|
Three yearsof strong profitable growth and resurgence in our membership has provided the American Supply Association the ability to strengthen its leadership role within our supply chain. Leadership is affecting change in Washington, building and training our labor force, providing guidance through a turbulent economy, and building our brand with industry customer groups. Through our strengthened resources and long-range strategic planning, ASA’s leadership team has been able to invest in programs that will have a long-term impact on our industry.
PB Outlook and PVF Outlook
PB Outlook and PVF Outlook magazines are prime examples of how ASA is building its brand. This is being done by providing industry customer segments such as mechanical and plumbing contractors, designers, builders, industrial, oil and gas firms and engineers with critical information that will help them compete. In turn, this builds a vital link between our members and their customers. We are already building a bridge to our future with hundreds of thousands of customers as they receive the vital information that ASA provides through these two highly professional magazines. It goes without saying that few in our industry receive such valuable association marketing tools as these publications. (Visit ASA’s homepage at www.asa.net to see samples of PB Outlook and PVF Outlook.)
Business intelligence reports
ASA provides a total of seven business-intelligence reports. Our monthly forecasting report, ASA Advisor, coupled with the annual industry forecast presented at NetworkASA, provides members with a strong competitive advantage in being able to navigate the ever-changing economic climate. In addition, ASA provides compensation studies, commodity reports, annual benchmarking reports as well as other timely and beneficial regular reporting that is second-to-none in our industry. ASA invests significant resources in giving members the clarity that distributors and manufacturers alike find invaluable.
Impact on Policy
Few individuals or companies within our industry can impact what happens in Washington all on their own. Most of us watch on the nightly news what new horrors our elected leaders have in store for all of us. In turn, we wonder who can change the decline of leadership we see in our nation’s capital. Business professionals within our industry don’t have the time to educate themselves on everything happening in Washington, let alone grasp the full impact that a new regulation or piece of legislation will have on their companies. However, through an association such as ASA, our industry can influence what happens in Washington, D.C. We may not always be able to kill legislation or prevent new regulations, but by engaging our members we can often mitigate the negative impact from an out-of-control Washington.
Educational strength
No company, or any other trade association for that matter, has the strength of educational offerings that ASA has to offer our industry. Through ASA University and the new Masters in Distribution Management (MDM), our association has all the resources every serious distributor needs to build their professional staff; allowing them the ability to lead their marketplace. In fact, our educational strength is offered to everyone in our industry. Of course ASA members receive significant discounts on levels of service, which is a definite benefit of membership.
Industry events
Sharing best practices and networking with industry partners often is cited as one of the greatest values in participating in industry events. While buying groups and regional events offer valuable networking, ASA events such as NetworkASA, peer networking councils, our Young Executives Division and the highly successful recent launch of our Women in Industry Division offer valuable cross-industry networking well beyond experiences from other events. The heightened value for attendees when the entire industry gathers provides participants experiences that are unequaled. This has been evidenced particularly at mega events such as NetworkASA, where ASA has experienced a doubling of distributor firms in attendance over the past four years. These firms represent annual distributor sales of more than $14 billion, making NetworkASA a must-attend event. Supporting our industry by attending NetworkASA can be financially rewarding for any industry firm.
