Eric Hoplin is the new President and CEO of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), representing nearly 30,000 companies that account for one-third of the American economy, by supplying businesses with the products they need to serve their customers in nearly every sector of commerce. Eric also serves as President of the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence, President of the NAW Service Corporation and Treasurer of the NAW Political Action Committee.

A seasoned executive and communicator who has worked at the highest levels of government and business, Eric was previously the Head of External Relations for Wells Fargo, where he led a team focused on improving the company’s reputation and advancing pro-growth policy objectives in concert with third-party organizations across the political spectrum. Before joining Wells Fargo, he served as the executive director at the Financial Services Roundtable (now BPI), a trade association representing the CEOs of the nation’s largest financial services companies. Prior to that, Hoplin worked in management consulting at Booz Allen Hamilton where he helped senior leaders across the government solve their most vexing challenges. Earlier in his career, Eric worked in politics, supporting many congressional, gubernatorial and Presidential campaigns.

Eric is a leader in the charitable community, where he serves on the Boards of the Trust for the National Mall and the Reagan Ranch. He is a prolific fundraiser, having raised millions of dollars for charitable organizations, NGOs and political candidates.

Peter Sheahan is Founder and CEO of Karrikins Group, a global leader in strategic business transformation. Founded in 2006, this firm has partnered with many of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Cardinal Health, Apple, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Hyundai, IBM, Pfizer and Wells Fargo. The firm’s mission is to empower business leaders to outperform the limitations of strategy, structure, capital allocation and market conditions.

Peter is a world-class speaker on Business Trends and New Market Opportunities and a best-selling author of seven business books, including Flip, Generation Y, Making it Happen, and Matter. He is internationally known for his innovative business thinking and thought leadership. With more than 120 staff in more than 23 cities across seven different countries, Peter knows firsthand the challenges of growing a business in the rapidly changing marketplace.

Peter has delivered more than 2,500 presentations to over 500,000 people in 20 different countries around the world. He has been named one of the “25 Most Influential Speakers in the World” by the National Speakers Association and is the youngest person to be inducted into their industry Hall of Fame.

J. Michael Marks is Managing Partner of Indian River Consulting Group (IRCG). He became a NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence Fellow in 2002. IRCG is an experience-driven firm that continues to focus on the wholesale distribution channel. Prior to forming IRCG, Mike held the position of Executive Vice President at Lex Electronics, a vertically integrated electronics distributor. Prior to that, he was Director of Corporate Training and Development at Ducommon Inc., an industrial distribution company.

Mike is coauthor of Value Creation Strategies for Wholesaler-Distributors, Working at Cross-Purposes: How Distributors and Manufacturers Can Manage Conflict Successfully and What’s Your Plan? Smart Salesforce Compensation in Wholesale Distribution.

Jade West is Chief Government Relations Officer for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and oversees NAW’s legislative activities on Capitol Hill. She is also Executive Director of the NAW Political Action Committee.  She has handled a wide variety of federal public policy matters in her 18 years with NAW, including labor and tax issues.

Before joining NAW in 2002, Jade was a senior aide on Capitol Hill for more than twenty years.  She served as Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee and was responsible for a staff of policy experts who provided technical and policy analysis, research papers, talking points, and detailed legislative summaries to Republican Senators and their staffs. In addition, she served as Executive Director of the U.S. Senate Steering Committee.

In 2015 Jade’s leadership was recognized by her colleagues when she was named 2015 Lobbyist of Year by CEO Update – only the second association lobbying to receive that reward. 

Blake Adami is NAW’s Vice President-Government Relations and his primary areas of responsibility include health care, workforce and workforce benefits, and labor issues. He concurrently serves as Political Director of the NAW Political Action Committee. Blake is also a member of the Management and/or Steering Committees of several coalitions, including the Employer’s Health Care Clearinghouse, the National Coalition on Benefits, the Partnership for Employer Sponsored Coverage, and the Stop the HIT (Health Insurance Tax) Coalition. Prior to joining NAW, he served for nearly 10 years in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director.

Seth Waugh is NAW’s Associate Vice President-Government Relations, with primary responsibility for transportation and infrastructure. He also serves as Deputy Political Director of the NAW Political Action Committee. Prior to joining NAW, Seth served as Director of Government Affairs for the Portland Cement Association. He also lobbied for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the U.S., and the National Association for Biomedical Research. He managed the grassroots operations across 14 states for the National Rifle Association and spent nearly five years on the staff of the late U.S. Senator George Voinovich (R-OH). He also worked for the Ohio House of Representatives and on political campaigns throughout the country.

Douglas W. York is President and CEO of Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Ewing is the largest family-owned supplier of landscape and irrigation products in the country. The company supplies professional contractors with irrigation supplies, water efficient and sustainable solutions, landscape and turf products, agronomics and growing, hardscape and outdoor living, landscape lighting, water features, erosion control and more.

Mark Dancer founded the Network for Business Innovation to drive awareness, advocacy and excellence for channel innovation, and to enable an exchange of ideas between channel leaders on business transformation, technology adoption, social impact and community engagement. For more than 30 years, Mark has worked with leading companies to achieve channel excellence across a wide range of industries in developed and emerging markets.

Mark is author of six research studies for the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence: Innovate to Dominate: The 12th Edition in the Facing the Forces of Change® Series; Creating Innovations and Shaping the Future of Business: A Look at Commerce, Technology and Human Forces in Distribution; CEO Insights on Innovating the Distributor for the Digital Age; Getting Results From Your Digital Investments; Becoming a Digital Distributor: Strategies and Tools That Create Value; and Getting the Most Out of CRM: Best Practices for Wholesaler-Distributors

D.G. Macpherson was named Chairman of Grainger Inc. in October 2017, and Chief Executive Officer and appointed to the Board of Directors in October 2016. He served as Chief Operating Officer for Grainger from August 2015 through September 2016. Grainger, with 2019 sales of $11.5 billion, is North America’s leading broad line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products (MRO), with operations also in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Prior to these roles, D.G. was Senior Vice President and Group President, Global Supply Chain and International, where he led the development of corporate strategy and continuous improvement, the global supply chain organization, the company’s single channel online business model and international operations in Asia and Europe. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President and President, Global Supply Chain and Corporate Strategy.

D.G. joined Grainger in 2008 from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where, from 2002 to 2008, he was Partner and Managing Director. In that capacity, he served as a consultant to Grainger on a number of strategic and operational efforts, including availability improvement, pricing strategy, product line expansion and sales force effectiveness. At BCG, D.G. was a member of the Industrial Goods Leadership Team with strong experience in production systems and continuous improvement methodologies.

Kathy Mazzarella is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer at Graybar, an employee-owned, FORTUNE 500 distributor of electrical, communications and data networking products. Kathy has developed broad management, sales, marketing and human resources experience over her 38 years with the company. She also has an extensive educational background, proven leadership skills and strategic vision, all of which enable her to focus Graybar’s executive team on strategic issues that are vital to sustaining the company’s long track record of success.

Kathy joined the company in 1980 as a customer service representative in San Francisco. She progressed through various sales positions before transferring to St. Louis as a senior sales representative in 1984. In 1991 she was named field sales manager in St. Louis and was appointed district marketing manager the following year.

In 1994 Kathy joined Graybar’s corporate headquarters as national product manager and was named director of sales in 1997. The following year she was appointed vice president, corporate accounts and international, a position she held until June 2001, when she was promoted to vice president, strategic planning. In January 2004, she was promoted to vice president, human resources and strategic planning and was elected to Graybar’s Board of Directors.

Kathy was named senior vice president, human resources and strategic planning in December 2005. In April 2008, she became senior vice president, sales and marketing comm/data and in March 2010, was appointed senior vice president, sales and marketing. In December 2010, she was appointed to the position of executive vice president and chief operating officer. She was appointed the 11th president and chief executive officer in company history in June of 2012 and became chairman of the board of directors in January of 2013. Kathy serves as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Board and as Chair of the Employees’ Benefit, Finance and IT Committees of the Company.

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Debbie Weitzman is currently the President of Pharmaceutical Distribution at Cardinal Health, a FORTUNE 14 company, responsible for the largest business unit of the company that serves customers, including hospital systems, long-term care facilities, community pharmacies and chain pharmacies. Her organization of more than 6,000 associates includes multiple field sales teams, sales operations, marketing, strategy and a national supply chain network.

Debbie is a seasoned executive with deep expertise in medical devices and pharmaceutical distribution as well as extensive international experience. She completed several acquisitions and successful integrations that included start-up operations in Latin America. Debbie has proven she can set strategic direction and execute. She is recognized for her work in developing talent, in optimizing organizational design and for creating a productive culture in a changing organization. She was nominated by Cardinal Health to receive the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Luminary Award as recognition for her work inspiring women to rise in the company.

Previous to her current role, Debbie served as Senior Vice President & General Manager, responsible for Cardinal Health’s sales and distribution operations for pharmaceutical products, medical-surgical products, hospital pharmacy management and logistics services in Puerto Rico and Latin America. Under her leadership, the revenue more than tripled primarily through organic growth but also through several strategic local acquisitions. With Cardinal Health’s acquisition of the global Cordis business unit, she set up new commercial operations in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.

Prior to Cardinal Health, Debbie worked for 10 years in the medical device division of Johnson & Johnson in various roles and with regional responsibility in Central America and the Caribbean. She started her career in banking with a position at J.P. Morgan, followed by various marketing roles in consumer brand management both in the United States and Puerto Rico.

A popular and compelling speaker and consultant, Ian Heller of Distribution Strategy Group spent more than 30 years in the distribution industry. Rising from truck unloader to Vice President at Grainger, Ian has since worked or consulted for dozens of other leading distributors. He holds an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Alex Moazed founded Applico in 2009 when he was 20 years old and funded the company with his own credit cards.

Alex co-authored the best-selling book, Modern Monopolies, which defines the platform business model dominating the 21st century economy. He works directly with Fortune 500 C-suites and boards to help them build or buy their own platform businesses.

The former Chief of the U.S. Justice Department’s Networks and Technology Enforcement Section (Net Tech), Jim Tierney focuses his practice at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on antitrust and competition law, advocating before federal agencies on behalf of the firm’s global clients in the technology, energy & infrastructure and finance sectors.

Jim is a well-recognized figure inside the Washington, DC Beltway and an accomplished antitrust lawyer, with expansive knowledge of regulatory issues facing the technology and finance sectors.

As Net Tech Chief, Jim oversaw all civil antitrust enforcement in the tech and financial services sectors, reviewing, investigating and, when necessary, litigating, every major strategic technology transaction and conduct issue in the past decade. He oversaw civil antitrust enforcement, competition advocacy, and competition policy in the areas of computer hardware and software, high-technology component manufacturing, financial services, securities industries, and professional associations. Jim also led the agency’s cooperation with antitrust and competition authorities worldwide.

One of the country’s most informed economists and also NAW Senior Economic Advisor, Alan Beaulieu is a principal of ITR Economics, where he serves as President. Since 1990, Alan has been consulting with companies that have a domestic and global perspective on how to forecast, plan and increase their profits based on business cycle trend analysis. Alan has been providing workshops and economic analysis seminars across the United States to literally thousands of business owners and executives. He has appeared in/on: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron’s, USA Today, Business Week, The Washington Times, Associated Press, Knight Ridder News Services, Reuters, CBS Radio, CNN Radio, Sirius talk radio and numerous other outlets.

Brent R. Grover is Managing Director of Brent Grover & Co. He was named a NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence Fellow in 2005. He advises owner managers of closely held distribution and manufacturing companies on the challenges of strategy and ownership succession.

Brent, former CEO of National Paper & Packaging Co., served as Chairman of the NAW member association National Paper Trade Association in 1993. Brent is author of seven books for the NAW Institute including Mergers and Acquisitions for Distributors: Expert Advice for Buyers and Sellers, In Search of the Perfect Customer: Cost-to-Serve for Distributors  and Strategic Pricing for Distributors: Tools and Rules for Building Higher Margins.