NGA Show kicks off with keynote speaker Chris Christie

As the National Grocers Association celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2022, it kicked off the three-day annual NGA Show on Sunday in Las Vegas  bringing together independent retailers and wholesalers, food retail industry executives, food/CPG manufacturers and service providers for opportunities to learn, engage, share, network and innovate.

NGA President and CEO Greg Ferrara addressed the packed auditorium for the keynote presentation, with a call for retailers to invest in their workers. “We need to empower them as the next generation of retailer leaders,” he said, adding that diversity and inclusion efforts are a big part of that investment.

During the event, Ferrara presented the Peter J. Larkin Community Service Award to Minnesota-based grocer Cub Foods, noting the 106-store chain’s extraordinary efforts in vaccinating its communities and associates against COVID throughout 2021, including its drive-up vaccination sites, its volunteers who administered vaccines offsite and its partnerships with local sports teams such as the Minnesota Twins. Cub Foods was the No. 1 pharmacy partner with the state of Minnesota for COVID vaccines.

Cub Foods was the No. 1 pharmacy partner with the state of Minnesota for administering COVID vaccines.

Former New Jersey governor and 2016 presidential candidate Chris Christie was the keynote speaker. The 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018 and former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Christie is a senior legal and political commentator for ABC News, the managing member of the Christie Law Firm and Christie 55 Solutions LLC, and the author of Let Me Finish and Republican Rescue: Saving the Party from Truth Deniers, Conspiracy Theorists and the Dangerous Policies of Joe Biden.

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Christie (left) spent his two terms in office emphasizing fiscal responsibility; pension, health benefit and education reform; and the opioid crisis gripping New Jersey and the nation. He also devised the state’s groundbreaking response to Superstorm Sandy, leading the rebuilding of the state’s housing, infrastructure and public schools, and setting a bipartisan example for storm recovery.

During his wide-ranging 45-minute address, Christie shared his candid views about the current situation in Ukraine, President Joe Biden, the 2020 election and his thoughts for the midterm elections in 2022. “Expect Republicans to take back the House,” he predicted, “and win a majority in the Senate by one member.”

Looking to 2024, Christie projected that “Biden will never run for re-election,” and that right now it’s a 50-50 coin flip as to whether former President Donald J. Trump would run again. “He likes to keep people guessing till the last moment,” said Christie.

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As for himself, Christie hasn’t ruled out another run in 2024. Given the enthusiastic response from the audience on Sunday, that could be a smart move.