Vision Forward: Your Voice Matters When Policy Hits the Bottom Line
Regulatory and legislative decisions made outside the industry can have significant consequences for distributors — making member participation in advocacy more important than ever.
By Joe Durham
CEO
FEDA
As I look at what our members are facing right now, I keep coming back to how much of it was decided by people outside this industry who have little understanding of the operational consequences. More states are adopting extended producer responsibility laws that add fees and reporting requirements for distributors. Constantly fluctuating tariff rates reshape costs midstream. Labor rules shift under employers. Energy and environmental regulations change the equipment you’re allowed to sell. Nobody in this business wrote any of it, and all of it lands on you anyway.
Distributors sit in a position that makes this harder than it looks from the outside. You are the last stop before the customer, which means you absorb what comes down the channel. When costs move, a manufacturer may have ways to adjust pricing. Distributors have less room to maneuver because you are the one holding the relationship on the other end. Margins in this business are already thin, and every one of these new rules or regulations puts more pressure on what is left. The people who make these decisions are the farthest removed from that reality, and the people living with it have the least ability to move it.
That is the gap advocacy exists to close, and it is not a new idea at FEDA. Protecting members from unfair burdens was written into this association’s purpose in 1933. A regulator writing a packaging rule is not thinking about one distributor on the West Coast. They are setting terms for an entire channel, and answering that takes an industry, not a company.
Each March, I get to be in Washington with our members for our congressional visits, and watching those meetings is one of the best parts of this job. Our members sit down with the legislators representing their districts and walk through what these rules actually do. The revenue this industry generates gets their attention. What registers more is that the person across the table is not only a constituent; they are the employer of hundreds of constituents. Nobody in that room misses the significance of that.
Those officials need you there. They are not in this business, and without someone explaining the downstream practical impact of what they are voting on, they are making policy choices without the full picture. You are the one who can give it to them.
Writing legislation is not your job. Your job is to run a distributorship. But when the rules governing that business are being written, someone from this industry needs to be in the room, and it carries a great deal more weight coming from you than from anyone speaking on your behalf.
If you can join us in D.C. in March to do exactly that, please do. If you can’t, follow what our Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Council is working through so you know what is coming before it arrives. Either way, this work is worth your attention. The policy decisions affecting this industry will be made with or without us. Ensuring that officials hear from the people who must live with the results is one of the most consequential things this association does, and it does not work without your involvement.
Finally, I want to recognize Marc Tell, as this will be his last conference as chair. Marc stepped into the role during a period of transition for FEDA that included a change in CEO leadership, and he approached that responsibility with commitment. He has been a steady partner who helped keep every initiative moving — no easy task when FEDA has so much building toward — and brought thoughtfulness and perspective to every challenge. Marc’s example is a testament to how volunteer leadership makes us a more effective association for members. I’m grateful for the time he has given to FEDA, and am looking forward to working with Jamie Arguello as she takes the chair through 2028.