ASA Leadership Keeps Focus on Navigating the Future During Recent Executive Committee Meeting

The most successful industries are those that are supported by a strong trade association backed by every serious company within the industry that speaks with one voice and act collectively through the association.

No football team can be successful if everyone is running their own plays. No individual company or major corporation can survive if every division does their own thing or chases separate goals. 

United we are strong. Divided we fall.    

This is what drives ASA and the leaders of the association who understand that an industry divided through special interests and focus is destined to be unsuccessful. 

The ASA Executive Committee and senior staff met several weeks ago to review the progress the association is making toward the strategic direction established during the Winter Strategic Planning Retreat earlier this year. 

There was general consensus that ASA, through its strategic councils and task groups, is driving toward its mission of being the “unified voice that drives the success of the industry.” 

But our mission is far from complete. A great deal of work needs to be done to think and act as a unified industry.  During the meeting, members of the executive committee discussed how the industry can best be unified.

From evaluating programs offered at signature events such as NETWORK to how ASA makes critical information available to all industry partners that helps them understand the challenges the industry is facing; ASA is evaluating how it can best be a catalyst to unify the industry.

Progress is being made as we strengthen our relationship with our buying group partners — important industry organizations that continue to recognize the value of a strong industry association by partnering with us to deliver strong reports, such as our annual Operating Performance Report, and unifying our voice to advocate together for our industry.

The leadership reviewed the progress being made toward the creation of an industry standard by which data is shared between our manufacturer partners and distributors. While the creation of product data libraries is being done by others, members felt creating an industry data-sharing standard is a perfect role of a national association — unifying all companies to agree to share data the same way. 

But to be successful, we need to unite everyone to adhere to this new emerging data-sharing standard once it is launched. And here again, our buying group partners will be vital in helping us gain acceptance of this new data-share standard.

In 2015, ASA conducted a national labor study to determine the state of labor in our industry and what the future would hold. Based on that study, ASA embarked on creating programs to help drive awareness of the great careers our industry offers. 

During this meeting, ASA approved a follow-up study to answer the question of how we are doing in reversing labor declines and how AI might impact the future demand for labor long-term. Results will be available later this fall.

Lastly, the Executive Committee approved plans to conduct an Innovation Summit next year to provide an out-of-the-box look at the future, what change is coming and how it can be put to use in the PHCP & PVF industry.