Pittsburgh, PA – August 1, 2017 – The PowerHouse Alliance 12 distributor members convened for their eighth year as a group during their fifth annual national sales meeting alongside 28 vendor partners in Pittsburgh. Bonding activities, vendor meetings, and one-on-one distributor discussions lead the group’s steady growth and goals heading into CEDIA.
The three-day summit debuted with a keynote address from Pittsburgh Pirates President, Frank Coonelly. Though baseball and distribution aren’t exactly in the same field, Coonelly made connections between the challenges faced by small-market professional baseball teams and regional distributors like those of the PowerHouse Alliance, addressing how to stand against big competition.
“Our annual sales meeting is a venue for members to discuss new products, performance, sales tactics and training initiatives with vendors and other members,” said PowerHouse Alliance Executive Director Dennis Holzer. “The group reviews the first half of the year and also develops strategies and goals for CEDIA, the remainder of the year and beginning of the New Year. We’ve seen growth with new member facilities, training, as well as the many existing and new quality product lines we offer.”
Coonelly’s go-to-market sales and marketing strategies were a valuable learning experience for the members. “Frank Coonelly was incredibly relatable to our distributor members as a fish in the big pond that is the MLB,” said Holzer. “His catch-phrase “control the controllables” brought a fresh perspective for our group, and inspiration to be better business people and decision-makers for the second half of 2017.
Representatives from 28 vendors attended, seven of which had their debut this year with PowerHouse including Eero, Hikvision, Luma, KEF, Samsung, SoundTube and Zigen. Beyond trade shows, it’s rare for brands to meet face-to-face with their sales partners; and PowerHouse Alliance vendors appreciated the valuable one-on-one time they received. PowerHouse Alliance distributor members were equally enthusiastic, naming this year’s sales meeting the best of five by a long shot.
The PowerHouse Alliance members will meet next at CEDIA in San Diego, CA, September 6 – 8, 2017, and will exhibit in the PowerHouse Alliance booth #5729. Multiple members also have trainings and events planned for the remainder of the summer.
Below is the full list of training sessions and events scheduled through August:
Autco
- Samsung Training:
Louis, MO – August 2
Kansas City, KS – August 3
ECD
- Clare Controls Vendor Day – July 31, Houston TX
- Clare Controls Certification Training:
- Houston, TX– August 8
- Austin, TX – August 9
- Dallas, TX – August 10
- Lutron Vendor Day – August 11 – Houston, TX
Ui Supplies
- 5th Annual BBQ Bash and Tradeshow – Clifton, NJ – August 3
Volutone
- Networking Training
- Simi Valley, CA – August 8 – 9
- Van Nuys, CA – August 10 – 11
- Cerritos, CA – August 15 – 16
- Irvine, CA – August 17 – 18
- San Diego, CA – August 22 – 23
- Ontario, CA – August 24 – 25
- Las Vegas, NV – August 29 – 30
Visit the Member Events Calendar on the PowerHouse Alliance website here for additional details of the events and trainings and for links to register on the member websites.
To learn more about the PowerHouse Alliance or any of its member distributors, please visit www.powerhousealliance.com.
About PowerHouse Alliance
The PowerHouse Alliance is a national consortium of regional wholesale distributors delivering name brand products for custom installers, specialty dealers, large retailers and industry buying groups in the residential and commercial audio/video, home entertainment, security, IT and consumer electronics accessories markets. With combined annual sales in excess of $800 million, PowerHouse Alliance member companies represent 800,000 square feet of warehouse space in convenient locations across the country, stocked with more than 150+ product lines. Creating cost efficiencies for manufacturers and buying power for customers, the Alliance offers a national footprint with the added benefit of local sales, training and support.
Powerhouse Alliance members include: 21st Century, Autco, Audio America, CED, Davis Distribution, ECD, EDI, Mountain West, MRI, Sierra Select, Ui Supplies, and Volutone.
Press Contact
Caster Communications 401-792-7080
Erin Phillips erin@castercomm.com
Laura Shubel laura@castercomm.com
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