March 2022
In this issue
Click a heading to reach that section or just scroll through.
THE DASHBOARD – Maximize your year-end rebate dividends
BENCHMARK BLUE – A Record Year
THE WHOLESALER MAGAZINE – Check out BLUE HAWK’s feature article
2022 WINTER SUMMIT – Sun Valley Recap
SOLUTION PARTNER SPOTLIGHT – Savance ERP Distribution Software
BLUE HAWK RETIREMENT – Reducing work, saving time, seeing results
IMARK GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE CAPTIVE – Find out more at our conference workshop
BLUE HAWK GIVES BACK – Who are you going to dunk?
BLUE HAWK UNIVERSITY – Student recognition & new modules
NEW BLUE HAWK MEMBER – One New Member
NEW BLUE HAWK SOLUTION PARTNER – One New Solution Partner
BLUE HAWK SOCIAL MEDIA – Like us and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
CEO’s Message to BLUE HAWK Stakeholders
Lance Rantala
Dear BLUE HAWK Community,
It’s been a long and aggravating wait since our last in-person conference in 2019. However, the BLUE HAWK Team is thrilled knowing we can once again gather with our co-op’s stakeholders at our Annual Conference on April 20 – 22, 2022. Even though registration started a little sluggish, our attendee count has reached pre-pandemic levels.
To welcome our attendees back to normalcy, we have incorporated a few new twists and throwback activities at BLUE HAWK’s 18th Annual Conference. Members and Vendor Partners should arrive early to take advantage of our inaugural Wednesday Workshops. In addition, we are introducing a New Product Showcase on Wednesday evening and Member Peer-2-Peer Networking Groups on Thursday.
During the Ride the Tide Celebration, the Throwback Thursday Dunk Tank will be raising money for our 2022 Gives Back partner, American Red Cross. So, whether you will be in Orlando or not, this is your chance to donate money and dunk someone for a good cause.
Once again, we are grateful for your patience with our virtual meetings in 2020 and 2021. You can never replace in-person networking and bonding, yet we tried. Moreover, we appreciate your collaboration and solidarity during the pandemic. You proved to us how vital BLUE HAWK is to your businesses. Thank your ongoing support and cooperation.
As a member-owned, member-controlled, and financially transparent co-op, BLUE HAWK looks ahead to continuing our work with our Members, Vendor Partners, Solution Partners, and Alliance Partners to ensure the survival and growth of independent HVACR wholesalers.
GROW WITH BLUE!
Lance Rantala
BLUE HAWK CEO
Participation Continues to Increase
We have worked hard with our partners at Tredence to show our Vendor Partners the value of The Dashboard over the last few months. As of now, we have 39 Vendor Partners committed to sending their transactional data through the site; that’s a 300% increase over last year! For our Members, this means that you can make near real-time decision making with dozens of Vendor Partners! Plus, as more Vendor Partners are on board, your company can quickly perform quality assurance checks throughout the quarter, making the end-of-quarter dividend payment more seamless for you. We will continue to meet with those who have not committed to continuing to highlight the benefits of the site, and I invite you to do the same.
In addition to onboarding dozens of Vendor Partners, the BLUE HAWK team has worked diligently to ensure that all our Members’ SKUs are appropriately categorized. With over 1.4 million SKUs uploaded to The Dashboard, the AI learning technology has been busy studying and sorting like our very own Hogwarts hat! As more Members and Vendor Partners load their data onto the site, the automatic sorting becomes more accurate. In addition, as more data becomes available, some of our broader product categories can be broken down into more meaningful specific categories.
If you haven’t already toured The Dashboard, now is the time before cooling season kicks into full gear. Reach out to Jessica Jones to see the site in action today!
Schedule your tour of The Dashboard with Jessica Jones today. Or reach out to Jessica directly with any other questions at jjones@bluehawkcooperative.com.
The Dashboard Wednesday Workshops
Join us at the Annual Conference for The Dashboard workshop. One will be held for Members and one for Vendor Partners.
Wednesday, April 20
3:15-4:15pm – Vendor Partner Workshop
4:30-5:30pm – Member Workshop
If you haven’t registered for the workshops yet, email Teri Ditsch to sign up.
A record year
Nearly all BLUE HAWK members improved their CoScore in 2021 compared to 2020 (see almost all the dots above the horizontal line on the CoScore chart below). Here are a few highlights from the benchmarks:
- Median Net Sales Growth was 19.3% in 2021, bucking a three-year downward trend.
- Median EBITDA margins reached new highs: 7.9% for the year compared to roughly four percent, historically.
- Despite inflation, operating costs are growing at a slower rate than sales. Median Operating Expense as a percentage of Net Sales is down to a record low of 19.4% compared to roughly 23% in the past.
- Days Inventory are back to more “normal” levels, ending the year with a median of 119 days.
Join BenchMark BLUE at the Wednesday Workshop on April 20 at 3:15-4:15pm. If you didn’t RSVP email Teri Ditsch to sign up.
For more information on BenchMark BLUE:
Paul Giudice
paul@cometrics.com
857-472-4711
MARCH ISSUE OF THE WHOLESALER MAGAZINE
Have you seen the March issue of The Wholesaler Magazine? BLUE HAWK is featured along with BLUE HAWK Members Refrigeration Sales Corp, OH, and Century HVAC Supply, TX.
BLUE HAWK Gives Back has logged more than 3,500 volunteer hours since May 2012, including MERISTEM, Father Joe’s Village, Durso Park Playground Project, Joshua Station, Christopher Reeve Foundation, The Ulman Cancer Fund, Surf Rider Foundation Beach Clean-up, Habitat for Humanity, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, The National Parkinson’s Foundation, Boys and Girls Clubs, Girls on the Run, Arizona Basset Hound Rescue, The Tiffany Foundation, The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, The Kori May Memorial Endowment Fund, Mountain Girl Rescue, Fund Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, United Way of Genesse County, and American Red Cross Midwest Division.
