Associations thrive on involvement. Membership means nothing without member engagement. During a presentation Tuesday at the Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network (CVSN) Summit in Boston, Dan Schuberth of the National Association of Wholesale Distributors (NAW) stressed that message to the distributors in the audience.
“Companies innovate. Associations accelerate,” Schuberth says. Trade associations enable industry to “do things together that no one of us can do on our own.”
Trade associations are hardly a new entity in North America. In fact, Schuberth says the first trade group in the United States was founded in New York City in 1768, nearly a decade prior to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Today, there are more than 100,000 trade associations in the U.S. Schuberth says each association may cater to a different market segment but many have the same goals — to give a voice to their members and speak up on behalf of their industries.
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“When you can organize companies to work together with public officials, you get to have a little more of a say,” he says. “Associations give companies a larger seat at the table.”
In the truck parts sector, Schuberth says CVSN is a vital trade association because of its ability to connect independent operations across multiple nations and buying groups. Schuberth says CVSN’s focus on training, support for right to repair and commitment to the development and distribution of business best practices ensures the independent aftermarket remains competitive against the OE dealer channel and has a stake in regulation debates, taxation and more. And NAW membership also is a perk of CVSN membership, meaning aftermarket distributors also have access to Schuberth and his team to speak on their behalf in Washington, D.C.
