Tool time for STAFDA in Atlanta

By Ken Ryan

Being based in Anchorage, Alaska, Mike Kangas and his staff don’t get many opportunities to attend trade shows in the lower 48. But one event that has risen to must-attend status is the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association’s (STAFDA) annual convention.

This year, he is more than happy to make the 4,368-mile trek to Atlanta. “It’s a fantastic show where you can make appointments with major vendors and actually sit down and accomplish something,” said Kangas, president of Alaska Industrial Hardware and a board member of STAFDA. “I’m not a home center, I’m an industrial construction supply house, and this show has the products for my market.”

Rick Peterson, president of All-West Fasteners, in Seattle, joined STAFDA in 1990 and has used that opportunity to expand his network of resources. “Maybe because I was so young and inexperienced, I really benefited from all the regional educational meetings. Those classes really changed me. It helped to turn our company from a group of nut-and-bolt peddlers to people who had finally seen the light and learned to manage the business.”

This year’s STAFDA convention comes at a time of economic duress, which makes this meeting one of the most important in recent years, according to Hal Look, STAFDA president. “In a time where vendors and distributors alike are examining every dollar they spend, they all still view STAFDA as the best overall value with the greatest ROI,” said Look, the former executive of Orco Construction Supply. “It connects not only distributors with vendors, but also distributors with distributors, vendors with vendors, repagencies with both vendors and distributors, and every combination in between including trade news affiliates.”

Rick Stelzer, president and owner of the Merlin Stelzer Sales, of St. Louis, said that networking with other distributors allows him to evaluate some of his management decisions and provides ideas to promote his business that he might not have come up with on his own.

The STAFDA conference frequently provides the “first look” at new tools or technologies that will be part of the industry in the near future. This year’s “first looks” may not be quite as robust as in years past, or could be surprisingly strong, depending on whom you talk to.

“Product innovation has suffered,” said Matt Botts, owner of Stronghold Supply, of Manassas, Va. “The new tool manufacturers are hurting. They’re trying to get by with what they have rather than introducing a lot of new tools. There is not as much R&D going on as in past years. Companies have cut back in that area.”

Which is not to say there are no hot products. Many of the new innovations are geared toward the new lithium-ion battery tools, Stelzer said. He noted that Milwaukee Electric Tool has rolled out a host of new tools that use its battery system including: electrical test instruments, a rebar locator for concrete, a PVC shear, a copper pipe cutter and a laser layout tool. “Cordless tools from the various manufacturers now run the gamut of everything from USB/12 volt power supplies to concrete vibrators; 325 ft. lb. impact wrenches; portable band saws; 10-inch miter saws; and powerful drills, saws and roto-hammers,” Stelzer said.

Robert Devers, executive VP and chief operating officer of A-Jax Co., of Jacksonville, Fla., expects to see some new offerings this year because there are a number of first-time exhibitors and manufacturers using this venue for new product launches.

Hal Look views this year’s show as “a celebration of (hopefully) the end of the recession and the return to more prosperous business.” But he is the self-proclaimed “perpetual optimist,” and most executives use words or phrases like “stabilize” and “slight uptick” to define current market conditions.

“Flat is the new black,” Devers said. “It would be the envy of most in distribution to end the year on an even keel, with hopes for an uptick for Q1 2010. There are signs that non-residential construction spending appears to be increasing.”