GATINEAU, QC — Cultivating the Next Generation was the theme of QPMA’s 65th annual convention, held Aug. 16-18 at the Hilton Lac-Leamy, here, where attendees experienced a weekend of nonstop networking and activity.

Engaging the next generation and succession planning were key themes throughout all the seminars and presentations. A recent QPMA membership survey indicated that succession planning was a key concern for the membership.

Conference speaker Succession grows best when planted early was the theme of Michel Grenier’s presentation at QPMA. Mr. Grenier is pictured with QPMA Executive Director Sophie Perreault and Suzanne Audet of Leader sans frontière, who revealed results of a recent QPMA member survey. (Photo by Melanie Richer)Michel Grenier outlined the importance of proper planning, particularly in the Quebec market, where 90 percent of businesses are small to medium enterprises.

“Seventy percent of businesses do not survive the leaving of their founder,” said Mr. Grenier. “Succession plans have to be developed and can take five to 10 years to prepare.”

“You have to have a real passion for your business and a desire to pass it on to future generations,” said outgoing QPMA President Robert Beauregard, who has worked in the produce industry for 30 years and was instrumental in developing the theme for the 65th QPMA convention. “I’ve always felt that the QPMA had a role to play in raising awareness among those who will become the leadership now and in the future.”

Taking the lead from Mr. Beauregard and spring-boarding from the theme of the 65th QPMA convention, incoming QPMA President Pat Calabretta presented the theme for 2013: Get Involved. Commit. Achieve.

“There are so many personalities and talents around the [QPMA] table, it helps you,” said Mr. Calabretta. “I have a lot of mentors and you try to emulate their best qualities.”

During his speech at the closing banquet, Mr. Calabretta said, “I think the success of an association like ours is based on this warm, friendly organizational culture and on the personal relationships we’ve developed. Our performance should also be measured in terms of our ability to adapt to the new realities of today’s information technology.”

Mr. Calabretta announced that starting in September, the association would be working on updating content on its two websites, aqdfl.ca and jaime5a10.ca, as well as focusing promotional efforts on female shoppers through increased use of social media tools.

“For our association and the industry as a whole, the ‘I love 5 to 10 servings a day’ campaign has become an effective and credible promotional tool, and it’s up to us now, together, to write the next chapter in this great success story.”