Washington, D.C. – Renowned public policy analyst Bruce Mehlman will serve as the keynote speaker for the National Grocers Association’s (NGA) Executive Conference and Public Policy Summit, the premier event for c-suite executives and their leadership teams. Respected food safety attorney Bill Marler also joins the speaker lineup to address attendees on improved food safety procedures and recall communications. The Executive Conference and Public Policy Summit is scheduled for Oct. 24-26, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
As keynote speaker, Mehlman will offer summit attendees insight into the shifting political landscape leading up to the 2022 midterm elections and the potential impact on businesses in the United States. In his session, sponsored by Ecolab, Marler will discuss his pioneering casework representing plaintiffs impacted by contaminated food products and offer his thoughts on how food companies can do a better job enacting food safety procedures and communicating recalls to consumers.
“By bringing speakers of this caliber together, NGA continues to move forward our mission of ensuring the independent community has the opportunity to succeed,” said Greg Ferrara, NGA president and CEO. “With timely insights into the political landscape and the most up-to-date food safety practices, attendees will walk away even more prepared to thrive in the marketplace.”
With more than two decades of experience in public policy, business and the law, Mehlman is a highly sought-after keynote speaker on policy and political trends, regularly headlining business conferences and strategic planning sessions. His quarterly infographic analyses are consistently picked-up by national media and eagerly consumed by tens of thousands of readers around the world. He has discussed trends on television networks and shows including Showtime’s “The Circus,” CNBC, Fox News, Fox Business and Hearst. He served as assistant secretary of commerce for technology policy under President George W. Bush. He also worked as a senior leadership aide in the House of Representatives, general counsel to a national political party committee and policy counsel to Cisco Systems.
Marler has become the most prominent foodborne illness lawyer in America and a major force in food policy in the United States and around the world. His practice – Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm – has represented thousands of individuals in tainted-product claims against food companies. He began litigating foodborne illness cases in 1993, when he represented Brianne Kiner, the most seriously injured survivor of the historic Jack in the Box E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, in her landmark $15.6 million settlement with the fast-food company. The 2011 book “Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E. coli Outbreak that Changed the Way Americans Eat” chronicles the Jack in the Box outbreak and Marler’s rise as a food safety attorney.
From sessions focused on the changing consumer landscape, the state of independent grocery and supply chain challenges to the impact of politics and federal policy on the industry, the Executive Conference and Public Policy Summit pairs high-impact education and networking with the unique opportunity to meet with federal representatives who craft policies affecting their business.
Find the full lineup of sessions and registration here.
About NGA NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale community grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats. The independent grocery sector is accountable for about 1.2 percent of the nation’s overall economy and is responsible for generating more than $250 billion in sales, 1.1 million jobs, $39 billion in wages and $36 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers’ associations, manufacturers and service suppliers. For more information about NGA, visit www.nationalgrocers.org.
