Even before the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors acquired MDM in early 2024, I considered NAW’s annual Executive Summit as the one of the industry’s preeminent events for thought leadership content sessions and networking.

With the 2025 version held Jan. 27-29 in Washington D.C., this year’s event delivered again, and the sold-out conference was NAW’s biggest ever, causing the organization to relocate it to a bigger venue at the Grand Hyatt Washington.

Despite all the uncertainty accompanying economic policies of the Trump administration — sworn in just a week earlier — the event was filled with energy and optimism, which was reflected in a slew of quick interviews I conducted on-site for the MDM Podcast.

I was able to wrangle 10 different attendee executives to get their thoughts on the following:

• What do you see as the biggest challenge facing wholesale distribution today?
• What is the biggest initiative or project your company is looking to accomplish in 2025?
• In your opinion, what is the biggest thing attendees get out of coming to this event?
• What gives you hope and/or optimism for this industry?

Those interviews, heard in the podcast audio embedded above, were with the following attendees, in order:

• Chuck Cohen – Managing Director of Benco Dental
• Seth Depuy – Chief Strategy Officer of First Supply
• Robyn Pollina – CEO of Palmer-Donavin
• Larry Stoddard – CEO of Colony Hardware & NAW Board Chairman
• Patrick McCurdy – President of Kimball Midwest
• Kevin Weadick – CEO of FleetPride
• Allie Copeland – Chief Transformation Officer of ADI Global Distribution
• David Bauders – CEO of SPARXiQ and Trade Hounds
• Mike Medart – CEO & President of Medart Engine
• Eric Hoplin – NAW CEO

You can find all of our past MDM Podcast episodes here.

Alongside NAW, MDM has a great lineup of events in 2025. Here’s two that I highly recommend you attend:

AI for Distributors Summit — a virtual event to be held March 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET. It’ll offer a wealth of AI application examples, how-to insights and guidance from distribution experts using and scaling the technology today. And it’s free to attend.

2025 SHIFT Conference — our marquee in-person event. To be held May 13-15 in Denver, SHIFT features two and a half days of change management thought leadership and networking across pillars of hybrid sales, digital transformation, data analytics and culture. Find registration, the agenda and details at mdm.com/SHIFT2025.