Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/679551
4 FEDA News & Views Joe Schmitt President Rapids Wholesale Equipment jaschmitt@rapidswholesale.com The President's Message F irst off, I would like to give a sincere thank-you to Brad Pierce for his lead- ership, vision and accomplishments over the past 24 months as our president. Kicking off the FEDA Data Interchange project created signifi cant deliverables that will benefi t many of our members for many years to come. In addition, Brad worked tirelessly to build bridges and effective lines of communication between NAFEM, MAFSI, CFESA & FCSI, all parties that participate in our chan- nel. These two signifi cant accomplish- ments, along with others, will have a lasting and positive impact on our industry for many years to come. Thank you Brad! As I refl ect on the Tucson convention, and the focus on disruption, business model transitions, digital transformation and the need for growth, it is apparent that our members and sup- ply channel partners are all searching for ways to inno- vate and create new value beyond the status quo. As we continue down the path of disruption, the dealer community must be quick to adapt and embrace the challenge as a motivating force to maintain its relevance and value within the channel. During my term, FEDA will be under- going a business transition unlike any other in the past 35 years. As you know, after more than three decades of ser- vice, our executive vice president, Ray Herrick, will be retiring near the end of my term as president. Ray has served as the CEO and de facto owner of FEDA and will have stood with, and supported, 19 presidents and countless board mem- bers with great pride at the end of his tenure. He has effectively led our organiza- tion, managed his staff and treated his duties with such great enthusiasm and care that we, as FEDA members, should be forever grateful for his commitment to serve—and the longstanding organi- zational stability that would not be pos- sible without it. This business transition will involve many of the challenges that we, as busi- ness owners, would expect if we were to sell our companies. Ray and I have had many conversations about this. He is effectively "selling the company" to the next leader that may have a different vision for accom- plishing the goals put forth by the FEDA leadership. As we all know, change is good and necessary for any organi- zation to succeed, and FEDA is no different. This change will undoubt- edly result in varied views on how to defi ne the future of FEDA but I am confi dent that given the historical perspec- tive and insights of Ray, and the vision of the team assem- bled to manage this transition, that FEDA will be well positioned to embrace the next 35 years. The transition process is underway and a search team is in place to ensure we turn all of the stones, ask all of the right questions and identify a great fi t to successfully lead FEDA into the future! Business in Transition – Defining the Future of FEDA As we all know, change is good and necessary for any organization to succeed, and FEDA is no different.