ACD Press Release

New Orleans, LA
August 15, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Matthew McKinney
(703) 527-6223 x3074
mmckinney@acd-chem.com

Chemical Distributors Focus on Best Practices, Safety, Partnerships and Regulatory Compliance

NACD ChemEdge Conference and Trade Show Comes to New Orleans

Nearly 420 chemical distributors from across the country are gathering in New Orleans this week for ChemEdge, the leading chemical distribution operations and management conference in the United States hosted annually by the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD). Attendees will participate in three days of in-depth education and insight into important regulatory, operational, and management issues, as well as best practices in the chemical distribution industry.

At ChemEdge, members will attend a series of training and educational sessions and panel discussions led by experts sharing insights into management and operational excellence. This year, NACD is offering two intensive pre-conference workshops: one on NACD Responsible Distribution^®, the association’s third-party-verified environmental, health, safety, and security program, and another on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

“Chemical distributors are impacted by issues as far-ranging as food safety management and autonomous vehicle implementation to unmanned aircraft systems and physical site security. We are excited to once again provide NACD members valuable resources and educational training in these issue areas and more at this year’s ChemEdge in New Orleans,” said Eric R. Byer, president of NACD. “Not only are we offering tremendous sessions to help members meet the highest standards and stay up-to-date on the latest trends and regulations, we are also hosting intensive pre-conference workshops to give our members the extra edge.”

Byer will join NACD Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Gibson to address how regulations and tax reform impact the industry and share the NACD resources available to help members in their compliance needs.

Other key sessions at the conference include:

Serving Customers While Dealing with Driver Shortages/Challenges: In this interactive session, attendees will discuss the origin of the perfect storm of economic conditions and safety concerns that gave way to transportation regulations that squeeze capacity and make it more difficult to serve customers well. Participants will be gain a broader understanding of what appears to be a serious truck driver shortage, learn how to influence the course of upcoming regulations that could further challenge their operations, and be able determine if they are positioned to be one of the market’s “preferred shippers,” attracting all of the most reliable and best-equipped carriers to partner with them rather than their competitors.
Gone Phishing: Cybersecurity Risk, Liability and Litigation: Cyber threats have been described as “among the gravest national security dangers to the United States” (The White House 2015), and “an enormous and an exponentially growing threat” (Comey 2013). It is estimated that cyberattacks cost the business community $8.5 billion annually, putting sensitive financial, medical, and trade secrets at risk and often leading to entity-threatening litigation and the loss of valued customers. Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to discuss the scope of cyber threats, analyze the costs associated with cyber-attacks, recognize the methods and means of a cyber-attack, and identify steps a company can take to protect itself.

For more information on ChemEdge, visit https://www.acd-chem.com/meetings/ce/2018-chemedge/.

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