St. Charles, IL (February 27, 2013) — American Office Products Distributors, Inc. (AOPD) has just concluded a highly successful 2013 Annual Meeting at the Hyatt Hill Country in San Antonio, TX. Each year the AOPD Annual Meeting gives manufacturers and dealers the opportunity to sit down face to face and discuss sales and marketing strategies for the upcoming year. General sessions on relevant industry topics are also presented throughout the week.
“AOPD has a 35 year tradition of hosting a forum for dedicated industry leaders to share best practices, learn how we can work together, network and most importantly build strong relationships,” stated the President of AOPD’s Board of Directors, Pat Crowley of S&T Office Products. He continued, “This year was no different as we came together to talk about CHANGE, the only constant in the Office Products Industry. The general sessions this year were designed to highlight the need to see things differently, especially technology, and change the way we plan for the future today; so we will be able to take advantage of tomorrow’s opportunities.”
Executive Director, Bud Mundt reported, “There was a lot of discussion on the new contracts we opened during 2012 which will enable our Dealers to attain their growth objectives with AOPD. Also, we focused on how our Dealers can take advantage of the great support and guidance from our Sales, Pricing, Bid Support and Technology Managers.”
As in past years, at the Awards Dinner, Bud Mundt presented The President’s Award to people who have been long time supporters of AOPD and the independent dealer community. This year AOPD honored Dealer Representative Bob Anders of Officewise Furniture & Supply and Business Partner Representative Rick Ketring of Samsill Corporation. Bob and Rick truly exemplify the AOPD spirit and are well deserving of this prestigious award.
The 2013 AOPD Board of Directors, voted on at the meeting, by the dealer members are:
Chairman of the Board/Director – Karen Bogart, Office Edge
President – Pat Crowley, S&T Office Products
Vice President – Frank Fera, Bulldog Office Products
Treasurer – Addison Jones, The Supply Room Companies
Secretary – Mike Miller, Preferred Business Solutions
Director – Bill Jones, The Office City
Director – Mark Leazer, Forms & Supply
Crowley reflected, “We may be independent office products dealers in our communities but it is clear — the dealers, manufacturers, wholesalers and our strategic technology and services partners are dependent upon each other for success. The AOPD Annual Meeting gives us the venue to better understand how we can work together as partners to achieve our mutual goals.”
Mundt concluded, “A special thank you goes out to this year’s Corporate Platinum Sponsor S.P. Richards. Other event sponsors that deserve recognition are 3M Company, Avery Dennison, BSA, Hewlett Packard, United Stationers and West Point Products. We look forward to double digit growth again in 2013 and we appreciate the support we receive from our Business Partners throughout the year as we enthusiastically support their brand name products and initiatives.”