The Distribution Industry is Changing Rapidly

Don't navigate it alone.

Our Wholesale and Distribution CEO members face a host of unique challenges including upstream and downstream consolidation, online competitive price transparency, new automation technologies, rising labor costs, better use of data/AI and more.

CEN's wholesale/distribution CEO members share with each other the technologies, processes and approaches that are working for them (and which have not). This sharing of ideas, best practices, benchmarks and advice with non-competitors who understand the distribution business ensures each member gets value from each meeting.

Here are a few samples of topics our Wholesale/Distribution members have discussed at recent meetings:

Using Automation to Increase Sales and Social Media Marketing
New Thoughts on the “Amazon Effect”
Senior Team Development and Succession Planning
Culture Development Within a Company
Effective Communication Throughout the Organization
Processes for Working on, Rather than in, the Business

Upcoming CEN Peer Meetings

Regional/National In-Person Peer Group Meetings
- February 2-3, 2023 | Palm Springs, CA
- July 20-21, 2023 | Stevenson, WA
Peer Advisory Board Sessions (online)
- April 13, 2023
  (1:00pm - 5:00pm ET)
- October 19, 2023
  (1:00pm - 5:00pm ET)
Conferences
- Smart Manufacturing Summit
  June 20-21, 2023 | Location TBD
- Leadership Conference
  November 2-3, 2023 | Nashville, TN

Learn More About CEN

Fill in the form below and we’ll send you our brochure and a sample meeting agenda or call us today at (785) 832-0303.

We respect your privacy and will not share your personal contact information with anyone.

What our members think about Chief Executive Network:

"Again, this meeting is a re-generation for me to remember my job is to work on the business, not in it."

Bill Strang
Tactical & Survival Specialties, Inc.
"The meeting was great! The discussions give you a great idea of how different distribution strategies work."

Vince Palasota
Performance Awards Center
"The variety of issues addressed by a variety of perspectives is priceless."

Buzzy Bluestone
North Shore Supply Co.

Proven ROI: Don’t Take Our Word for It

Select an organization from below and learn how we're helping CEOs just like you

“When another CEO was discussing his bank line of credit, I discovered that I was paying 75 basis points more than the lowest rates (3/4 of 1% per year). The other CEOs gave me the names of their bankers who lend to our sector and offered to make introductions. When I went back to my bank and said I was going to be leaving and why — my local bank cut my interest rate by a whole point to retain my business. This was worth over $300,000 per year — over $2 million during the life of the loan.”

Jim Pekar
Leman USA

“I was discussing with my group how my employee health insurance costs were going to increase over 20% for the next year. I discovered that I was already paying over 50% more per employee than some of my peers. Two of the other members described their captive insurance programs and the benefits/savings with their approach. I ended up moving to a captive insurance model too and am saving 30% — which is over $500,0000 per year.”

Scott Nord
UltraSource

“When I got promoted to the CEO job, I was weak on financial metrics (I had been the SVP of Sales). I explained to the group that my company had a profit issue — was losing over $100,000 per month — and that if I couldn’t reverse the trend by growing sales, my company would hit the wall and go bankrupt within 6 months. The group diagnosed my real problem — which was a bloated executive team payroll. - and they encouraged me to cut out the dead wood and lower performing executives quickly. I did that — eliminated over $200,000 per month in payroll within 3 months — and has been profitable and growing ever since. My CEN group saved my company.”

Pete Sisti
CEO, Novanex

"During an Ex-Officio Meeting in 2011, I was given advice by 5 other CEOs in the room, all German nationals. We were contemplating an acquisition of a competitor in Germany, and the advice I received that day allowed me to close on a very successful acquisition. With Germany as our new European base, we were able to grow our international sales from 5% of total sales to more than 50% in just 6 years!"

Jeff Evans
CEO, Will-Burt

I would like to learn more about CEN for Wholesale/Distribution CEOs

Click the button above to fill in the form on this page and we’ll send you our CEN brochure and a sample meeting agenda.