training programs currently exist, most companies do not have the time or the means to track down every resource."

Materials submitted by the industry will be categorized by topic for easier navigation and selecting the appropriate training materials.

For more information, call (888) 791-2512 or visit www.naed.org.

According to the Fluid Power Distributors Assn.'s recent online Membership Scan, declining customer bases, eroding supplier relationships, and rising health care costs are the three issues most affecting FPDA distributorships. FPDA manufacturers cited distributor consolidation, the movement of manufacturing offshore, and rising employee benefits costs as negative factors.

Networking opportunities topped the list of most valuable membership benefits, with statistical reports and management tools also ranking highly. Distributors reported low borrowing rates, more efficient sales processes, and diversifying product lines as positive impacts, while manufacturers noted new technology and lean manufacturing principles as boosts to their business.

For more information, call (856) 424-8998 or visit www.fpda.org.

The newest Profiles in Wholesale Distribution Leadership CD set from the National Assn. of Wholesaler-Distributors' Distribution Research and Education Foundation features a wide-ranging conversation with Michael W. Wright, recently retired CEO and chairman of the board of SuperValu, Inc.

In the "Power of Calculated Risks," Wright reveals why he has become known as a leader in many trendsetting initiatives, hasn't followed conventional thinking, and how he fostered his business sense.

For more information, visit www.naw.org.

kgriffiths@reedbusiness.com