WISE Sunset Reception at PLMA Provides Much Needed Reconnection
After a two-year break, there was a lot of excitement leading up to this year’s PLMA show. The WISE Board and our volunteers were ready to reconnect with friends and celebrate being together in person to commemorate the WISE 10 Year Anniversary. With that excitement was also a bit of nervous anticipation as WISE was hosting a new event at PLMA in lieu of our annual meeting, a sunset networking event at the Hyatt on Sunday night. WISE was able to offer this event with the generous support of event sponsor Drive Wheel.
“It was an event that was electric and had its own momentum,” said Theo Schweitz, owner and CEO of Drive Wheel. With approximately 50 people expected to attend, final attendance swelled to more than 300 attendees during the evening. “Once it was started there was conversation everywhere, and you wanted to be a part of all of it. The energy felt like more than just being back in person. So much of it was relationships picking up where they were during the last WISE meeting. Like we hadn’t been separated by years of COVID.”
Theo was first introduced to WISE at the 2016 Annual Meeting, where he was impressed by WISE’s mission to grow diversity in the industry, and by the connection that WISE partners and members share. “Our organization believes that strength comes from connections,” noted Theo. “WISE has provided a connection that the private label industry has needed for the last 10 years. To be a part of an in-person event that celebrates that connection seemed like a perfect opportunity for Drive Wheel to show our support, and a deeper WISE partnership is a great match for our mission.”
Drive Wheel organizes peer groups for food and CPG leaders. The name Drive Wheel is derived from how a train functions: there is one set of wheels that apply all force to the tracks and propel the engine forward. Drive Wheel’s goal is to make its members the same driving force to propel their organizations. From just two original groups in the 1990s to 25 peer groups today, Drive Wheel has been moving businesses forward serving over 140 companies and retaining more than 600 individual members today. Members get together twice a year in groups of 15-20 to tackle business challenges together, overcome obstacles, and benchmark their performance. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to hear a diverse set of opinions,” notes Theo. “Confident decisions can be made by discussing ideas with the peer group.”
Theo comes by his passion for the private label industry honestly as he worked in private label at Target for fifteen years. When he joined Drive Wheel, named MBC Share Groups at that time, he realized he had a passion for facilitating peer groups. “I’ve always loved solving puzzles,” he says. “For our members, running a successful business is like a series of puzzles. The groups are an opportunity to get people together and continuously solve problems.” He further explains that storebrands product providers have more complex business challenges because they are not the final brand owners, and that just makes the industry that much more exciting.
The topic of DEI comes up often within these peer groups. Drive Wheel members are looking for more ways and better strategies to attract more diverse talent to their organizations. They are also looking for tools to create better DEI policies and understand how to be an ally in the industry. Theo believes that more voices and perspectives make the groups stronger. He sees a partnership with WISE as an opportunity to increase internal dialogs within the peer groups and create better strategies and new DEI initiatives.
Discussions have already begun around the 2023 PLMA show and a WISE-Drive Wheel event. The WISE Board is truly thankful to Theo for allowing us to gather our members and partners together in one room to honor 10 years of connection and momentum. It’s our hope that the electricity in the room that night carries through this year as we work towards our mission of increased diversity, equity and inclusion in our industry.