18 WESTERN PALLET
Brent McClendon Talks Strategy
“Every year I come here, and I hear that you have set another new attendance record,” commented Brent McClendon, NPWCA President. “Clearly there is value in the information and the interaction at the Annual Meeting,” he said.
McClendon’s presentation, Strategy That Drives the Industry, Your Company Forward, Globally, shared insights about how NWPCA has developed and executed its strategy, growing in revenues from $2 million to $4 million annually. Meanwhile, The Pallet Foundation which was generating $20,000 per year, now produces $400,000.
A strategic plan for an Association is complicated. McClendon observed that members are the volunteers for the Association. They are also the owners, and its customers as well. “We have grown significantly domestically and internationally,” he said. “And it has been listening to you all that has helped us form our strategic plan and the projects we are working on now. We had focus groups, we had town hall meetings, membership questionnaires, retreats, a lot of the same things you are talking about in your own organizations.
“Where do we want to be in 5 years,” he asked. “That is exactly how we started the conversation at NWPCA.”
NWPCA’s vision includes being a global thought leader in wood packaging. “That’s ambitious, but that’s what you want in your strategic plan,” McClendon said. “We call it a BHAG. A big, hairy, audacious goal. If you build your vision for your company from where you are today, it will be a limited vision because you are going to look at your resources as constraints." (Cont'd on Page 20).