Annual Conference
Energized!

  MARCO ISLAND, FL—Coming off its strongest Annual Conference and Manufacturers Forum, IMDA is “on track and moving forward,” announced President Bob Wahlenmaier at the Conference.

  After experiencing a downturn in membership over the past several years, due in part to rollups, consolidation and the retirement of several first-generation members, IMDA in the past 12 months installed a new association management firm (Westmont, IL-based ASI) and began a concerted membership drive under the direction of Membership Chairman Tim McInerney of Kol Bio Medical Instruments, Chantilly, VA. The efforts paid off, with a record number of newcomers and manufacturers attending the association’s annual event.

  Thirty-seven member companies – or more than 60 percent of IMDA’s total membership – were on hand. In addition, IMDA’s allied members – DM Systems and Maxtec Inc. -- were in Marco Island as well.

  A record number of manufacturers – 15 – exhibited their products at the Manufacturers Forum. The response for the Forum was so positive that its hours were extended into Friday morning.

  And 23 spouses and guests attended the Conference as well, bringing the total number of people on hand to 108.

  Not surprisingly, the first-timers’ orientation was more crowded than it had been in years. In fact, seven new members and one allied member joined the association in the past 12 months, which was in line with a goal set last September in the association’s strategic planning meeting.

  Product and professional liability
  At the Conference, the association announced a number of key initiatives, foremost among them being a decision by the IMDA board to agree to form a strategic relationship with Medmarc Insurance Group and The Hartford to offer IMDA members access to a comprehensive array of insurance products, including products liability, protection for services performed by IMDA representatives, loss of business income, property in transit, workers compensation and others.

  Founded in 1979 with support from the Health Industry Manufacturers Association (now AdvaMed), Chantilly, VA-based Medmarc specializes in providing coverage to healthcare technology companies.

  “Attaining product liability remains one of the most daunting tasks our members face,” said Wahlenmaier. “I think that an association with Medmarc will help IMDA members get what they need.”

  In addition to the relationship with Medmarc, IMDA announced that Bruce Brierley, president of Salt Lake City, UT-based Maxtec Inc. would become the first manufacturer to join the IMDA board in an advisory capacity. Maxtec is a manufacturer of oxygen analysis products. The announcement signals a strengthening of IMDA’s ties with manufacturers of specialty medical technologies.

  “Manufacturers of innovative technologies and the members of IMDA have one thing in common – to bring new technologies to market,” commented IMDA Past-President Dave Campbell, president of Centennial, CO-based Vital/Med Systems. “Together we can promote the role of specialty sales and marketing in doing that.”

  It was just 20 months ago that the association first offered allied memberships to manufacturers, and just five years ago that IMDA sponsored its first Manufacturers Forum. Prior to that, manufacturers had not been allowed at IMDA Conferences at all. Both developments were due in large part to Campbell’s efforts.

  CEO tools
  As planned by Conference co-chairs Shawn Walker of Bay State Anesthesia and Gavin Keogh of Keomed, the focal point of the educational portion of this year’s Conference was Kraig Kramers, author of CEO Tools: The Nuts-n-Bolts of Business for Every Manager’s Success. Kramers was recently named Speaker of the Year out of nearly 2,000 speakers by TEC International, the management coaching firm.

  An eight-time CEO with plenty of turnaround experience, Kramers presented a variety of techniques to help entrepreneurial companies grow their businesses, both organically and through acquisition.

  In addition to Kramers, IMDA legal counsel Mitchell Kramer reviewed contractual issues to which IMDA members and manufacturers should pay attention. And IMDA webmaster Alan Campbell, president of Inforgence, gave a presentation on the IMDA bulletin board, which is accessible to IMDA members from the “Members Only” section of the IMDA website (www.imda.org). Inforgence is a provider of software to help companies turn information into business intelligence.

  Campbell gets award
  In another Conference-related development, Dave Campbell received the Ernie Douglass Award, IMDA’s most prestigious honor, for the work he has done to promote IMDA, grow the organization, introduce educational opportunities to members, and integrate manufacturers into the association. The award is named after Ernie Douglass, one of the founders of IMDA, who owned an orthopedic distributorship in North Carolina. The honor, which is given for outstanding service to IMDA and the industry, was last awarded in 2002 to Duke Johns of Medical Specialties.

  In his acceptance remarks, Campbell encouraged others to get involved in IMDA. “We need new blood to keep this organization moving forward,” he said. The commitment is not onerous, but the rewards are great, he said.

  Meanwhile, the association’s members approved the 2004-2005 board of directors. In an unusual move, and in an effort to maintain the momentum generated in the past 12 months, the board asked Wahlenmaier to retain his post as president, Ed Boracchia (Boracchia and Associates) to remain incoming president, Dave Campbell to remain immediate past president, and Stan Tangalakis (Mercury Medical) to remain a director-at-large. All accepted. In addition, Shawn Walker was named secretary/treasurer.

  The membership approved the board’s recommendation to add two directors-at-large positions. Terry Hinchliffe of Advanced Medical Systems and Leo Mindick of DMA Med-Chem Corp. agreed to step into these roles.

  Sponsorships
  Working together, ASI and the IMDA board generated more corporate sponsorships than ever before. A total of 15 companies contributed $13,240 in sponsorships. They included:

• Med One Capital, Midvale, UT. The company leases and rents medical equipment to acute-care hospitals throughout the country, often requiring little more than a purchase order on the part of the hospital. Med One participated in the conference at the invitation of Shawn Walker, whose company, Bay State Anesthesia, has worked with Med One and Bay State’s customers on a number of capital equipment acquisitions.
• Medmarc Insurance Group, Chantilly, VA. Senior Vice President Tom Konopka was on hand at the invitation of Bob Wahlenmaier and the IMDA board to discuss a potential relationship between IMDA, Medmarc and The Hartford, with whom Medmarc has a strategic relationship.
• Medcomp, Harleysville, PA, manufacturer of vascular access catheters for use in hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and other vascular access procedures. (Medcomp has been a participant in past IMDA conferences.)
• Vapotherm Inc., Annapolis, MD, manufacturer of advanced technologies for respiratory airway management.
• Embo-Optics, Gloucester, MA, manufacturer of IV illuminators for the delivery of IV medications in normal to low-light settings.
• Maxtec Inc., Salt Lake City, manufacturer of oxygen analysis products (and IMDA allied member).
• Mobile Workforce, Port Orchard, WA, provider of software products to help companies and their mobile sales forces with real-time distribution chain management capabilities.
• Dupaco Inc., Oceanside, CA, manufacturer of eye protection products.
• Precision Medical Inc., Northampton, PA, manufacturer of respiratory products.
• VidaCare, San Antonio, TX, manufacturer of an intraosseous IV access device.

  In addition, the following IMDA members sponsored single or multiple golf holes at the Annual Golf Tournament: Products for Surgery (three holes); and Vital/Med Systems Corp., CVC Inc., Boracchia & Associates, and Kol Bio Medical Instruments (one hole each).