MHEDA WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS

MHEDA welcomes new Distributors Power Machinery Center of Oxnard, CA, CB Toyota-Lift of Kent, WA, LA Lift Services of Vernon, CA, and St. Cyr, Inc. of Lucedale, MS. As a benefit of membership, MHEDA Members have access to emerging research, industry news and exciting networking opportunities. Do you know somebody who should become a MHEDA Member? Contact Joanne Piacenza at 847-680-3500 or visit this page to join online.

BREAKING NEWS

Submit Your Questions Now for the Manufacturer-Distributor Panel Back by popular demand in 2005 is the Manufacturer-Distributor Panel Presentation. This highly rated program gives attendees the opportunity to hear perspectives from both manufacturers and distributors. This year's discussion theme is transformation. You now have the opportunity to submit your questions for the panel before the Convention. To do so, send an e-mail to connect@mheda.org with the subject heading "Panel Question," or call AnnaMarie Kendall at 847-680-3500.

Bush Names Portman Trade Representative

President Bush chose Congressman Rob Portman to be U.S. trade representative, saying the Ohio Republican has shown a deep dedication to free and fair trade. Portman is the brother of MHEDA Distributor Member Wym Portman III of Portman Equipment Company (Cincinnati, OH). "As an Ohioan, Rob knows firsthand that millions of American jobs depend on exports, including one in every five factory jobs," Bush said in nominating Portman to be the administration's top salesperson for free-trade agreements around the world.

INDUSTRY BEAT
(what people are talking about)

Knight Joins Bulldog (Weirton, WV) • Bulldog Rack Co. appointed Bob Knight southeast regional manager, distributor sales. Prior to his appointment, Knight served 16 years as southeast regional manager, distributor sales for Speedrack Products Group.

(l-r) Liftech Marketing Director Don Moore, Special Olympians Paul Asaro, Mary Anne Silverstram and Raynell Remaungil, and Liftech CFO Michael Vaughan

Liftech Receives Sponsor Award (Syracuse, NY) • Liftech Equipment Companies and the JCB Dancing Diggers received the Bronze Sponsor Award presented by the Special Olympics of New York. 2004 marks the second year Liftech and JCB have sponsored Special Olympics New York through direct employee participation and donations.

Sweetman Joins Atlantic (Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ) • Atlantic Handling Systems appointed Daniel Sweetman as senior project manager of its engineering team. He has over 10 years experience in conveyor and storage systems.

Griffith Named Trustee (Bristol, PA) • MHEDA President Dave Griffith, president/CEO of Modern Group, was named a Trustee of Westminster School, located in Simsbury, CT.

Jim Barrick

Steve Marcozzi

AWP Appoints Management (Frankfort, KY) • AWP Industries named Jim Barrick materials manager, responsible for managing the production control, procurement, and shipping and receiving departments. He brings 15 years of strategic and operational industrial experience. Steve Marcozzi was appointed manager of sales, material handling storage products. He heads the company's nationwide sales force, bringing 14 years of material handling experience and 13 years of equipment sales management.

Lynn Cochran

Cochran Joins Andersen (Dalton, GA) • Lynn Cochran joined The Andersen Company as national sales manager, new markets development. His primary responsibilities are the commercial catalog business, training distributors, and opening new material handling, safety and industrial catalogs throughout North America.

Solideal Expands ISO Registration (Charlotte, NC) • Solideal Tire successfully passed a round of external audits, enabling the company to expand its ISO 9001:2000 Registration to all 30 of its U.S. branches.

Lemay Joins Progressive (Rockaway, NJ) • Progressive Handling Systems appointed Emile Lemay vice president of sales and marketing. He most recently served as senior vice president of operations at Lantis Eyewear Corporation.

Mike Blough

Borroughs Names Blough COO (Kalamazoo, MI) • Mike Blough was appointed to the newly created position of chief operating officer at Borroughs Corporation. He recently served as vice president, software application engineering at Siemens Logistics and Assembly Systems.

NDS Solutions Merges (Englewood, CO) • Dealer Information Systems Corporation (DIS) acquired the key assets, products and technologies of NDS Solutions. DIS will maintain the NDS office in Centennial, CO, along with offices in Kansas City and St. Louis, MO, and Bellingham, WA.

Patti Fox

Celine Holzbauer

PFI Expands Sales Team (Milwaukee, WI) • Products For Industry added two members to its sales team. Patti Fox was named a sales representative and brings four years of experience in the material handling industry. Celine Holzbauer was named sales assistant.

Narrow Aisle Changes Corporate Name (Dallas, TX) • Narrow Aisle North America changed its name to Narrow Aisle, Inc. The change was made because the original name was deemed too geographically restrictive and to reflect the close association with manufacturer Narrow Aisle, Ltd. At the same time, the company changed the name of its product from DV8r to Flexi, as it is known in other parts of the world.

Briggs Joins Rapid Rack (City of Industry, CA) • Rapid Rack Industries appointed R. Michael Briggs as president and CEO. He most recently served as president and CEO of Superior Fireplace Company.

James C. Tyler In Sympathy MHEDA extends its condolences to the family and friends of James C. Tyler, who passed away March 15 at the age of 78. Mr. Tyler was enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, and attended Kalamazoo College and Wesleyan College. In 1953 he established, in partnership, Metal Product Sales, an industrial material handling and supply company that later became known as Tyler Supply Company. He was a past president of Storage Consultants of America (SCA). In 1991, Mr. Tyler purchased Borroughs Manufacturing Co., where he was chairman. Today, his son Tim Tyler serves as president. Says Tyler, "He loved what he did and was proud of what he built. He will be remembered as a great entrepreneur and an extremely down-to-earth businessman." Memorial contributions may be made to a local charity of your choice, or to the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.

SALES SUCCESS STORY

Balint/Ryder Has Remedy for Roofing Shingle Manufacturer

For two years, Jack Balint of Balint/Ryder Handling Equipment (South Bend, IN), had been calling on a major national roofing shingle manufacturer in Michigan City, IN. He knew they were having problems with their lift trucks. Transmission failures, constant brake problems and high LP-gas fuel costs made the company's expenses rise high above the roofing shingles they were trying to build. It was time to find a better truck, and Balint knew just what they needed.

Balint did a site survey to key in on the customer's problem areas, and knew that a Linde lift truck with its hydrostatic drive would eliminate the transmission and brake problems; the complete bottom belly pan, shock-mounted drive-steer axles and top-mounted tilt cylinders would eliminate a myriad of their other costly problems.

A fleet of Linde trucks is ready for delivery to customer

So how did Balint get an economic-minded company to switch from their inexpensive trucks to the most expensive lift trucks on the market? He first explained the unique Linde added-value. “We then provided a demo to prove that the Linde truck was not more expensive when considering the added value. For the customer, this meant no more transmission or brake problems and dramatic fuel savings.”

The customer wasn't aware of these features before Balint presented his product and how it fit their needs. The sale of eight Linde trucks, complete with cabs—five H30D-393 models and three H20D-350-03 models—was quickly followed up with an order for three more.

PHOTO: During the 1980s, MHEDA Executive Vice President Dan Reilly (left) and Modern Group President Joseph McEwen (right) discussed issues affecting material handling distributors with President Ronald Reagan at a meeting of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors in Washington, D.C.

What's Happening with Health Insurance?
Tuesday, April 19, 1-2 p.m. ET
Don Parisi, Pegasus Health Care & Bruce Merrifield, Merrifield Consulting
HSAs (Health Savings Accounts) are a key piece of the Bush Administration's "Ownership Society," with even more tax incentive legislation pending. The interest and uptake for this new product is outstripping all forecasts. This teleconference will ensure that MHEDA Members understand the full implications of this breakthrough insurance tool. Learn about insurance trends, how to lower health insurance premiums, the benefits of HSA plans, and how to start a "Wellness Program" at your company. Registration is only $99 per company location. To register or for more details, visit this page.

How to Hire the Best & Eliminate the Rest
Monday, April 25, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET
Joe Ellers, Palmetto Associates
Participate in this free teleconference and learn how to define what type of people you really need; where to find them; what qualifications, experience or background will make them the best fit; how to glean insight from past hires who have not worked out; and the questions you should ask to discover who they truly are. For more details or to register, visit this page.

The Habit of Selling
Wednesday, May 18, to Tuesday, May 19
Doubletree Downtown Hotel, Dayton, OH
Don Buttrey, Sales Professional Training
Do you want to improve your sales performance? Are you looking for fun, interesting, hands-on sales training that will leave you feeling empowered and informed? Join MHEDA for a two-day sales training event designed to help you learn more about relationship building, selling the added value of your company, overcoming price sensitivity, methodology to answer objections, closing techniques and much more! You will bring a real-life target account with you to practice with during the program. For more details call 847-680-3500 or view this page.

MHEDA NEWS

30 Days and Counting until Convention! • Ready for MHEDA's 50th Annual Convention? Join hundreds of your material handling industry peers April 30 to May 4 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix, AZ. This year's theme, "Revive! Transform Your Business," will focus on what you can do to transform your company for the future. Transformation sessions will include: Distribution Center Stage, Ownership Transitioning, How Smart Companies Grow and much more! For more Convention details, visit this page.

Exhibitors Gone Wild • Attention Showcase Exhibitors: Do you want to capture the attention of distributors at MHEDA's Convention? Then go wild! Our new "Exhibitors Gone Wild" contest encourages you to make your booth the most fun, unique, inviting, memorable and enticing of all! Convention attendees will vote for their favorite booth during the Manufacturer-Distributor Networking Luncheon. First Place Winner will get a free booth at the 2006 Exhibitors' Showcase/First Choice of Booth Location; Second and Third Place Winners will receive second and third choice booth locations. This is your chance to generate buzz about your booth and win the coveted locations for the 2006 Showcase! Note: All booth activities/décor must be approved by MHEDA by calling 847-680-3500.

Members Saved Over $1 Million Last Year • MHEDA's partnership with Yellow Transportation brings members the deepest national transportation discounts in the association industry, with a 62% on-bill discount on inbound and outbound shipments that are less-than-truckload, standard ground. MHEDA members maximized their benefits with a combined savings of $1,334,835 on 3,248 shipments in 2004.

Your MHEDA membership is a wise business investment. Visit this page to enroll for these discounts, and save more than the cost of your annual dues.

Attention Distributors: The Greatest Member Benefit Is Sitting on Your Desk • The newly revised DiSC questionnaire was mailed to all distributor contacts last week. This Distributor Statistical Comparisons Survey has been streamlined in 2005, focusing more on what you want to know, and you'll spend less time filling out the form. This is the best source for financial benchmarking information in the industry, and it's free to member distributors.

This is a profitability survey of MHEDA distributors, packed with industry-specific data to guide you in your company's future budgeting and financial planning process. All data are absolutely confidential, guaranteed. In return for your participation, you will receive an industry report, a confidential individual company analysis and access to an online profit toolkit. If you did not receive your questionnaire, e-mail cthoren@mheda.org and request a form.

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