December 2004              return to newsletter contents page

AVDA Adopts Strategic Plan

The AVDA board met for a strategic planning session in Columbus, Ohio in November at The Blackwell Hotel at The Ohio State University (OSU).  The session was facilitated by Dr. H. Lee “Buck” Mathews, Professor of Marketing and Logistics at OSU. Many of you may recognize Buck’s name because he was the originator of the analysis we now call the AVDA Par Study or Profit Report. He is also the academic director of the National Association of Wholesale Distributor’s (NAW) executive training program, which runs each summer at OSU.

One goal of the Strategic Planning Session was to develop a detailed strategic plan that will assist our organization to drive process and programs that are important to all members. A second goal was to deliver a working tool that will insure the long term success of the organization through focus and accountability. Third, and most importantly, it will give us a roadmap to be shared with all members to understand what this organization stands for and where we hope to go as we bring value to the membership and to our industry.

As a part of the session, the board revised AVDA’s mission statement and adopted new strategic initiatives for the association. The new initiatives will be unveiled in a presentation at the Annual Conference in April, but they include the following:

•  Improving Annual Conference Speakers and Networking opportunities between channel partners and pursue other programs to bring channel partners together

• Revise the annual Profit Survey to include data on suppliers

• Develop an AVDA Brand or Public Relations campaign to promote value of using distributors and partnering with other animal health related associations to promote independent veterinarians

• Explore cost savings programs for members to include discounts on credit card processing, transportation, travel and vehicle leasing

•  Membership initiatives to reach out to new supplier and distributor members and to promote value of membership.

AVDA’s new mission statement is:

AVDA is committed to the success of its members by providing information, education, advocacy and business tools to strengthen the vital link between suppliers, distributors and veterinarians in the animal health industry.