DALLAS — During NEXUS, powered by BEMA and the American Bakers Association (ABA) and held Sept. 25-28, collaboration was the name of the game. At this inaugural event, bakers and suppliers found new ways to network and collaborate.
During the conference, Joanie Spencer, editor-in-chief of Commercial Baking, sat down with Eric Dell, ABA president and CEO, and Cordia Harrington, founder and CEO of Crown Bakeries and ABA board chair, to catch up on industry issues and how collaboration is defining the future for the baking industry.
Joanie Spencer: It’s been a busy year for ABA! We are here at the inaugural NEXUS, powered by BEMA and ABA … let’s touch on some of the highlights since we last visited at ABA convention.
Eric Dell: Since our convention in March, we’ve had a lot of success on our team, specifically with NEXUS, which we’re very excited about. We’ve also been working on our strategic plan, and we’re making great progress on that, as well. Additionally, we’re focusing on advocacy and gearing up for the November fly-in, where we’ll do some work with [the American Society of Baking] and [the Retail Bakers of America].
Cordia Harrington: It’s about this idea of ‘reset.’ I believe that bringing on Eric Dell as president and CEO has been a fantastic reset. We’ve had great leadership over the years, but I do feel like Eric understands how to focus and move the needle, whether it’s policy or advocacy.
We had a great keynote speaker to kick off NEXUS: JJ Birden reminded us to focus and execute. That resonated with me; I believe that we have terrific talent on the ABA staff, and they’ve got wind under their sails to take the organization to the next level and make a positive impact for our membership.