RFMA 2022 Recap
By JR Weber – Director of Sales
Ever since RFMA (Restaurant Facilities Management Association) was formally introduced at the 2005 PRSM conference, General Parts Group has been an active participant. Indeed, every year since its inception, General Parts has been both an exhibitor at the annual national conference and active in various association committees. Without any doubt the annual conference is the highlight of the year, it presents a great venue to connect with customers and industry partners and to forge new relationships which will turn into future partnerships. RFMA Annual Conference is a place for collaboration, education and is an arena for those passionate about restaurant facilities to join together to build a stronger industry.
RFMA 2022 was held in Nashville, TN and once again lived up to its reputation of being a high energy event which allows attendees
to reconnect with old friends, promote their products or search for solutions for their facilities, all while networking to move our industry forward. This year looked a little different for the General Parts team, being our first RFMA Conference as part of the PT Holdings family. In Years past, General Parts and PT Holdings brands were on display separately as friendly competitors. This year, both General Parts and PT Holdings brands were again on display, but for the first time together, side by side in one booth space, as one organization that has the ability to provide solutions to RFMA attendees for almost every major market in the United States.
A common theme during our conversations at this year’s conference was technician hiring. Visitors to our booth were very interested to learn about our ability to respond to their needs in a timely manner. Attendees realize that the technician shortage is creating challenges for service companies and is impacting our ability to respond to service calls timely. Conversations around the technician shortage also included discussions around rising labor costs due to increased wages due to the retention of top talent and a hot job market for service technicians. While catching up with other exhibitors who provide services that rely on skilled labor, we found that we are not alone in combating the service technician shortage. Nearly all service companies that support the chain restaurants are experiencing the same labor shortages. There was a sense of unification during these conversations and nearly every one of these conversations included talking points around finding ways to invest in the trades to promote younger generations to pursue careers in the skilled trades.
RFMA 2022 saw a significant increase in attendance over RFMA 2021 which was delayed until June as COVID was keeping people from being in attendance. With many of the COVID restrictions lifted, RFMA 2022 felt like its old self. The General Parts and PT Holdings’ teams walked away from this year’s conference with many opportunities for business development and we will be busy following up with those interested in our services. We are excited to see what RFMA 2023 brings!