SUMMER 2015

60 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

60 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK PACIFIC-WEST FASTENER ASSOCIATION 10842 Noel Street #107, Los Alamitos, CA 90720 TEL 714-484-4747 FAX 562-684-0695 EMAIL info@pac-west.org WEB www.pac-west.org PAC-WEST SPRING CONFERENCE AND TABLETOP SHOW BREAKS RECORDS by Vickie Lester The April 23-25 Pacific-West Fastener Association (Pac-West) Spring Conference and Tabletop Show enjoyed significant increases in attendance. Held at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach, California, , 277 people participated in the tabletop show, which featured 64 exhibitors. Conference Education Sessions Included: Risk Management for Fastener Distributors presented by Carmen Vertullo on behalf of the Fastener Training Institute. This session reviewed strategies to understand and minimize the inherent risks in recommending, specifying, procuring and selling fasteners and related services. Carmen Vertullo is founder of Carver Consulting, a San Diego-based consulting, engineering and training company specializing in fasteners and bolted joints. Learn How You Think! Vicki Merrill showed attendees how to manage, motivate and communicate with others, based on their leadership styles as defined by assessment tests taken before the conference. Vicki Merrill has been CEO of several insurance and healthcare companies and a business consultant for 12 years, working with more than 500 companies and more than 2,500 senior executives. The Business Owners Forum and Business Executives Forum are the most popular sessions at every Pac-West conference. Peers share experiences and solutions in a frank interchange. Rick Peterson (All-West Fasteners and Components) and John Wachman (Desert Distribution) facilitated the owners forum, and MaryEllen Dinicola (The Socket Source) and Kevin Chavis (Star Stainless Screw) facilitated the executives forum. CRAIG PENLAND, EUROLINK AND HANS FULLER, FULLER METRIC MICHAEL, MARGARET AND BILL ROBERTS W.J. ROBERTS CO. What to Expect From a Fastener Testing Lab featured Jim Riley, general manager of Element Materials Technology in Huntington Beach, California, who explained the destructive and nondestructive tests which are most common in certifying bolts, screws and nuts. Dr. Esmael Adibi, director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research and Anderson Chair of Economic Analysis at Chapman University offered The U.S. Economic Outlook. His presentation answered such questions as: What can power the economy forward? Will the pace of job creation accelerate? What’s the outlook for the interest rates? Will higher mortgage rates dampen economic recovery? What is the outlook for the commercial real estate market? Social events for the conference included golf, a reception at the nearby Rock Bottom Brewery, a spouse luncheon at the Long Beach Museum of Art, and an evening party at the home of Andy and Virginia Cohn (Duncan Bolt). Honorary Membership for Barry and Bob Porteous Barry and Bob Porteous were recognized at the conference for their extraordinary personal contributions to the Pacific-West Fastener Association and the fastener industry. Looking Ahead The Pac-West 2015 Fall Conference will take place September 30-October 3 at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. As an added bonus for this conference, all attendees will get to experience the world renowned Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. ASSOCIATION ARTICLE PACIFIC-WEST FASTENER ASSOCIATION