The Industrial Supply Assn. hosted its second annual Industrial Supply Conference & Trade Fair May 20-23 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. The three-day meeting drew more than 1,800 delegates and included workshops, social events, industry awards and a trade show.

In welcoming members to the convention, ISA president Steve Short said the meeting continues to be the industry's flagship event. Prior to the formation of ISA, industrial distributors and manufacturers met twice a year as part of the Industrial Distribution Assn. and the Industrial Supply Manufacturers Assn. The two groups merged in 2004.

Short, who is president of Dayton, Ohio-based Updike Supply, said ISA continues to grow, noting that 92 companies joined the ranks in 2006. He announced some of the association's new programs as well, including a weekly e-newsletter that starts in July and an industry e-business summit scheduled for October. He also encouraged members to take part in as many association activities as possible.

“ISA is your association,” Short said. “Like many things in life, I believe you'll get out of it what you put into it.”

Several industry awards were given out at the conference, including ISA's annual Gary Buffington Memorial Scholarship, a $10,000 award given to a student majoring in Industrial Distribution at a U.S. college or university.

This year's winner was Lewis Hyatt of the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Hyatt, who will graduate in 2008, has a GPA of 3.66 and has been on UNK's Dean's List for the past three years. A sergeant in the Nebraska Army National Guard, Hyatt served for 13 months in Iraq. He thanked ISA and praised Gary Buffington in accepting the award.

“My goal is to live the way Gary must have lived: as a caring, giving person who touched the lives of countless people,” Hyatt told the ISA opening session. “I wish I could have met him and I hope to be like him.”

ISA also announced the recipients of this year's American Eagle Awards.

The Value-Added Partner Award—which recognizes a manufacturer and distributor working together to add value for their end-user customers—went to Mantua, N.J.-based Hangsterfer's Laboratories, which makes metalworking lubricants, and Knoxville, Tenn.-based distributor Major Tool Co.

The two teamed up to help DENSO Manufacturing Athens Tennessee (DMAT) improve tool life and reduce hazardous waste by replacing a cleaning solvent and cutting oil with more environmentally friendly products.

Other American Eagle Awards and recipients included:

Jergens Industrial Supply of Cleveland (Value-Added Distributor Award) for its program as commodity manager of perishable tooling for Cleveland Track, a manufacturer of railway track and components.

Lexington Cutter of Bradenton, Fla., (Value-Added Manufacturer Award) for its project to develop custom carbide step drills to help its customer, Briggs & Stratton Corp. in Auburn, Ala., lower its tooling costs.

The American Eagle Corporate Citizenship Awards went to Barnes Distribution of Cleveland, in recognition of its ongoing programs to provide tuition reimbursement for employees; and to Precision Brand Products, a Downers Grove, Ill.-based manufacturer. Precision was honored for its financial support and employee involvement in multiple charities and community organizations.

Other convention highlights included the release of a new ISA study on the future impact of company size in the industrial channel. Industry consultant Bill McCleave conducted the research for the study, which identified the advantages and disadvantages facing companies of all sizes in the industrial supply channel. Among the key findings:

• Small distributors have some potential marketplace advantages over the next five years, especially in selling and servicing small manufacturers' product lines.
• Large distributors won't be the only survivors, as mid-sized and specialty distributors will rival them in some areas.
• Distributor respondents said 40 percent of their sales come from their top 10 customers and that they expect to grow that business over the next five years.
• 55 percent of respondents expect service revenues to increase slightly in the next five years.

The study defined small distributors as those with less than $7.5 million in sales; mid-sized distributors, between $7.5 million and $100 million in sales; and large distributors as those with more than $100 million.

ISA will meet in suburban Chicago next year, at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont, Ill., June 1-3.