Georgia Foley recalled a January 2020 meeting on STAFDA’s manufacturers liaison committee where Steve Lebar of Tru-Cut/Galaxy mentioned a strange flu coming from China that was spreading like wildfire and Mark Lindstrom of Ergodyne added that the virus was something to be carefully watched.

“Both Steve and Mark had a level of seriousness in their voices and I took note of it,” Foley recalled.

Speaking to the 45th annual Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association convention in 2021, the association’s CEO observed “Nashville in November 2019 seems like eons ago and so much has happened to us personally and professionally.”  The 2020 convention was virtual due to the pandemic.

Two months after the manufacturers’ warning, the JLC Live Show in New England was canceled due to the ‘new’ flu called COVID 19.  Foley said her personal first spotting of how serious it was came in changing planes. “The Detroit airport was deserted,” Foley noticed. “On a Monday at 5 p.m. – especially since it was during spring break – that airport should have been packed.  On the flight from Detroit to Milwaukee, I realized just how serious this ‘new’ flu was.”

Foley said STAFDA’s Cathy Usher and Carla Otterson continued to work from the STAFDA office.  “Information was coming out of Washington DC so fast and furious that we were sending out daily – and in some cases, twice daily – emails about federal relief.  STAFDA’s consultants also stepped up, especially our HR consultant, Nancye Combs, since many members were in limbo about the overnight conversion to a remote work force.”

STAFDA’s monthly webinar series “exploded” in numbers during the pandemic with members working from home.

STAFDA’s sales consultant, Paul Reilly, revised the outside sales training manual, because “the pandemic changed the way people sell.”

Reilly conducted a workshop in Orlando and will host a webinar.

There was “no play book to walk us through it,”  Foley noted.

The decision to cancel the in-person 2020 show became a money issue, Foley explained.  If STAFDA shut down before the city and state ordered it the association would “face severe financial penalties with the convention center and our hotels.  It was better for them to shut us down than for us to cancel.  If the state or any other crisis forces a meeting to be canceled, there aren’t penalties.”  

The 2021 convention was scheduled for Charlotte, but city and convention center restrictions would have limited participation to 500 people.  There would be no opening or closing parties, strict social distancing and a 9 p.m. curfew for bars and restaurants.

At the beginning of 2021, many meetings relocated to Texas and Florida. STAFDA got lucky with a Microsoft cancelation creating an opening in Orlando.

By the October 2021 Orlando meeting, Canadians still had problems getting into the U.S.  But Foley was pleased with 2,400 participating.  “We’re not virtual, we’re back doing business face-to-face which is what we do best.”

Foley reported current membership at 890 distributors, 968 associate members, 275 rep members and 17 affiliates.  This past year, STAFDA has seen a nice balance of new members join the Association in addition to welcoming back several reinstating companies.

“Calm in the face of pressure is how all of us carried on the past year and a half,” Foley reflected. “We kept our cool, rode all the wild waves in the COVID ocean and kept paddling.  That’s why we’re here today.”

Foley noted we can’t “control COVID, the supply chain, Washington politics, the reopening of borders, government mandates, airline policies, foreign affairs, new OSHA regulations, or other things that impact our lives and businesses.  All we can do is manage and work through what’s thrown at us.”  Web: STAFDA.org