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History of MAFSIIn 1948, a small group of salesmen gathered in the home of Mr. Glen Burt in Scituate, Massachusetts. Their goal was to form an organization to help new men flourish in the foodservice industry. Some of the 6 or 7 men in attendance were Arthur Pinsley, Wayne Bellinger and Glen Burt. The New England group elected Glen Burt as president and Arthur Pinsley as secretary. Neither vice president nor treasurer were elected. This momentous meeting led to what has become today's Manufacturers' Agents Association for the Foodservice Industry. In May of 1949 this group traveled to the National Restaurant Show, which was by far the largest trade show in the industry. During this show, rumors traveled of a letter written by one of the important dealers in the industry, suggesting that instead of giving commissions to the sales reps, they give these commissions to the distributors, thus cutting the agents' job. This letter bred a great deal of hostility and a meeting was called to discuss the issue. Several hundred men gathered in a large hotel in Chicago. This meeting created the necessary fire for the formation of the Marketing Agents for the Food Service Industry.
Agents then banded together all over the country and in 1949 MAFSI became a national organization. In 1950, Mr. Arthur Ollian was hired as MAFSI's first paid executive secretary. Mr. Ollian was an attorney from Harrisburg, PA. With his help, the first MAFSI Constitution and Bylaws were created. Soon after, the first MAFSI Code of Ethics was established. MAFSI's focus shifted in the early 50's. They found that in order to sell equipment, the manufacturer's catalogs were not technical enough. Through the efforts of both agent and manufacturer, better catalogs were developed. Out of this MAFSI created an associate membership where manufacturers joined the organization to support the rep function. Annually, the group met at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago. This became harder and harder every year, due to the amount of meetings agents were expected to attend. In 1963 Ollian decided to hold the first ever MAFSI Marketing Conference. The attendance was less than 100 salesmen, but what they found was the exchange of information, gathering different points of view from different parts of the country, was priceless. Ollian's tenure ran short, as he died in the early 60's. But his strength was carried forth by the founding members of the association. MAFSI's membership has continued to grow over the years. In 1985 the management of the organization moved from New York to Chicago and in 1997 to Atlanta. Since that time, MAFSI has established many progressive programs that serve to bring the rep to a closer working relationship with manufacturers and distributors. These programs include MAFSI's Annual Conference and NAFEM/MAFSI Sales and Marketing Conference (formely Sales Management Forum), production of the annual MAFSI Locator, continued liaisons with allied industry partners such as NAFEM, FEDA, FCSI and CFESA and increased involvement in industry trade shows. In the early nineties, MAFSI changed its name from the Marketing Agents for the Foodservice Industry to the Manufacturers' Agents Association for the Foodservice Industry, thus identifying the broader spectrum of the independent multiple line sales' agency function. Today, more than 50 years after the formation of MAFSI, the association has seen revolutionary developments in the food service industry; a heightened awareness and respect for the importance of the manufacturers' representative function and the professional image and the association, many of which MAFSI itself was instrumental in bringing about. MAFSI currently has a membership of more than 600 agent and associate companies across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, representing more than 2,000 individuals. MAFSI has undergone countless changes in its history, but it has retained the original spirit and objectives of its founding. Throughout the last 50 years, MAFSI has been an outstanding example of the power of cooperative and voluntary efforts of individual members of an international trade association, and it is our members who shall continue this rich tradition into the next century. Other Famous Events that Occurred in 1949:
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Fun Fact: MAFSI Will be celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2009. |
