It didn’t take long for Bernat Riera to take advantage of his MANA membership. Shortly after joining the association the Waterville, Quebec, rep put the wheels in motion for the first of what is hoped for several networking meetings for members in Eastern Canada.

MANA members in attendance at the initial eastern Canada meeting (left to right): Gaëtan Lajeunesse, GML2; Benoit Pageau, Fabrication Sourcing Inc.,  www.fab-sourcing.com  and www.filtrindustries.com; Kenneth R. Murray, ElectraSpec Inc., www.electraspec.ca; Bernat Riera, Les Produits BR; and Gilbert Leblond, Marktech, www.marktech.ca. Not present was Jean Saint-Pierre, JSP Sales Solutions.

Riera, Les Produits BR, explained that the initial meeting in February was to be followed by another last month. “Several MANA rep members from the province of Quebec met with the joint goals of networking and identifying common interests. Our agencies basically cover eastern Canada and some represent lines for the entire country. The results of our first meeting in Trois-Riviéres, Quebec, were great. All in attendance agreed that upon taking advantage of networking opportunities, business opportunities follow.”

Riera continued that the majority of the members who attended have extensive experience in industrial supply products including engine silencers, extruded rubbers seals, adhesive fasteners systems, electronic components, industrial equipment, filtration systems, hardware, office and healthcare, furniture, electrical specialty tools, automation and electrical wire, cable, security industrial products and janitorial.

Explaining his interest in MANA, Riera said that when he was a manufacturer’s sales manager he often consulted MANA in his efforts to locate representation. “Based on that experience I said to myself that if I was to ever become a rep, the first thing I’d do is to join the association and that’s just what I did. Shortly after I joined around Christmas time, Jerry Leth, MANA’s vice president and general manager, contacted me to welcome me on board. One of the first things he asked me was what could the association do for me. I asked if there was a local networking  group in Quebec. There wasn’t, but he encouraged me to start the effort and I did. There are around eight or nine members in the area who have never gotten together. Our first effort was simply a lunch meeting at a fairly central location.”

He said that based on that first effort, the reaction of all was very positive and will be followed by additional meetings.

As a beginning effort, Riera said, “We agreed that we’ll have three yearly meetings with the next one devoted to digging into our lines in order to be able to refer one to each other if the opportunity arises when visiting our clients.” Other areas of interest to be explored are discussing our service suppliers (e.g., accounting, lawyers, etc.) as a group and to inspire the other members of the group with the best practices that we can share.”

In addition to learning about each other, Riera explained the group was intent on taking advantage of MANA’s various products and services. “One of the major reasons I joined the association was to be found by principals and to be able to find prospective principals. On top of that, however, there are the various educational and training opportunities that MANA provides.”

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