The 24th annual NABCA Administrators Conference took place in October at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Virginia, with Virginia DABC Chairman Jeffrey Painter serving as host. The event continued his theme of “Advancing Future Value,” chosen as a focus for his term as NABCA Chairman.
In addition to committee meetings, educational seminars and networking opportunities, attendees also enjoyed a number of receptions and an awards presentation from StateWays.
Session Highlights
Anthony Gledhill from the TTB spoke during a regulatory session about the current challenges surrounding enforcement and how state agencies can work with the federal government on public safety. He cited a number of structural changes to the agency over the years (as well as changing politics) for the patchwork of existing regulations.
A session about communication throughout the supply chain featured speakers from Campari Group, DHL (which operates the NHLC distribution center) and JobsOhio. The key takeaway is that keeping an open and transparent dialogue among members of all three tiers improves the experience for all stakeholders – licensees, customers and agency employees alike.
On the second day of the conference, speakers from the WSWA and Michigan Alcohol & Gambling Enforcement spoke about the future (and past) of direct shipping laws. The WSWA has a partnership with Drizly, a vendor that provides direct shipping logistics while working within the three-tier system. Don McGehee from Michigan spoke about a number of important upcoming court cases that will decide whether out-of-state retailers can be discriminated against, which is something that the Granholm case didn’t decide when saying out-of-state wineries can’t be discriminated against.
Additional sessions during the event covered topics as varied as cannabis legalization, educating legislators, in-store displays, enforcing over-service laws and project management best practices.
Honoring the Best
For the second time, StateWays presented the Control State Best Practices Awards in person at the NABCA Administrators Conference, this year in Leesburg, Virginia. A full list and description of all the winners can be found in the September/October 2018 issue of StateWays. Congratulations again to all of the winners!
