WASHINGTON - During the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) Executive Summit, it was announced that the work of the Distribution Research and Education Foundation (DREF) is now being carried out by a new organization: the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence.

“The NAW Institute board of directors decided to make this name change to more clearly identify our research activities with NAW, which our market research showed as having very high and positive brand awareness among wholesaler-distributors and other interested parties,” said Byron Potter, chairman of the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence, and president and CEO of Dallas Wholesale Builders Supply Inc.

“We’ve created the NAW Institute to more clearly focus on the intended outcome of our research - excellence in distribution.”

“Our goal in establishing the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence is to provide a comprehensive and cohesive unit of strategic knowledge for wholesaler-distributors across all lines of trade,” said Ron Schreibman, executive director of the NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence.

“We’re not planning to throw everything away that DREF built. We will retain all of the good work and industry connections that DREF built over four decades and then add to it.”

For more information, visit www.nawpubs.org.

Publication date: 02/26/2007