May 2003                             return to newsletter contents page

AVDA Grows Annual Conference, Elects New Board

AVDA held its 2003 Annual Conference April 27-30, at the Westin Riverwalk Hotel, in San Antonio, Texas. More than 140 industry representatives attended the event, shattering last year’s attendance and continuing the steady growth of this meeting.

Members participated in the annual election of directors. Jim Cleary, of MWI Veterinary Supply, will be leading AVDA as president. Supporting Cleary is a strong cabinet of officers including Chairman, Kim Allen, of Burns Veterinary Supply; and President-Elect, Steve Fowler, of Lextron.

Wilson Constantine, of Henry Schein, Inc.; Deborah Olson, of Nelson Laboratories; Davey Stone, of The Butler Company; and Sam Woodside, of NLS Animal Health were elected to director positions on the Board. Kathy Beins, of DVM Pharmaceuticals; and Gary Cushing, of PRN Pharmacal, will represent AVDA’s Associate Members on the Board.

Mike Gerlaugh, of Columbus Serum Company; and Doug Simmons, of Webster Veterinary Supply will continue serving on the 2003 Board of Directors.

At the start of the Conference, distributor members who participated in the recent 2003 Profit Survey, enjoyed a session with John MacKay, of Profit Planning Group. MacKay walked participants through the results of the Survey and discussed industry trends that were evident in the survey results.

In keeping with the Conference’s theme: The Value of Distribution, the program included sessions on Transforming a Distributor Sales Force for the Future, Wholesalers: We Get No Respect, and Mandating Collaboration: Secrets to Successful Supply Chain Integration; Economist Todd Buchholz spoke on Competing and Surviving in the New Economy; and Joseph Bertone, DVM, offered a riveting session on Drug Piracy: Compounded Drugs and Clinical Practice, which detailed the size and scope of compounding in the industry.  

Conference Statistics

This year’s conference was a very successful one and included representatives from all areas of the Animal Health industry.  A total of fifty-three companies were represented at the conference.  There were 18 Active (Distributor) Members with 42 representatives, 31 Associate (Manufacturer) Members with 55 representatives and 4 Affiliate Members with 6 representatives.  Nine prospective members were in attendance with 11 representatives and one representative of the trade press was also present.  To see a final list of attendees with contact information, click here.

AVDA will hold its next Annual Conference at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, in Scottsdale, Arizona, May 16-18, 2004. Mark your calendars!