Ken Bumgardner, Dominic Grote, Claude-Andre Pouliot and Steve Stich participate in Monday’s GenNext panel discussion at the VIPAR Heavy Duty Annual Business Conference.GenNext took its mentoring to the next level Monday by introducing its “In the Hot Seat” panel discussion with four industry leaders at the 2018 VIPAR Heavy Duty Annual Business Conference in Marco Island, Fla.
GenNext introduced the new format as an expansion on the organization’s successful speed mentoring program that has been held at multiple industry events over the past two years. Monday’s panel discussion included Ken Bumgardner, president and owner at Royal Truck and Trailer; Dominic Grote, president and CEO at Grote Industries; Steve Stich, president and owner at Wheelco; and Claude-Andre Pouliot, general manager at Macpek. During the hour-long discussion, the panelists shared their experiences on how they entered and have nurtured their careers in the aftermarket as well as some lessons they were taught and believe have been most valuable in their career. Attendees to the discussion also were encouraged to ask challenging questions of the panel.
The first half of Monday’s discussion focused on hiring, specifically, the tactics the panelists are using in their businesses to recruit new talent. Each panelist pegged hiring and recruiting as the biggest challenge facing their operations and responses for how they are addressing the aftermarket’s talent shortage ranged from increased pay to flexible four-day work weeks.
The panel discussion continued with discussions on e-commerce, corporate technology adoption, tariff impact and implementation and training for the next generation.
The panel presentation was then followed by GenNext’s industry reception, which featured six designated pairs of supplier and distributor business leaders who were on hand to chat with attendees on any topic in the aftermarket.
