Next-Level Camaraderie

This past November the Southern Leadership Division (SLD) headed to The Kimpton Cardinal Hotel in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for their annual Business Resource Meeting. We kicked off the 3-day meeting with a Round Table Discussion. Facilitated by Robbie Surratt, SLD President, this popular session allows attendees to get together in an informal setting to discuss issues related to the industry or a specific business process while sharing best practices.

Following the roundtable, we partnered with ITG to support United Way of Greensboro, and specifically The Servant Center of Greensboro. We rolled up our sleeves and stuffed sixty backpacks of hygiene products for the homeless and disabled, particularly veterans.

After lunch, we headed over to ITG, for a plant tour. ITG Brands, LLC is the thirdlargest tobacco company in the U.S., long-time member, and supporter of the association. ITG pulled out all of the stops on this very informative tour. A special thank you to CEO, Kim Reed and Michael Abhulimen for taking time out of their busy schedules to share with the group ITG’s practices and where its future is heading. Also, a huge thank you to Joe Dilger for pulling everything together!

On day two, we kicked off our Foodservice Workshop, with Tim Powell, Managing Principal, Foodservice IP (FSIP). As managing partner, Tim is responsible for recommending and developing business strategies, market sizing, designing qualitative and quantitative research methods, strategic planning and project management. He helped attendees understand the current foodservice landscape and what to look out for in the future. Special thanks to SLD member Mari Miro-Narlock from Spotlight Innovations for all her help in planning this wonderful educational opportunity.

Following the Foodservice Workshop, the team was ready for their team building activity. Team building activities are an essential part of the SLD meeting in order to build effective working relationships, foster trust among members, understand and improve communication skills or just to have fun! This year we went to Battl

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Grounds for an axe throwing competition. It was close, but John Wall from Stephenson Wholesale pulled off the win.

We ended the meeting on day three with a recap and idea share of what was learned during the Foodservice Workshop. Next steps to ensure a successful program were also a topic of discusson. n