FALL 2019

14 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

14 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK SPECIALTY TOOLS & FASTENERS DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION PO Box 44, 500 Elm Grove Rd., Ste. 2I0, Elm Grove, Wl 53122 TEL 1-800-352-2981 FAX 262-784-5059 EMAIL info@stafda.org WEB www.stafda.org STAFDA CONVENTION & TRADE SHOW NOVEMBER 10-12, NASHVILLE, TN by Georgia H. Foley, CEO Nashville…Music City…construction job site. What? You may have heard of Nashville’s nickname, Music City, but “construction job site?” From the moment people exit the airport (undergoing an expansion and renovation) to the time they get downtown, they will have lost track counting cranes. In metro Nashville, there are over 170 projects on “Crane Watch” that are either proposed or underway. Driving (and walking) around downtown Nashville involves maneuvering around orange barrels and detoured sidewalks. Nashville’s strong pipeline of projects is transforming the city. Two significant downtown projects are Fifth + Broadway and Nashville Yards. Fifth + Broadway is a 0 million, 235,000 sf mixed-use project and Nashville Yards is the 16 acre site that will house Amazon’s new one million square foot, Operations Center of Excellence, for their customer fulfillment, transportation, and supply chain operation. The Paramount, a new 65 story residential tower, will set a record as the tallest building in the city. With all this construction activity, Nashville is the perfect city to host STAFDA’s November 10-12 Annual MUSIC CITY CENTER, NASHVILLE, TN Convention & Trade Show. This year marks STAFDA’s fifth return to Nashville, but the first time downtown. STAFDA’s previous conventions were held at The Opryland Hotel on the city’s outskirts, but downtown Nashville is where it’s at! STAFDA meetings will be at the Music City Center, a LEED Gold certified facility. Opened in 2013, their 845 solar panels generate power for the building and their water reclamation program saves enough water annually to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool almost five times. Education is the name of the game at STAFDA’s Convention. Five workshops will be offered on Sunday, November 10. Four of those workshops will be concurrent in the morning featuring relevant topics with outstanding presenters. Everyone is focused on how to better integrate Millennials into their customer base and who better to offer advice but a Millennial himself. Jeff Butler will lead a session on how to market to Millennials through strategic targeted messages. JJ DiGeronimo will focus on “Women in Business” and how the increasing number of women in the construction field can make an impact. SHOW EVENT ARTICLE CONTINUED ON PAGE 106