FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- Food Distributors International here believes the change in administrations in Washington will signal a new era for industry-government relations.
"Our team is on the field, and now we can play a little offense for a change," John R. Block, president and chief executive officer of FDI, told SN.
In an interview prior to this week's annual Business Conference & Partners Program in Orlando, Fla., Block told SN, "FDI is in a strong position to effectively represent its members with the new Congress and the Bush administration because of the hard work we've done over the years, including during the presidential campaign."
High on FDI's wish list, he said, is estate tax reform and redress of proposed ergonomics regulations, "and we hope that, with more sensible people in power, we can be successful."
In other comments, Block told SN:
This week's meeting will include the release of a follow-up to last fall's retail coverage study in the form of a workbook to help members implement some of the suggestions in that study.
FDI is attempting to broaden its on-line offerings to bring more educational resources to its members.
The decision by the International Foodservice Distributors Association to hold a meeting separate from FDI's Midyear Executive Conference next fall does not presage a formal split between FDI and IFDA.
Block said reform of the "death tax" has been a high priority for FDI and the industry for years, "and we still don't know exactly how it will be handled.
"Bush's tax reform proposals are getting a good, positive response. In fact, some people would say death taxes are less controversial than a general cut in rates."
He dismissed speculation that estate tax reform may have lost some momentum on President Bush's agenda and could be postponed. "Congress passed legislation to end death taxes a year ago, but Bill Clinton vetoed it, Block said, "so we're optimistic Congress can pass legislation again that the president will sign this time, to give us substantial relief."
On the subject of ergonomics, Block said FDI opposes new regulations proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration "that would cost the industry billions of dollars by regulating how boxes should be lifted and how product should be moved.
"Food distribution companies long ago recognized the importance of creating a safe and efficient workplace," Block said, "and with those goals in mind, companies are constantly examining job designs to reduce injuries while increasing productivity.
"However, due to insufficient scientific understanding of the cause of injuries, the proposed OSHA regulation would sacrifice productivity without ensuring the benefits of injury reduction.
"Further, it would require that a lot of warehouses be reconfigured or, in the case of older facilities, replaced. It's a one-size-fits-all regulation that would force companies to continually reevaluate and reengineer jobs, with no assurance of actual injury reduction."
Block said FDI is hopeful it can completely turn the proposed regulation around, "or at least mitigate the costs." Block also said he is optimistic that Bush will ultimately reject the proposal as currently written.
During its annual Business Conference this week, FDI plans to unveil a follow-up to the retail coverage study it released at its Midyear Executive Conference last September in the form of a workbook that will explain how to implement some of the study's proposals on how to enhance profitability and efficiencies in speed-to-shelf and product display techniques, Block said.
The workbook will become the basis for a series of educational seminars over the next few months, he added.
Some operators have already begun implementing some of the study's recommendations, Block said, "while others still have a ways to go. But one thing is clear -- the wholesalers who participated in developing the study are much farther ahead than members who were not involved, because they are more aware of what's there."
The seminars will be scheduled probably between September and December, he said. They will be geared to training wholesalers so they can train their retail customers or store-level people at their corporate stores, he explained.
The seminars will be conducted by different combinations of people, including representatives of FDI and executives from manufacturing and distribution companies who took a leadership role in developing the original study, Block added.
Helping members put aspects of the coverage study into practice will be one of FDI's major educational undertakings this year, Block said.
FDI will also strive this year to move more education offerings on-line, he said.
"We're looking at taking some of the work from the retail coverage study and putting it into an on-line format," he explained, "and we hope to do the same with other research projects, so we can transmit them to members over the Internet instead of in the form of hard copies."
FDI is also talking with its education and operations department about how to bring training programs from universities, colleges and other businesses to members in an on-line format, Block said.
In addition, FDI is attempting to further develop some of its e-commerce services, he said, including Superjobmarket.com, which provides job placement assistance to members, and FleetXchange, which provides information and buying services to companies that run transportation fleets.
Block told SN there are no plans for FDI to separate from IFDA, its food-service arm, although IFDA is scheduled to hold its own executive conference next fall in Palm Springs, Calif.
"The food-service people are looking for ways to get closer to their suppliers, and because the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association is having its own annual meeting in the fall, IFDA felt its members could get more value by holding its meeting with theirs and separate from FDI's Midyear Executive Conference," Block explained.
