Spring Conference General Session will Explore Innovation
At this year’s Spring Conference in San Antonio, TX, the General Session at 9:00 am on Wednesday will focus on innovation, and speaker Bill Wade will explain why it is the only net creator of new wealth.
Mr. Wade brings over 40 years of experience working closely with distributors—in agricultural, automotive and heavy duty truck aftermarkets and with specialty industrial distributors. He founded FleetPride Corporation, the world’s largest independent distributor of heavy truck parts and service, and is regarded as an expert in the economics of distribution and family business. Bill graduated from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters of Management degree from Northwestern University.
Bill Wade is the managing partner of Wade & Partners, a consulting firm based in Elgin, IL, that specializes in the worldwide heavy vehicle/equipment aftermarket and distribution. He believes strongly that the agricultural industry is one of our nation’s most important assets and that a strong network of independent distributors of parts and equipment needs to play a leading role in meeting the challenges of the future.
Keynote address, Fragility, Anti-Fragility and Innovation, will address such topics as:
• Things newly tried and new combinations
• Creating a portfolio of options to achieve substantial, profitable and sustainable growth
• Other activity—Is care-taking improvement at the margin, or rearranging the deck chairs?
He also will discuss major structural trends (threats?) to the independent ag equipment parts and service markets, including:
• OEM component integration
• OEM vocational standardization
• Design for recycle-ability
• Supplier system partnership
• Death of diagnose and repair/technician shortage
During a breakout session later on Wednesday, Mr. Wade will offer a presentation on Roadmaps for Multi-Generational Success.
For farmers and farm equipment manufacturers, American agriculture will change dramatically over the next 20 years, with an estimated 70% of farmland likely to change hands. An existing farm or ranch family that does not adequately plan for succession risks going out of business, being absorbed by ever-larger farming neighbors, or being converted to non-farm use. In these scenarios, impacts of farm entry and exit on rural communities and on farm equipment manufacturers could be significant.
During the breakout session beginning at 10:30 am, Mr. Wade will address the importance of succession planning for family businesses. According to him, when it comes to passing on the family business, history may not be on the family’s side. While 88% of current family business owners think the family will still control its business in five years, in reality, only 30% will survive into the second generation, 12% will still be viable into the third generation, and a mere 3% will operate into the fourth generation or beyond.
What can you do?
Attend the Spring Conference and listen as Bill offers roadmaps for multi-generational success.
Topics will include:
• The importance of the process
• Exploring the sale alternative
• What Gen X and Millennials Want
• ESOP is not a fable