Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/751848
4 FEDA News & Views Joe Schmitt President Rapids Wholesale Equipment jaschmitt@rapidswholesale.com The President's Message T here have been quite a few inquiries about the search for the next Ray Herrick, and many were surprised by the recent news that Tom Szafranski (aka Tomski) decided to join Heritage Parts and his longtime industry friend John McDonough. While many of you, along with several members of the FEDA Board, have already shared with Tom how much more diffi cult he has made our process of fi nding the next execu- tive director, we are very excited for Tom as he begins his next opportunity. Tom was engaged as a consultant to assess the state of FEDA, and to that end he provided the board with a very detailed report of his fi ndings in July 2016. The prima- ry focus of his efforts was to assist in deter- mining ways to ensure that FEDA remains rel- evant over the next 10 years and continues to improve the value proposition for the membership and our channel partners. Four primary action areas were identifi ed: the convention, FEDA's internal operations, the transition of the executive director and other recommendations. Tom conducted approximately 50 interviews either by telephone or in person. The target audience was dealers, manufacturers, the directors of affi liated organizations and FEDA staff. The input was presented in the format of a SWOT analysis and highlighted several areas for the executive committee and board of directors to focus on in the short-term and midterm. What is next? Based upon feedback to freshen up the convention and add more take-away value from the speakers, the board and the 2017 convention leadership team of Paul Parr and Keith Kidwell have revised the format to encourage more oppor- tunity for "casual collisions" with other attendees. There will be ice cream social breaks and ping pong for an additional opportunity to meet the best in the industry (at ping pong that is). We have revised the roundtable topics and added two tables that will include a 50-50 split of manufacturers and dealers. These two groups will work on indus- try white papers tackling "MAP Pricing Best Practices" and "How to Attract and Retain New Talent." In addition, we are evalu- ating the possibility of having a combined convention with the other trade associa- tions in our industry as early as 2018! This is being considered in the non-NAFEM show years to allow for more collaboration within our channel and to ensure a more seamless interface with our mutual customer. All of these upcoming changes are in response to past convention surveys and the results of the recent FEDA member survey. A total of 98 member fi rms par- ticipated. Thank you for the excellent response. You wanted change, new life, better takeaways….Ray and his team are preparing to deliver fresh innova- tive thinking even as he prepares for his Where's Tomski? Many were surprised by the recent news that Tom Szafranski decided to join Heritage Parts and his longtime industry friend John McDonough. continued on page 52