This year marked the 30th anniversary of the annual Tool & Equipment Distributors Associates (TEDA) Vendor Advisory Meeting. Held in its usual and favored location of Ellicott City, Maryland from June 9-12, over 100 tool and equipment representatives were in attendance.
TEDA is an incorporated marketing organization consisting of tool and equipment warehouse distributors who serve key markets in the U.S. and Canada and who focus on the automotive industry. The organization is committed to creative and innovative marketing of professional tool and equipment products, primarily through “two-step” (warehouse distributor/mobile distribution) channel of distribution.
The four-day meeting included its traditional golf outing, a cocktail networking reception, a two-day exhibit show, and over 200 private one-on-one conferences between TEDA members and tool and equipment vendors.
In his opening speech, TEDA President, Glenn Pratt, discussed the goals of the meeting.
“A three-day meeting with a casual atmosphere — we want all guests to thoroughly enjoy themselves. TEDA member and vendors in their interactions, seize the opportunity to learn more about each other. Advanced preparation is the key to successful private meetings and the exhibit show. You should follow up with members on the exhibit show and private conferences. We hope that the relationships formed will be perpetuated into the future.”
His presentation covered the history of TEDA, an overview of the group’s yearly performance, goals and objectives for the current year, and formal welcome to its 21 first-time attendees.
Looking back, Glenn notes that 2024 was “a year of economic challenges.” The group finished down by 2 percent; a first since 2019 when it finished flat. Several key product categories also finished flat in 2024 or at a decrease. However, numbers are looking up in 2025. First quarter numbers show promising increases from last year’s Q1 in many key product categories such as lubrication (up by 24 percent), shop equipment (up by 29 percent), and test equipment (up by double).
During the exhibit show, each member was given eight minutes to visit with each vendor to view and learn about new and upcoming products.
“I hope everyone found this meeting to be informative and beneficial in your future dealings with TEDA and its warehouse members, especially for the first time, attendees,” Pratt concluded. “This year, we had great participation by our vendors in the exhibit show representing all the 13 group product categories.”
The 2026 TEDA Vendor Advisory Meeting is scheduled for the week of June 8 back in Ellicott City.
