If you are an AED member who intends on remaining a viable player in North American distribution, don't miss it. Wednesday, Sept. 15 (6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.) AED Reception   Thursday, Sept. 16 (8:00 a.m. - 6:45 p.m.) Welcome and Setting the Stage – Forum Moderator Dr. Bill McCleave Bill McCleave, nationally recognized speaker and trainer, is president of W. R. McCleave & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in relationship management for industrial distributors, manufacturers and their customers. He is also a leading expert on integrated supply. He has more than 25 years of industry experience in executive managerial roles and has served as an advisor and trainer to a wide variety of distributor and industrial clients. As a former senior manager of a regional distribution company, past president of Association for High Technology Distribution, and a five-year faculty member of Texas A&M’s Industrial Distribution Program, Bill brings a unique perspective to supply channel practices and distribution education. Economy and Credit Analysis/Forecast Eugenio Aléman, Ph.D, is a director and senior economist at Wells Fargo. A native of Argentina, he is a former managing director at Global Insight, one of the most important economic forecasting and consulting firms in the U.S. He has been an adjunct professor of economics at Drexel University in Philadelphia since 1999. Profit Opportunities for AED Dealers Albert (Al) Bates, Ph.D. is founder and Chairman of the Profit Planning Group, a research and executive education firm headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. The firm works exclusively in the area of corporate financial planning. Al makes approximately 100 presentations each year on topics such as Improving the Bottom Line, Getting Serious About Profit, Doing More with Less, and Pricing for Profit. He also provides strategic direction for the firm’s investigation into profitability research for over seventy different trade associations. He has written extensively in both the professional and trade press, including the Harvard Business Review, the California Management Review and Business Horizons. In addition he writes the quarterly Profit Improvement Reports for the firm’s trade association clients. Profit Panel – Widening the Lens Presenting a team of experts from parallel and related industries discussing market drivers, as well as where the equipment dealer’s best opportunities lie, cautions to beware of, advice to heed, and predictions to consider for 2011 planning. Peter Anderton, is president, Stauff Americas, a hydraulics and filtration components supplier to many major manufacturers of construction machinery. A native of Birmingham, England, he has been running European-based companies in the U.S. for 30 years – 15 at the helm of North and South American operations of Stauff, a privately held German company. Rex Collins, CPA, CVA, is a senior manager at Somerset CPAs, litigation & valuation team and dealership team. His specialty areas include valuations of closely-held businesses; merger and acquisition including negotiating financing and due diligence; litigation support services; forensic accounting; economic, operational and management consulting; estate planning; research and planning taxation; general business and financial consulting and dealership accounting, operations and management. Albert (Al) Bates, Ph.D., is founder and Chairman of the Profit Planning Group, a research and executive education firm headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. The firm works exclusively in the area of corporate financial planning. Al makes approximately 100 presentations each year on topics such as Improving the Bottom Line, Getting Serious About Profit, Doing More with Less, and Pricing for Profit. He also provides strategic direction for the firm’s investigation into profitability research for over seventy different trade associations. He has written extensively in both the professional and trade press, including the Harvard Business Review, the California Management Review and Business Horizons. In addition he writes the quarterly Profit Improvement Reports for the firm’s trade association clients. Manage to Your Advantage - A Three-Part Compliance Panel Series Featuring Leading Authorities on: The impact of the healthcare law on dealers Doug Truax is managing partner/CEO of Veritas Risk Services, which, in partnership with AED, has just introduced a healthcare captive exclusively for AED-members dealers and manufacturers. Prior to founding Veritas Risk Services, Doug was employed at one of the largest brokerage and consulting firms in the country where he was the business development manager for the Chicago office. Health care law explained Jim Hendricks, Esq. focuses his representation on assisting management with labor matters before the National Labor Relations Board and involving collective bargaining and arbitrations. He also defends employers in charges before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor and various state agencies. Jim has represented employers in more than 250 union organizing campaigns. He has also handled numerous employment litigation cases involving discrimination, harassment, retaliatory discharge, wage and hour, and noncompete and restrictive covenant agreements. Tier-4: The dealer's role & opportunities Joe Mastanduno has over 22 years in the powertrain business. He was involved in developing the Clean Air Act, a joint effort between the automotive industry and the federal government. After that, Joe worked in the emission test equipment supply business, and he has also worked on diesel engine development for major nameplates in the automotive industry. Currently, Joe is Product Manager for Engine and Drivetrains at John Deere Construction and Forestry Division where he is responsible for developing the engine/driveline portfolio. Tier-4: The dealer's role & opportunities Leah Pilconis monitors and reports on cases,regulations and other guidance on federal environmental laws that impact construction. Leah also develops and expresses the association’s views on significant proposals to promulgate, or change, federal regulations on such laws. Leah writes and distributes practical guidance for construction contractors seeking to achieve or exceed full compliance with the federal laws that regulate the industry. Leah is the editor of AGC’s Environmental Observer – an electronic newsletter that provides AGC members with the latest environmental news relevant to construction. She also contributes to a variety of business and profession publications and conferences. Leah has extensive experience analyzing and interpreting regulatory developments in a broad range of environmental areas. Between 2000 and 2006, Leah was AGC of America’s inside legal counsel on environmental matters. Prior to joining AGC, Leah worked as a consultant and legal editor with Thompson Publishing Group, Inc. in Washington, D.C., where she developed environmental regulatory compliance guides and wrote legal articles for several environmental publications. Leah works closely with staff of the various program offices at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in an effort to help EPA understand the construction process; to facilitate an open dialogue with interested stakeholders; and to better align environmental programs (mandatory and voluntary) with industry needs. Leah also serves as co-chair of the “Construction Sector” of U.S. EPA’s Clean Diesel Retrofit Work Group. That group is charged with addressing the challenges (technical, commercial, financial, and political) to further improvement in the emissions performance of in-use construction equipment. Current and looming changes in tax laws Steven G. Pierson, CPA, is vice president and a shareholder with Selden Fox, Ltd. With more than 29 years of experience as a tax professional in public accounting, including 11 years as a partner with a national accounting firm, Steve has provided a wide array of technical accounting, tax, financial, estate and succession planning, employee benefits and international tax planning and compliance for medium-sized businesses and has worked extensively in merger and acquisition transactions. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, their Tax Legislation Committee and Employee Benefits Committee, the Illinois CPA Society, the Iowa Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the Industrial Council of Northwest Chicago. Steve has written many articles for trade publications and professional journals for the equipment distribution industry. Tackling Trends Together - A Dealer-Manufacturer Industry Round Table Four Corners Wrap-Up: Face to face with all the day's speakers and panelists in four corners of the room AED/Wells Fargo Reception Friday, Sept. 17 (8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.) Election Projections & Potential Effects on Dealers Bernadette Budde, is senior vice president, political analysis, BIPAC (Business Industry Political Action Committee). With almost four decades of observing American politics, few speakers have Bernadette Budde’s grasp of what to ignore and what to believe in the day to day happenings in the news. It's her offbeat and direct style that gives the audience the insight to judge what they see around them. Market Data & Analysis Eli Lustgarten, is senior research analyst at Longbow Research for the industrial manufacturing and technology sector. He is also president, ESL Consultants, who writes the Business Outlook column for CED magazine. He is a six-time Wall Street Journal All Star and was elected as a member of the Institutional Investor All-America Research Team over two decades until his coverage shifted.