2020 Year In Review We’re in the Growth Business
From the CEO A year of change, challenges and triumph 2020 was undoubtedly an unprecedented year of change and challenge like we had never faced before. While it seems that our industry has economic disruption once every decade, in 2020 we experienced a new level of concern as we worried about the very health of not just our business, but that of our families and employees. Never has there been a more important time to have a strong and effective national trade association to support your business and future. While the pandemic disrupted our markets almost overnight, our advocacy apparatus was on full display and played an increasingly important role in protecting our members and markets. As many industries were shuttered and decimated, we fought hard to ensure our industry was deemed essential, allowing you and fellow members to continue to serve our customers. Ten years ago, wholesale distributors were caught off guard when California and Washington passed “Get the Lead Out” legislation that cost our members, in many cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars. After 10 years of exempting water agencies and a failure to lower lead numbers, this past year California attempted another effort to push our industry to even lower levels at unprecedented costs to our industry, while continuing to ignore aging underground lead service lines. But thanks to our members in California, again led by our ASA advocacy team, this new attack on our industry through “Get the Lead Out 2.0” failed to pass. Aiding in our fight to protect our industry, ASA’s Political Action Committee invested in key federal races in 2020. We were successful in nearly 90% of the congressional races we invested in — an unprecedented success ratio that further strengthens our future effectiveness. Facing rapid change and disruption tends to be particularly more difficult when you don’t have an understanding of what is happening, how others are dealing with the disruption and what you should do to triumph. While ASA had to cancel five in-person events, we stepped up the delivery of critical information to help you and your teams navigate the high degree of uncertainty. Our association and staff quickly shifted into high gear and delivered more than 60 educational and informational virtual webinars and podcasts. From peer-to-peer town-hall video interviews to our industry-recognized economic update sessions (made available at no cost to you), we were vital in delivering your team critical and actionable information. And while many associations and industry organizations attempted to shift to a virtual convention, ASA’s NETWORK2020 Virtual event in October was unparalleled in its quality sessions, valuable content and production quality. And while we could have rested on the value we delivered this year, your association leadership launched two major initiatives to support you as we emerge from these disruptive times. We didn’t sit back and conserve resources to ride out the storm. To help you, we invested heavily in launching PROJECT TALENT to provide you with tools to recruit top talent. We also opened D.NEXT, our innovation lab at the University of Illinois. No organization has been able to match this forward and innovative thinking. We are proud of the value ASA has delivered to you this year, but we are not done. Your leadership has continued to think big and bold, and has already put additional plans in place to support our members in 2021. Leadership is working to deliver solutions on our third mega goal, VITALITY, which will support your ability to look at your company critically to assess how you can fine-tune your readiness to more effectively compete over the next decade. And look for even more virtual content to be rolled out this year. Thank you for being a member. We are proud to serve you.
Michael Adelizzi, CEO American Supply Association
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ASA 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
Building One Future
we’re in the
GROWTH
CAREER
RESOURCE CENTER
business.
ASA opens D.NEXT innovation lab In June, ASA opened its D.NEXT innovation lab at Research Park on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign. D.NEXT is one of two platforms that debuted in 2020 under the association’s Building One Future longrange strategic action plan.
ASA rolls out PROJECT TALENT careers recruitment platform In 2020, as part of its Building One Future long-term strategic action plan to solidify its members’ long-term futures in the industry, ASA debuted two of the three platforms under that umbrella. During its NETWORK2020 Virtual event in October, ASA introduced members to its PROJECT TALENT careers recruitment initiative that will help solve current and future industry workforce challenges. This platform is available to ASA members as a free benefit. ASA partnered with Bostonheadquartered advertising agency Harger Howe to create PROJECT
TALENT, which features a detailed media campaign to fast-track and drive targeted traffic through ASA’s website to members’ websites. A robust social media effort launching early 2021 will build career-focused communities online that will offer career success stories from small and large companies. The PROJECT TALENT Career Portal provides education and tools to ASA members to help in their recruiting efforts, plus the Career Opportunity Toolbox is loaded with marketing and promotional materials to help ASA member companies secure new hires.
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PROJECT TALENT’s Career Opportunity Toolbox features thousands of promotional and marketing assets, all accessible free of charge by ASA member companies. Some examples include a library of more than 3,000 stock photos, plus 30 different industry job descriptions and customizable print ads, posters and flyers.
The D.NEXT team reached out to nearly 250 PHCP contractors as part of its first market research project to gain insight into how contractors perceive the service offerings of the distributors they do business with. That study is available to ASA members in the MyASA portal at asa.net.
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Under the direction of ASA Vice President of Innovation Beth Ladd, D.NEXT’s mission is to help member distributors move forward through the use of human-centered design, rapid ideation, primary and secondary research and prototyping to explore the roles, practices, perceptions, trends and technologies that power today’s supply chain. During NETWORK2020 Virtual, the D.NEXT team revealed the results of its first market-research project that compared the expectations of distributors and their contractor customers — an effort that produced eyeopening results.
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ASA ADVOCACY EFFORTS HELP members in time of great need When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, there was widespread confusion in the PHCP-PVF supply chain as to whether our industry would be deemed essential at the state and federal levels. As this regulatory chaos swirled, ASA’s advocacy team wasted no time in coming to its members’ aid. In terms of the push to get the industry deemed essential at the federal level, more than 1,800 advocates from ASA-member companies wrote more than 7,300 letters to their U.S. senators and representatives. At the state level, more than 500 letters were written by more than 240 advocates to local legislators. The end result was our industry being deemed essential.
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ASA SCORES KEY CALIFORNIA NO-LEAD VICTORY ASA continues to be highly active on the codes and standards front in protecting its members’ best interests. In September, ASA played a key role in quashing the state of California’s efforts to pass “Get the Lead Out 2.0,” which would have forced manufacturers into a second round of endpoint fixture lead reduction, 10 years after the current regulations went into effect. Thanks to ASA’s unrelenting advocacy push at the national, state and local levels on behalf of its members, and more importantly, the engagement of ASA’s California distributor members writing 2,400 letters to all 40 state senators in
opposing the bill, AB 2060 never gained enough momentum for a floor vote, dying in committee on Sept. 1. Prior to ASA and its members actively opposing AB 2060, the bill was poised to pass easily since there had not been any active opposition to the bill.
11,000 In 2020, ASA member companies wrote more than 11,000 letters to their elected officials, advocating for critically important issues such as essential business classification at the state and federal levels, as well as the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act and opposition to California Senate Bill AB 2060.
ASA 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
ASA hosts more than 60 VIRTUAL EDUCATION SESSIONS This past year, ASA greatly increased its virtual education component by delivering more than 60 sessions all aimed at helping members better succeed in their businesses.
pandemic and how they were best conducting business during unprecedented times. A SA Chief Economist Dr. Chris Kuehl delivered weekly update webinars during the pandemic, keeping members apprised of the latest economic changes and trends. Dr. Kuehl’s popular webinars continued through 2020 and will return on a monthly basis in 2021.
I n addition to instantly creating a COVID-19 resource center on the ASA’s website at asa.net during the early stages of the pandemic, ASA also debuted its ASA Town Hall Interview Series that provided boots-on-the-ground perspectives from ASA members and other key supply chain stakeholders on how they were affected by the
D r. Kuehl also debuted his “Keeping it Real With Dr. Kuehl” weekly podcast that provides quick 5-10-minute economic updates on
specific sectors of the PHCP-PVF supply chain. A SA hosted a bevy of educational webinars throughout 2020 on topics such as leadership, succession planning, sales strategies, tax planning and business management acumen. A SA continued its more-thana-decade-long relationship with Supply House Times and its parent company BNP Media. Supply House Times is the official publication of ASA.
SOCIAL MEDIA ASA upped the ante on social media with the relaunch of its LinkedIn page — @American Supply Association (ASA) — which ballooned to more than 1,500 followers by the end of 2020. ASA also has strong presences on Twitter (@ASA_HQ) and Facebook (@americansupplyassociation). In early 2021, ASA will debut its ASA Commodities Twitter feed that will provide daily updates on commodities of keen interest to ASA members. Stopping
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1,600 An ASA Town Hall interview with Hajoca Corp. President and CEO and former ASA President Rick Fantham attracted more than 1,600 viewers. That video can be accessed on ASA’s YouTube channel.
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VIRTUAL
ASA’s NETWORK2020 Virtual a smash hit While COVID-19 canceled almost all ASA’s 2020 in-person events, the association quickly pivoted and took its annual NETWORK event virtual. The results were nothing short of spectacular from content, attendance, production and feedback standpoints. More than 1,600 individuals registered for NETWORK2020 Virtual, representing more than 250 ASA member companies, including 118 member distributor companies.
NETWORK2020 Virtual was a twoday event that featured a robust educational component, punctuated by Kohler Co. President and CEO David Kohler’s keynote address, as well as the 2021 industry forecast from ASA Chief Economist Dr. Chris Kuehl. Another key component of NETWORK2020 Virtual was a firstof-its-kind virtual trade show that attracted more than 30 ASA Supplier Partner manufacturers. ASA also took its wholesaler-distributor and vendor conference appointments virtual.
NETWORK2020 Virtual 1,600
Registrants
250-plus
ASA-member companies represented
118
ASA-member distributor companies represented
CONNECT peer networking communities make virtual debut In 2020, ASA took its CONNECT peer-to-peer networking concept virtual, offering 9 sessions (in 9 separate critical jobfunction areas) where ASA-member employees met in facilitated sessions to share best practices and solutions to mutual problems on a monthly basis. ASA is expanding the program in 2021 to include not only distributors, but manufacturers and manufacturers’ representatives in most sessions.
200 ASA’s CONNECT program in 2020 attracted more than 200 ASA member employees.
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ASA 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
INDUSTRY STANDARD for Education & Training
ASA UNIVERSITY continues to be the PHCP-PVF industry standard ASA University continues to be the educational and training authority in the PHCP-PVF industry.
A s we head into 2021, ASA University now offers 331 courses in 52 key competencies, not to mention 30 role-based training tracks for anything from serving customers at the counter to building your leadership bench.
A SA-U proved that in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic when it quickly developed a host of courses centered on mentalhealth and soft skills training and motivation, all offered free of charge to ASA member companies and their employees to immediately implement during a massive wave of business uncertainty.
A dditionally, ASA University’s MDM advanced leadership training program experienced record enrollment in 2020.
A SA University’s ADVISE program also enjoyed great success in 2020. ADVISE, geared toward member companies of all sizes, is a workshop intended to help ASA members develop and grow their own training programs. ASA-U advisors offer guidance on best practices, overcoming roadblocks and tangible strategies for success when implementing training.
ASA-U Catalog
343 More than 340 courses are available from ASA member manufacturers that are completely free to ASA distributor members. ASA member manufacturers can upload training courses to ASA University at no charge.
ASA University’s expansive catalog of course and training track offerings is now available virtually on the ASA website. To access, visit asa.net/Education/ASA-University.
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE ASA’s Business Intelligence office continues to keep members positioned to best succeed through a robust platform of useful performance and trends reports. 2020 Compensation Survey: Based on surveys from 905 distribution companies representing more than 10,000 locations. ASA is one of 23 distribution-related associations that sponsored the 2020 survey. Operating Performance Report: Continues to represent the most complete, accurate and up-to-date
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comparative financial performance data and 20-year trends published anywhere about the PHCP and industrial/ mechanical PVF supply chain. Quarterly Pulse Sales Report: Provides a quarterly snapshot of performance for the PHCP-PVF industry in categories, such as sales, inventory, average DSOs, FTEs, gross margin and YTD profit before taxes. Monthly Economic Advisor: Through BI partner Armada Corporate Intelligence, the Advisor provides a macro-economic analysis of the
industry at the regional and national levels, as well as an updated, rolling 36-month forecast. IPD Commodity Reports: Trends and data from ASA members on commodities in nine different categories, published monthly in PVF Outlook e-news, which reaches more than 50,000 mainly end-user subscribers.
40% This year’s ASA Compensation Report saw a 40% increase in survey participants.
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ASA thanks its 2020 Supplier Partners for their continued support of ASA programs and initiatives. PLATINUM
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
ASA Association Partners
New ASA Affinity Partners in 2020
ASA welcomed Federated Insurance and alliantgroup as Association Partners in 2020. Federated Insurance is ASA’s recommended insurance provider, while alliantgroup is ASA’s recommended tax consulting services provider.
MICHELIN Tire ASA members can save up to 31% off the list price of MICHELIN tires.
Savings4Members ASA members can enjoy discounts and savings in more than 20 operating-expense categories.
SAVE
THE
DATE!
NOVEMBER 9-11 J.W. Marriott, Las Vegas, NV