1,700-Plus Attend NEMRA in Atlanta

This year’s NEMRA meeting in Atlanta, Feb. 5-8, provided a pretty accurate reflection of an electrical market on the move. In addition to the chances to chat with old industry friends in the jam-packed atrium bar at the sold-out Atlanta Marriott Marquis, and conduct business with marketing partners at the conference’s one-on-one sessions, attendees learned about the new NEMRA Network CRM (customer relationship management) software; got ideas on how to best use the RepFiles digital content digital system from web marketing guru, Rob Fisher from Madison Electric Products; and could shop for new LED lines from the small army of LED companies at the conference looking for reps.

The general mood of the conference was definitely bullish, although 2014 has gotten off to a slow start in many markets because many construction projects are stalled by cold weather. One thing that was pretty obvious at this year’s conference was the evolution of the rep world. A fair number of rep firm owners had a younger family member or other employee in tow to learn the ropes, and there were a few NEMRA veterans that you always expect to at the conference that weren’t at this year’s meeting, as their younger employees were handling manufacturer meetings.

The meeting also featured two great keynote speakers at the general session in Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza and 2010 Republican presidential candidate, talk radio host, and Marie-Christine Coisne-Roquette, chairman of Sonepar SA, the world’s largest distributor. Cain was a very entertaining speaker who gave the audience some great motivational nuggets, including, “Great leaders are born and the good leaders keep working on it,” and, “When things get tough, simplify.”

Coisne-Roquette offered some terrific insight into how she has built her company into the biggest electrical distributors in the world and one of the largest national chains in North America.  In most of the several dozen acquisitions Sonepar made over the past two decades in North America, the previous ownership has stayed with the company and she said part of Sonepar’s success has been finding companies with outstanding ownership and giving them the resources to continue their growth.

One of the biggest challenges she sees for the North American electrical market will be the need to do more business electronically. She says that in some of Sonepar’s global markets outside of Europe, 50% of the company’s business is done online, and urged the reps and manufacturers in the audience to move quickly toward digital commerce. Coisne-Roquette said other challenges facing the electrical market around the world include finding new talent and competing effectively in the green market.

Heard at NEMRA. C&O Electrical Sales, Overland Park, Kan., is now the Cutler-Hammer/Eaton rep for Kansas… Nicole Bagozzi said EDG in Phoenix scored a touchdown at the Super Bowl with a sweet lighting job for hospitality tents…  New England reps are still hot over Legrand’s move to go with the new Electrical Solutions agency backed by Richard Worthy instead of some long-time NEMRA reps...  Eric Haines is working in specification sales for Vertex Solutions after his rep agency, Haines Sales Corp., East Syracuse, N.Y., closed. Kim Whipple also came over to Vertex from Haines Sales.

The association recently announced its meeting venues for the next few years. The 2015 meeting will be held at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, Jan. 28-31;  the 2016 annual conference will be held Feb. 3-6 in Dallas at the Hilton Anatole; and the 2017 meeting will be held Feb. 1-4 in Orlando at the Marriott World Center.