Well, the clowns in Washington did it again. Yes, they avoided pushing us all completely off the cliff, but they didn’t avoid screwing up the economy and undermining the faith the rest of the world places in the American economy, and the U.S. dollar and Treasury bills. They’ve short-circuited yet again, for the third year…

There are a few days left to apply for scholarships to next spring’s University of Industrial Distribution program. The 10 scholarships, valued at $995, are funded by the FEDA Educational Foundation for dealer middle managers seeking career advancement in the distribution arena. The application deadline is Friday, Oct. 25. The four-day UID program for foodservice…

Next week is the time to tune in for the Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association members-only webinar. “Crush Price Objections,” slated for Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. CST, focuses on how dealers can protect their margins and hold the line on pricing while balancing the challenge of selling value to price-sensitive customers? Topics covered in the…

Vulcan and its parent company, ITW Food Equipment Group, have made official a number of new leadership appointments. Tim Farno and Tim Murray have been named to top posts at ITW FEG Cooking. Farno takes the reins as v.p./g.m. of the chain/retail division overseeing the North American cooking platform, and the griddle, charbroiler and fryer…

October is the month of meetings for the E&S industry’s buying groups. Eight of the industry’s dozen or so dealer groups and associations are holding seminars and conferences this month. They include: ABC                                             Oct. 7-9           Fall Conference-Chicago Channel Dist. Partners                  Oct. 20-23       Dealer Exchange Conference-Dallas Excell                                           Oct. 23-25       Vendor Ed. Training (VETS)-Miami IFED                                            Oct. 9-11        …

The Montague Co. has appointed William Dolan and Michael Poulos of monobloc as its new representatives covering Delaware (Sussex County), Maryland, northern New Jersey, New York, Maryland, western Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and southeast West Virginia. Monobloc was created recently by Dolan and Poulos as a resource for upscale kitchen designers and chefs. They have…

Carpigiani USA has elevated John Babila to the office of president. He had been serving as exec. v.p.-sales and marketing since he joined the Ali Group company in April 2011. Before joining Carpigiani, Babila held the title of v.p.-sales and marketing for a number of other E&S industry manufacturers, including Electrolux Corp. and Middleby Corp.…

Unified Brands is changing zip codes and expanding its North American footprint. The parent company of Groen, Randell, Avtec, A la Cart and Power Soak product line is relocating its corporate headquarters from Jackson, Miss., to metro-Atlanta. The new offices in a 500,000 sq.ft. shared facility will serve as a centralized headquarters housing Unified’s executive…

I got up very early today to write my FER Dealer Report editorial, because I have to catch a plane this morning from Chicago to Birmingham, Ala., on my way to West Point, Miss. I fully intended to discuss the slow revival of the publicly funded spec-market segments. But after lining up all the research,…

Mary Ellen Drake has returned to the Homer Laughlin China Co. as the Newell, W.Va., firm’s western regional sales manager. Drake had served in the same capacity from 1993-2005, when she left to become a tabletop brand manager at a Southern California rep firm. Drake is responsible for landing many of HLC’s West Coast accounts,…