I.D.A. president challenges distributors

Remarks by W. Scott Parrish, vice president - Nashville Region of Turner Supply Company, Mobile, AL, and president of the Industrial Distribution Association, at the ISMA/I.D.A. 2001 fall convention in Chicago on Nov. 18, 2001.



Two months ago, summer was ending, our children were headed back to school, shark attacks and Gary Condit consumed the nightly news. Many of us had experienced an uptick in our August business. Everyone spoke hopefully of a possible fourth quarter economic recovery in the manufacturing sector.


The last 68 days have changed all of our lives in heretofore unimaginable ways. Our industry has been under attack for over a year by a weak manufacturing economy. Now, our entire lifestyle is under attack by cowardly terrorists from abroad who want to deprive us of our daily freedoms. Their attacks were driven by their bitter hatred for that which fuels our liberty ﾖ the free enterprise system. The economic uncertainty caused by these attacks, coupled with the already weak manufacturing economy, threatens to plunge our entire nation into a long-term economic recession.


Our situation today reflects in many ways the depression economy of the 1930s followed by the uncertain political climate leading up to World War II as chronicled by Tom Brokaw in his book 'The Greatest Generation.' Brokaw detailed the personal sacrifices the depression-era generation made toward the war effort. While most of that great generation is no longer active in the distribution business, many of our member companies survived those turbulent times as they will survive today's.


Much of our membership is comprised of privately held companies, strengthened by the same entrepreneurial spirit that guided our predecessors through the great depression and world war. The days ahead will be every bit as difficult as those experienced by our predecessors in the distribution business, although the circumstances will be very different.


We most likely will not have the product shortages of World war II (my father used to tell me about the scarcity of such things as Starrett micrometers, and the ration stamps necessary to sell them when he could get them). Instead, we face perhaps a greater challenge today, selling products into a depressed manufacturing sector, suppressed by an economy threatened by terrorism.


God willing, all of you will return home safely from our fall convention. I hope that the programs and the people to which and to whom you are exposed this weekend will help you fight this economic war we must wage for the survival of our individual companies. I encourage you to take time between now and the end of the year to follow up on the contacts you make with your trading partners at the booth sessions. These enduring relationships (many since the ﾑ30s and ﾑ40s) will provide those of us in the industrial distribution channel a focused marketing plan with which we can attack these tough times.


American manufacturers and distributors have led our nation from the desperate days of the great depression to a position of world economic leadership. Our model for the industrial distribution channel, while ever improving, will lead our nation once again.ﾠ
Now is the time that we as leaders must provide leadership within the distribution channel to help make this the 'greatest generation' of the 21st century. Confucius once said, 'Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.'


We have been down before and have risen to meet the challenges. We will do so again on the wings of American industry. We must do our part by not letting cowardly acts of terror disrupt our lives. Victory in this new war will not be judged by bombs dropped and territory conquered. Victory will be won by our nation being able to continue to enjoy the precious liberty we have treasured for so long.
My bet is on America in this fight. We must unite in the business community to set the example. Open that new sales territory you have been thinking about, expand your product focus, resume your business and personal travel schedule as you have done this weekend, and be resolved to return to business as usual.


In the words of Earl Nightingale, 'You become what you think about all day long.' Let's get back to thinking about our businesses, an economic recovery, future prosperity and liberty beyond all bounds. May God continue to bless America.