As 2020 came to an end, five American Supply Association distributor members participated in a virtual roundtable interview to cover the latest trends and challenges present in the PHCP-PVF supply chain.

A few years ago, the WIT buying group held its fall owners meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah — a neat area of the country if you have never checked it out. Part of the event involved a tour of member Standard Plumbing Supply’s impressive headquarters operation in nearby Sandy.

It is with great optimism that I begin my term as your ASA president. To be candid, this was not what I had in my mind, though.

It’s no secret that 2020 was a year packed with challenges for the PHCP-PVF supply chain. Some areas of our industry, such as the residential construction and remodeling markets have flourished. No matter the market sector, distributors have entered 2021 with high hopes and are searching for answers when it comes the state of the industry.

Once upon a time — 2006 to be exact — in a not far away land, Home Depot sold MRO products to the industrial and commercial markets. Top executives at Home Depot determined their strategy should be to focus on homeowners and home contractors, so they spun off MRO products into an entity dubbed HD Supply.

In January 2021 American Underground Supply (AUS) will open its fourth branch in De Soto, IA. This facility sits on 1.5 acres with an 8000 square foot warehouse. De Soto is the first AUS location in the state of Iowa.

The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) announced the additions of Dan Schuberth as chief business development officer and William Inman as chief public affairs officer for communications and advocacy to its senior leadership team. The newly created positions will report to NAW President and CEO Eric Hoplin.

Baltimore-based PHCP-PVF distributor Northeastern Supply will open its 36th branch this month.

For the 3rd year in a row, The National Association for Business Resources has named The Granite Group a national winner of its “Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” award.

During the American Supply Association’s recent NETWORK2020 Virtual event, attendees were given a live look at the new ASA D.NEXT Innovation Lab housed in Research Park on the campus of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. ASA Vice President of Innovation Beth Ladd not only gave attendees a rundown of the lab’s purpose and short- and long-term visions, but also, with the help of D.NEXT team members, unveiled findings from the lab’s first research project.