ASA’s Executive Committee Met in Chicago to Map out 2025 Budget and Strategy
The ASA Executive Committee convened during their summer budget meeting to assess the organization's progress since the 2024 LEAD Strategic meeting in Puerto Rico and to review the 2025 budget requests from the strategic councils, task groups, special interest divisions, and regional councils. This review aims to support the ASA's strategic vision.
The Committee received updates on the development of an industry Product Standard and the efforts to launch the first standard of its kind. This new standard aims to streamline data sharing and reduce costs for both manufacturers and distributors, who currently manage substantial data with limited resources. ASA CEO Mike Adelizzi noted, "Distributors often assume that manufacturers have large teams dedicated to customizing data for distribution, which is not the case. If we can develop a standard for how data columns are shared, it would significantly ease the burden on our manufacturer partners and provide our distributor members with consistent data from hundreds of manufacturers, all formatted similarly." The goal is to introduce the preliminary standards at the association conference this November in Chicago and then work towards widespread adoption by industry distributors and manufacturers.
The Executive Committee also reviewed the progress of the four Strategic Councils on key initiatives, including efforts to recruit new talent to the industry, influence policy decisions in Washington, and help members navigate AI utilization and cybersecurity threats.
Traditionally, the Executive Committee meets in Chicago during the summer to set budgets and priorities for the upcoming calendar and budget year.