Photos: NAHAD convention takes Bahamas by storm

NASSAU, Bahamas—Members of NAHAD: The Association for Hose and Accessories Distribution showed up in force as the group's annual convention opened for business April 29 in Nassau.

Jason Westad, chief sales officer for Force America Inc., presided over the meeting as president for the last year of NAHAD, with more than 800 in attendance. The event continues through May 2, when David Heckler of Alliance Hose & Rubber will take the reins when the annual convention ends.

Westad opened up the meeting and introduced Patrick Luce, an economist with ITR Economics to give his firm's outlook for the coming year and beyond.

Luce said ITR expects small growth in GDP in 2023, followed by a slight drop next year. But Luce said the future economic event to watch for is a deep economic depression sometime in the 2030s. He said ITR for the last decade has been pointing to this downturn, and still holds to the prediction because of the demographics that will be in place at the time.

On April 30, things got a bit emotional on stage, as Halli Petillo introduced her father, Sam Petillo of Singer Industrial, as the recipient of this year's George W. Carver Outstanding Commitment to Industry Excellence Award. Halli admitted that, as a child, she had no idea what her father did, but as she grew up, she became proud when she realized just how much of a commitment he had to both his job and family.

Petillo joined the hose industry in 1999 with Saint-Gobain's Fluid Systems Division. He moved to Goodyear Engineered Products in 2005 and held a number of positions before joining Singer Equities Inc.—now Singer Industrial—in 2014.

In accepting the honor, Petillo spoke of what he called his "pacers" in the industry, those who not only inspire but also pace you. He mentioned Keith Collett, a mentor from Goodyear, and Don Fritzinger, who recruited him to Singer, along with those on his team and his family.

The award is given each year in memory of George Carver, who was a founding father and third president of NAHAD, which is hosting its 39th convention this year.

Following Petillo on the stage, Ross Bernstein, an author of nearly 50 sports books, captivated the audience with his keynote address. His talk was called "The Champion's Code," where he took eight tenets and matched each up with a sports figure—mostly Minnesota-based teams, where he lives—and then showed how those principles also applied to NAHAD members and their businesses.

For example, the first principle was to be passionate, with the late Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett exemplifying the trait.

"You can't fake passion," Bernstein said. "If you're not authentically passionate about what you do, maybe you're not in the right line of business."