ASB Hosts Winter Sales Convention at “Blizzard Beach”
March 2, 2006
CONTACT: Craig McLain, COO
American Solutions for Business
31 East Minnesota Avenue
Glenwood, Minnesota 56334
Phone: 800-721-7110 Fax: 320-634-5054
E-mail: cmclain@americanbus.com
Glenwood, MN. American Solutions for Business (ASB) held their first of two annual conferences from February 22 - 26. Nearly 400 sales associates and corporate individuals traveled from across the country to the Marriott Conference Center in Minneapolis to participate in the convention themed, 'Blizzard Beach.'
“Our conferences give us a chance to take a step out of our day-to-day lives and spend time with peers, share ideas and attend educational seminars and vendor workshops. We covered a lot of new “sand” during the conference and those attending were able to participate in many informative sessions,” said founder and CEO, Larry Zavadil.
During the business update, Craig McLain, COO, reported strong growth in sales and share value. The company’s ESOP share price increased 16.2% over the previous fiscal year. With 525 sales associates throughout the country and 295 direct and indirect employees, ASB experienced a turnover rate of only 5.1 percent last year, well below the industry average. As a result of a last year’s contract with Novation (a large health care purchasing organization) ASB more than tripled its sales to associated health care facilities in 2005. Barry Campbell from Novation, Jeff Skinner and Brent Wiseman from VHA and Danny Hawkins and Rod Reredo from NACHC (National Association of Community Health Centers) were on hand at the conference to report on American success stories and to provide insight into proper procedures and protocols for working with health care facilities.
A technology update was given by Mike Schmitz, newly appointed Technology Director. Schmitz reported on steps being taken to update and fine tune technology to keep sales associates, the corporate office, customers and vendors connected. He demonstrated the upgrade in ASB’s e-commerce tool, called ACES, which now includes nearly 1,000 on-line customer catalogs.
Guest speakers at the conference were Mike Schlappi, a motivational presenter and Olympic champion; and David Blaise, a direct marketing entrepreneur and business consultant.
The six-hour Vendor Showcase, held on the final day of the conference, brought 400 individuals representing over 200 vendors to display their products and demonstrate their services for conference attendees. Many of those vendors decorated their booths with the Blizzard Beach theme. Top winners in the Best Booth Contest were Calibrated Forms Company of Columbus, Kansas; Sovereign Business Forms, Inc. of Houston, Texas; and Business Cards Plus of Portage, Michigan.
American Solutions for Business, an employee-owned company, is a major distributor of business related items including, but not limited to, business documents, mailing systems, technology, packaging, office supplies, and promotional products. The company is headquartered in Glenwood, Minnesota and has a national sales force of 525 individuals and a staff of nearly 300. Sales and distribution occur in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. Their Website can be found at www.americanbus.com
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