Last week, I was up in St. Paul, MN and had a chance to speak and meet with the 3M Safety & Industrial team. I had some time in between sessions to walk around the 3M Innovation Center and look at some of the history of 3M. It was like a museum tour for an Industrial distribution leader: The early history of 3M, established as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing … [Read more...] about Industrial Planning Meetings Part 3, are you ready for 2026?
Distributor News
Why the ISA Executive Network Matters More Than Ever
For the past few months, the ISA leadership team and the ISA Educational Council have been working behind the scenes on this project. It has been fun to be part of the project led by Brendan Breen, his entire ISA team, and all the great educational committee and board leaders (leaders who are working every day in the channel) who are committed to this program. So, getting … [Read more...] about Why the ISA Executive Network Matters More Than Ever
Industrial Planning season is here, are you ready for 2026?
As the 4th quarter approaches and planning season happens, the importance of year-end profit numbers grows by the day. Many channel leaders have to see-saw from a meeting about this year to a Planning meeting for 2026 about every hour. I found when I was in those meetings every day, that I needed to focus my energy into buckets, to do the best job possible for the year end … [Read more...] about Industrial Planning season is here, are you ready for 2026?
ISA Member Haggard and Stocking – Acquisition News
A few weeks ago, I was able to do an IST profile on Haggard and Stocking and their history. It was a fun story to write on an Industrial Channel leader who has shown steady growth over the past five decades. As what always seems to happen if right after you write a story the company, they go out and make a big move right after it is published. Haggard and Stocking make an … [Read more...] about ISA Member Haggard and Stocking – Acquisition News
Fall is the season to get your Channel business ready for 2026
This week, I was on calls with various Industrial Channel and Industrial Supply Association (ISA) leaders discussing the upcoming ISA Fall Summit in Memphis, TN, in early November. We were discussing the tracks, the speakers and presenters, and the takeaways for participants. In looking at the speakers and presenters, I was struck by the fact that 20 of the speakers across … [Read more...] about Fall is the season to get your Channel business ready for 2026
