BEMA leadership reflects on relationships, collaboration at NEXUS

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BEMA leadership reflects on relationships, collaboration at NEXUS

4 Oct 2023

Joanie Spencer

Since 2008, Joanie Spencer has covered the retail and wholesale sides of the baking industry.
Serving associations such as the American Society of Baking (ASB) and BEMA, Joanie is also in demand as an industry presenter on bakery operations and trends. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Rockhurst University and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

When she’s not running or playing soccer, Joanie spends her time with her husband and 11-year-old son.

DALLAS — In an industry centered on manufacturing, relationships are everything. They’re also a big business driver. Perhaps no one knows this better than BEMA, the association that founded the concept of NEXUS, powered by BEMA and the American Bakers Association (ABA), and the baking industry’s newest conference, which took place September 25-28 in Dallas.

“It really is about relationships,” said Jim Warren, VP of Exact Mixing for Reading Bakery Systems and BEMA board chair. “It’s something that’s important to BEMA.”

Before the term NEXUS was coined, BEMA was exploring ways the association could complement its annual convention, which takes place in June. While the convention is geared toward executive-level connections and capped with BEMA Connect, a “speed dating”-style interaction between the association’s members and its baker guests, BEMA sought to create a different kind of experience.

“We looked at our membership and said, ‘How can we not only engage more member companies but also engage deeper within those companies?’” said Kerwin Brown, BEMA president and CEO. “We needed a way to develop the next generation, get them more involved and give them a place to make connections and network.”

NEXUS focuses on three main pillars: education, industry collaboration and Spark Sessions.

Nearly two years ago, BEMA formed a task force to develop what would become NEXUS. In addition to providing a new way to network, the task force also saw a need for an event that was project focused. The thought was this: What if there were an event where bakers could meet up with suppliers to touch base on current projects or have discovery sessions with new or existing suppliers about potential projects? That was the genesis of Spark Sessions, which grew into the event’s marquee component.

In a post-COVID world, remote project meetings have shifted closer to the norm than the exception. Spark Sessions were intended to make team-to-team interaction not only easier but also baked into a larger event where attendees could network and gain professional development.

“We wanted to create a concept where suppliers and bakers could bring their teams and make this exchange of ideas,” Brown said. “In just a couple of days, all the decision makers could be in one place.”

BEMA joined forces with ABA in 2022, forming a steering committee composed of board members from each association.

As co-owners of IBIE, the BEMA-ABA roots run deep, making this a near perfect collaboration.

“Owning together the largest tradeshow in North America is a big effort, and it’s so much a part of who we are,” Brown said. “This was definitely a natural outgrowth of that, but with a different approach.”

NEXUS will take place in the off years of IBIE, which is set for September 13-17, 2025, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“Having NEXUS in the off years will help keep those connections going,” Brown said. “It was a natural collaboration to partner with ABA and create another strong offering for both our members.”

Industry collaboration — especially in a year that held two international tradeshows — was intentionally designed around creating opportunities for baking industry trade groups beyond BEMA and ABA to gather and interact. Groups like the American Society of Baking and PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies had a presence at the event.

“As we bring other organizations together and continue to collaborate, it’s going to mean that people who attend NEXUS will have not one or two reasons to be here,” Brown said. “They’ll have five or six reasons to be here, and people will just gravitate toward NEXUS.”

When NEXUS officially — and successfully — launched, it touted more than 350 attendees, 76 Spark Sessions, 16 educational sessions, a keynote address from former NFL player JJ Birden, and ABA’s NextGenBaker Leadership Forum as part of the programming.

“The important question now becomes, ‘Where do we go from here?’” Warren pondered. “We had a successful first meeting, and we’re excited about the results, but we recognize that we have to continually refine and grow it.”

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