Month: October 2024

Natural Products Association

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A natural watchdog

If you have ever tried a natural deodorant or an eco-friendly cleaning spray, chances are that product’s manufacturer or retailer is a member of the Natural Products Association.

Founded in 1936, the Natural Products Association is the country’s largest and oldest non-profit organization of its kind dedicated to the natural products industry, which includes but is not limited to: foods, dietary supplements, as well as health and beauty aids. About 50 percent of the board of directors is made up of manufacturers and the other half are retailers whose products you might find in a health foods store, such as Whole Foods. While members are typically from the retailer and manufacturing circles, this organization also draws in wholesalers and distributors of natural products. By current estimates, more than 2,000 retail members and over 450 supplier members are proudly affiliated with NPA.

Between those two groups, there are 10,000 locations across the country. Most of the association’s membership grew from the dietary supplements side—that is, minerals and supplements—but has recently been attracting producers of personal care products much like those brought to you by Burt’s Bees and Tom’s of Maine. The dietary supplement side of the business has grown exponentially to become a $25 billion industry; to put that in perspective the natural products is a $100 billion industry.

With such industry growth it is only natural to have formalities and rules. Being headquartered in Washington, D.C. as a result has given this association a solid footing to serve as the industry watchdog on regulatory and legislative issues. Because the NPA is mostly focused on advocacy work it only makes sense that it is also one of main reasons why members join the organization in the first place. “Our primary goal is to preserve that regulatory structure from those policymakers who try to introduce, in our point of view, redundant new regulations,” tells John Gay, executive director and CEO of Natural Products Association (NPA).

Advocacy a key focus

As the industry picked up over the years, the association has evolved with itmeanwhile keeping an eye on any regulatory measures that may affect its members’ business. “The natural products industry has grown especially more recently, with the passage of DSHEADietary Supplement Health and Education Act—which clarified what can be placed on the store shelves by law. For example, before the passage of this law dietary supplements were neither fish nor fowl so these products weren’t identified in the regulatory world,” explains Gay, adding that NPA’s main objective is to preserve DSHEA. “It’s a real partnership between retail and suppliers. We also advocate to the rights of the consumers, to have their choice of products that will hopefully improve their health,” tells Gay.

But this past year, the association faced the most serious challenge to DSHEA of all time. “The bill [S.3002] introduced by Arizona Senator John McCain, would have undone the current regulatory scheme for dietary supplements and altered DSHEA in ways that would have been tremendously negative for the industry and consumer, alike with no real added consumer protection,” says Gay. But the coalition to preserve DSHEA, composed of a number of groups, led by the NPA, launched a fierce letter-writing campaign, most by email.  After a flood of communications from the coalition and others, it was only a matter of months when the two senators withdrew support of their own bill. Instead of opening up DSHEA, they are now working with industry champions such as Senator Orrin Hatch on some more specific steps, particularly looking at ways to deal with the problem of steroids being placed into supplements by the “bad actors.”

Apart from its advocacy work, members also benefit from its regulatory programs. “We were the first organization to establish a good manufacturing practices program (GMP). Other groups like NSF have used our program as the basis of theirs. We establish standards that were approved well over 10 years ago, on the types of manufacturing processes of the dietary supplementary world that would be appropriate; we also have a program where a supplier can have auditors come in and make sure their process meets this standard,” explains Gay. Since the NPA first established these standards, he says, the Food and Drug Administration has drafted and released their own set of GMPs. Now, the NPA has modified its initial standards so they comply with the FDA’s final GMP rule.

NPA-China initiative

In addition to its offices in Washington, D.C., the NPA also is affiliated with five regional NPAs located throughout the United States. But more recently, the association was encouraged by the U.S. government to open an office in Beijing, China in order to better assist U.S. companies to export their natural products to this rapidly expanding market. “The driver behind this initiative is that China is a unique country, given its size and slice o the world economy. It is the number one supplier of ingredients to the U.S. for the industry,” points out Gay. “It is also potentially the biggest market in the world for natural products, if it develops the appropriate regulatory framework, to allow the industry grow there,” he adds.

By July 2006, the Natural Products Association had opened its office overseas, as well as hired the office director Jeff Crowther. In October 2007, the Natural Products Association was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC), receiving both financial and collaborative support from USDOC through the department’s Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP).

The association works closely with the U.S. Embassy in Beijing as well as USDOC in Washington, D.C. to accomplish its China initiatives, such as regulatory advocacy, quality assurance and testing program for Chinese ingredients, trade missions, trade shows, educational seminars, product registration services and communications. One of the ways the NPA is working on improving the overall flow of imports from China to the U.S. is through some programming. For instance, there is a testing program in place with USP as the testing service provider, which ultimately assists Chinese market producers by adding transparency to their ingredients, which will allow U.S. firms to use quality as a platform to expand market share.

Looking into the future, NPA plans to continue to work with governments and stakeholders to develop regulatory frameworks that allow the industry to grow but also encourage U.S. companies to grow and expand abroad.

Sentrics Expands Senior Living Footprint wіth Acquisition оf Connected Living

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Sentrics today announced thе acquisition оf Connected Living, a leading resident engagement platform thаt makes іt easier fоr mоrе thаn 550 communities аnd thеіr residents tо communicate аnd interact. Thе platform includes a centralized content management ѕуѕtеm аnd Comprehensive product ecosystem thаt helps operators share messages wіth whоm thеу want, whеn thеу want аnd hоw іt іѕ best received easily аnd quickly. Thе Connected Living technology wіll bесоmе раrt оf thе Sentrics Engage360SM suite, whісh leverages thе television experience tо create a unique wellbeing engine, offering recommendations tо personalize engagement fоr еvеrу resident аnd improve thеіr overall community experience. Brian McWade, thе President оf Connected Living wіll bесоmе thе Chief Product Officer аt Sentrics, responsible fоr executing thе integrated engagement strategy аnd аlѕо guiding thе integrated product vision fоr thе entire Sentrics360 platform.

“Residents whо stay socially engaged аrе mоrе likely tо experience longevity wіth vitality,” said Peter Bailey, Chief Executive Officer оf Sentrics. “While COVID highlighted thе negative effects оf social isolation, thе fact remains thаt it’s difficult tо continually engage a resident оn hіѕ оr hеr individual terms. Our Engage360 resident engagement platform makes іt easier fоr residents tо engage right thrоugh a technology thеу аlrеаdу know—their TV—while аlѕо providing staff wіth unique tools tо identify whеn a resident mау need mоrе help engaging. Thе Engage360 аnd Connected Living technologies complement еасh оthеr, whіlе аlѕо giving uѕ thе ability tо impact thе lives асrоѕѕ mоrе acuity levels mоrе quickly wіth mоrе functionality.”

“We аt Connected Living аrе excited tо join thе Sentrics family,” said Connected Living President Brian McWade. “The combination оf оur Connected Living technology аnd thе Engage360 suite wіll gіvе operators mоrе wауѕ tо engage residents аnd satisfy thеіr unspoken needs.”

Thе Engage360 platform іѕ раrt оf thе Sentrics360SM integrated technology suite thаt helps senior living operators kеер residents physically safe, medically wеll, socially connected аnd cognitively engaged. Working іn tandem wіth thrее оthеr platforms, Engage360 іѕ раrt оf a data-driven ecosystem thаt collects аnd analyzes resident data аnd infers actionable insights thаt help operators predict аnd prevent adverse events.

Abоut Sentrics

Sentrics іѕ a leader іn thе senior living industry. It іѕ helping communities nationwide transform іntо mоrе sophisticated, clinically oriented, risk-management businesses. Itѕ Sentrics360SM suite creates a 360-degree view—physical, medical, social аnd behavioral—of thе wellbeing оf еасh resident. Thе game-changing suite integrates popular third-party solutions, аnd includes emergency саll, life safety, contact tracing аnd case management, entertainment, whole-health engagement, аnd AI-based insights wіthіn a single community. Thе Sentrics brand includes Ciscor, Silversphere, SeniorTV, CareConnect, Luna Lights, Connected Living, аnd Allen Technologies. Fоr mоrе information, visit www.sentrics.net.

Abоut Connected Living

An industry innovator ѕіnсе 2007, Connected Living delivers a comprehensive product ecosystem tо empower senior living communities tо easily broadcast news, make announcements аnd provide community updates tо prospects, residents, families, аnd staff. Thrоugh a single centralized content management ѕуѕtеm (eCMS), operators create аnd push information tо multiple endpoints, аt оnе tіmе, giving residents, family аnd staff access tо thе information vіа digital signage, mobile apps, web portal, voice enabled devices, аnd a TV-based community channel.

Altoona Blair County Development Corporation

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Diverting from the tracks

ABJ brings you the story of a remarkable organization that helped transform an old railroad town by getting off the tracks and building a diverse and thriving economy in Altoona, Blair County, PA.

WHEN TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY railroad town Altoona began to diversify its local economy in the 1940s, an organization, then called Altoona Enterprises Inc., led the way to the city’s economic success. Its founding year was 1946 and the organization’s first campaign was called “Jobs for Joes.” Back then, the town of Altoona was what locals referred to as a ‘one-horse town’, where everything was connected to the railroad industry.

Leaving the tracks to diversify

When the Pennsylvania Railroad began massive downsizing, it suddenly sparked a need for diver­sification, explains Matt Fox, marketing manager of the Altoona Blair County Development Corpo­ration (ABCD Corp). In 1996, the organization changed its name to ABCD Corp. to reflect its overall corporate goals of community, economic and workforce development, enhanced quality of life and sustainability of the environment.
While there is still a strong focus on manu­facturing and industrial warehousing, there is a healthy balance in other areas, such as educa­tion, healthcare, as well as light to heavy industri­al and technology suppliers. “Our goal has always been to help facilitate new job creation. We are always looking for ways to diversify the economy outside of manufacturing-based industry,” ex­plains Fox.

Serving as a catalyst for innovation and job creation

ABCD Corp. provides a range of professional development services to its business community, including financing, entrepreneurial support, ac­cess to a viable workforce, assisting real estate development and business expansion. “Through our core development services, we are able to assist companies that are new to the region, en­trepreneurs and small businesses as well as our existing companies to help them grow, expand and succeed,” adds Fox.

The current economic situation has present­ed its own challenges to many cities, and Altoona is not an exception. “The challenge with the re­duced state budget will be a cause for concern in accessing some traditional financing programs,” tells Fox. “For others, the rising energy costs are a concern for our manufacturers especially. We have formed an energy consortium to proactively address these issues to ensure our companies remain competitive, while maintaining a forward-thinking mentality utilizing emerging technolo­gies,” he adds.

Staying true to its historical roots

Blair County is still home to Norfolk Southern’s Juniata Locomotive Shops located in Altoona, which is rated among the highest performing re­pair shops, every year, nationwide. “The history of this area dates back to the founding of the Penn­sylvania Railroad. It was beginning to expand to the west, and Altoona is located where it is today because the Pennsylvania Railroad needed to construct railroad repair facilities at the base of the Allegheny Ridge Plateau—where Altoona is,” tells Pat Miller, executive vice-president of ABCD Corporation.

Business parks a solid strategic decision

In fact, many of Altoona’s real estate develop­ment opportunities link back to former railroad properties. In 2000, the ABCD Corporation real­ized its important role as a catalyst for change in the community. “At that time, our board de­cided to invest in real estate development in correlation with the construction of Interstate 99, which is now complete establishing the I-99 Innovation Corridor. Both business and indus­trial locations were strategically located along the interstate that connects the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the south with Interstate 80 in the north,” explains Miller. “For the next six years, we developed a series of six business parks along the I-99 Corridor.”

“We developed the Walter Business Park and South Altoona Business Park on former railroad property, and most recently in 2006, we acquired and are currently in the process of redeveloping a 300-plus-acre site (the Hollidaysburg Car Shop property),” tells Miller. “In addition to the busi­ness and industrial parks we are pleased that we’ve also been able to redevelop over 22 acres in the heart in the city of Altoona,” he adds.

Moreover, he explains that “because of the decision to make investments into the devel­opment of these business parks, Blair County has been able to attract a number of new busi­nesses, beginning with the 500,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility by Smith Transport, located at the Jubelirer Business Park in Tyrone”

Business Park strategy creates new jobs.

Headquartered and founded in Altoona, Sheetz Inc., one of America’s fastest growing family-owned and operated convenience store chains, is a major partner and investor in Altoona and Blair County. Starting from just one store in 1952, today Sheetz is one of the largest chains in the region with over 365 stores throughout six states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina em­ploying more than 13,000. In 2005, the com­pany was seeking a centrally located place for their 300,000-square-foot distribution facility and through a site selection process chose Claysburg, Blair County. “Because of the fact that we invested in developing the Walter Busi­ness Park in the southern end of Blair County, we were able to attract the business here, just 20 miles from corporate headquarters. Follow­ing that decision, in 2008 Sheetz decided to construct a 140,000-square-foot state-of-the-art food production facility, Sheetz Bros. Kitchen, next door to the Distribution Center,” explains Miller, adding the Sheetz family business is one of several important partnerships.

Working together with Sheetz, Inc., ABCD Corp., as an organization, established a synthetic lease to build the facilities, which are wholly-owned and then leased back to Sheetz. “We serve as the investor/developer on their behalf. These two projects in the southern end of the county now represent employment for close to 800 individu­als,” tells Miller.

Devorris Center a hub for local businesses

“The investment in our business park strategy has resulted in creation of well over 1,000 new jobs to the community. We see that as being one of our major successes,” tells Miller proudly. “An­other project that we’re very proud of is what is called the Devorris Center for Business Develop­ment,” says Miller. The 35,000-square-foot build­ing is located in the South Altoona Business Park and was constructed by ABCD Corp. “It is a multi-tenant facility and it serves as an incubator for small businesses. Today, the Devorris Center is completely filled; we have nine businesses here, as well as a number of local economic develop­ment and business service providers, such as the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, the local SCORE chapter, the Small Business Development Center at St. Francis University, and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners headquartered out of Penn State University.”

These local service providers do their coun­seling in the centrally located facility. “We’re very proud of that investment, as it was one of the first incubators created in the city when we developed the South Altoona Business Park. Again, it was a former 22-acre railroad property and in this case there were existing environ­mental concerns that were remediated and now a former Brownfield site is a viable business park,” tells Miller.

Penn State University a key driver for Downtown Altoona

Once a thriving destination for retail, Downtown Altoona struggled for many recent years trying to attract new business opportunities, as the trend of retailers moved from the urban center. This changed about 10 years ago, when ABCD Corp. invited several local universities to a meeting to discuss the idea of creating an educational center in the downtown hub. “The concept was simple; these universities could rent space from us in order to support their off-campus and continuing education programs,” says Miller, adding Penn State-Altoona was the first to take an interest.

Soon after, ABCD Corp. discovered an ap­propriate space and drafted a lease with Penn State Altoona. “We bought the building, rehabili­tated it to their specifications and initially, they brought their continuing education programs into the downtown, as well as their staff and administrative support,” tells Miller.

“Because of the success of that venture, Penn State Altoona renewed the lease and shortly thereafter, bought the building from us,” tells Miller, adding Chan­cellor Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry also realized the role that Penn State Altoona played in terms of acting as an engine to jump-start other economic development opportunities in the downtown. This partnership has been another key driver for economic development in Altoona, particularly in the downtown.

Since then, ABCD Corp. has redeveloped a 30,000-square-foot space for classrooms, as well as a nursing lab, broadcast studio and commu­nications lab and more administrative support for Penn State Altoona. ABCD Corp. acquired a vacant building redeveloped it to Penn State’s specification and this past fall they opened the new classroom space. PSU Altoona purchased more property to redevelop on their own, bringing their Alumni relations and development office to the downtown area.

Renewed interest in downtown leads to future developments

ABCD Corp. and Penn State-Altoona are about to announce the development of yet another downtown project, which will bring more activity to its urban core.

“The Penn State Altoona rela­tionship has lead to potential inquiries of other developers in the area that will support student activities,” explains Miller, adding the renewed interest in Altoona’s downtown is an encourag­ing sign. A new restaurant scheduled to open in the spring of 2010 and two local investors have acquired an old, vacant property, once owned by Sears and Penny’s department stores to re­develop into a commercial and student housing area. “All this synergy happening now is directly related to this unique relationship with Penn State Altoona and its commitment to the down­town,” adds Miller. The combined Penn State Altoona-ABCD Corp. partnership represents close to $10 million in total project costs, and that’s not including the fourth project slated to begin this coming spring.

Altoona Regional Health System

Blair County’s largest healthcare provider, the Altoona Regional Healthcare System, is ready to inject a multi-million dollar investment into the re-development of a hospital facility in Down­town Altoona. The ARHS currently has the Al­toona Hospital in the downtown and is planning renovations to this main campus, as well as acquiring new space. In addition, recently ARHS purchased a formerly enclosed mall that was underutilized and now is undergoing a major transformation from a retail space to a major medical center, now called the Station Medical Center. “They have already completed first two phases of redevelopment; it will become the second major medical center associated with the Altoona Medical Health System in Downtown Altoona,” says Miller.

Looking to the Future

With the Altoona-Blair County Development Corp. leading the way and collaborating with a multitude of economic development partners and businesses, this region stands ready for continued success.  The work ethic, persistence and pride that was forged from Altoona and Blair County’s rich railroad history carries through today and into the future. AB

www.abcdcorp.org

Is Social Media Just a Popularity Contest?

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Popularity is a funny thing online. You can reach millions of people with a couple clicks of a mouse but never actually meet them in person. We often get tied to metrics like web traffic or followers on Twitter and Facebook but aren’t the true signs of popularity metrics that bring an ROI – like, uh, sales?

This disconnect between popularity and sales, clouds the judgment of too many marketing teams, especially when virtually everything can be gamed. It’s too common to see businesses buying their way to more Facebook and Twitter followers but what’s the use of having them if they don’t want what you have to offer?

You can pay people to show up at your birthday party but don’t expect them to bring you a gift.

It’s a sad and lonely analogy but a fitting one nonetheless. All fruitful relationships are earned, not bribed and you will be forced to learn this lesson again when developing an effective social media strategy for your business.

Popular Needs to Be Profitable

There is the type of social media that makes friends and there is the kind of social media that makes money. Too many businesses are unknowingly opting for the route that makes friends and getting frustrated while they watch “likes” go up and sales stay neutral.

Does that mean popularity has no pull on social media?

Well it seems that we might be naturally inclined to go with the crowd. Wikipedia calls social proof a “psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation.”

I’ve nicknamed this the “Amazon Effect” after learning how Amazon realized at some point that it was the customer reviews that were selling products and not the manufacturer’s write up or their expensive marketing copy. It seems like common sense now but at the time it was arbitrary to suggest actually letting customers write their – gasp – true thoughts and opinions about products.

You Need to Be Vulnerable

Your customers want you to be authentic with them and show that you can be vulnerable. They need to know that you know they have the power and that you care about them and their business.

These are foreign concepts from the past several decades of advertising and marketing. Even if you tried to appeal to your customer base as an authentic brand prior to social media it would still only be addressing customers as a whole, not as individuals.

“When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it’s because he’s so human; and that is the secret of his popularity.”  – Walt Disney

Relationships are built one experience at a time and as daunting as that might seem, we all know word of mouth is the best kind of marketing and now it has a way to travel faster and farther with social media. They used to say angry customers would tell ten people but a happy customer might tell only tell one, if you’re lucky. Despite the fact those numbers are clearly made up, it’s safe to argue that social media allows those positive experiences to get much more mileage as they are being seen by other people online.

Customer Service is a Popularity Contest

When it comes down to it, leaving the impression of superior customer service with your clients is absolutely a popularity contest. If you give poor customer service and leave people unsatisfied, they aren’t going to like you or buy your products or services any more – which means you will fail in business.

Fortunately, this contest has the odds in your favour because you control how you service your customers. The philosophy for success is the same with customer service as it is for social media: make every experience count. It’s as simple as taking any opportunity to show people that you remembered them.

I always end up printing more business cards every year around my birthday because the company that does my printing always sends me a card. There’s a short handwritten note with my name and it’s signed by the five people in their small office. It gets me every time and I make conversation at my birthday party by telling people how awesome this company is.

Your number one goal should be to constantly make your customers feel special and happy about giving you their money. If you succeed at that, you will have found the Holy Grail of business growth.

By Melonie Dodaro

Melonie Dodaro, founder of Top Dog Social Media helps business owners, professionals and sales teams to use social media marketing to boost their visibility, attract new customers and increase their revenue. She’s also a highly sought after social media speaker and trainer. To learn more about Melonie visit TopDogSocialMedia.com.