Controls Group North America (CGNA) met in Chicago for its 2017, Fall Synergy Conference.  “Engagement” was the theme of the event, as Member Distributors and Preferred Vendors of the top controls group in the industry gathered together.

Scott Cochrane, CEO and President of Cochrane Supply, was the keynote speaker who shared the 50-year journey of his company, “From Parts to Smarts.”

A panel discussion followed with Dan Preston from Johnson Controls, Marc Bergeron from ProLon and Mike Marston from EasyIO. They joined three distributors to further explore Cochrane’s perspective in a lively discussion moderated by Eric Stromquist of Stromquist & Co. in Atlanta.

The entire conference set the table for the final event: the “CGNA Inverted Trade Show.”  For the first time ever in CGNA’s 34 years, the Preferred Vendors “walked the show,” as the CGNA Member Distributors manned their booths, ready to connect and do business.  

Jay Ranalli, President of Broudy Precision, said: “The ‘Inverted Trade Show’ was very good for us. We spoke with several Preferred Vendors we were not doing business with, and we’re certainly going to take a closer look at working with them.”

Visit www.cgnacontrols.com.