Chairman's Message

One of our main goals at the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) is to take a critical look at all our business processes to make sure we are operating as efficiently as possible. We’ve recently established a Product Management Committee to oversee decisions involving product listings, de-listings, and other product- related questions.

The Product Management Committee has started the process of documenting and benchmarking our processes to identify ways to improve efficiency, profitability and customer service. Key members of the leadership team and employees from their divisions are brought to the table, including representatives from Retail, Planning, Logistics, Merchandising and more. Our chief financial officer serves as chairman of the committee, which meets every two weeks.

Part of this committee’s charge is to develop more effective relationships with industry and to develop ways to leverage analytical support available from suppliers. As a result, we are establishing a Supplier Relations Committee to offer a forum for the presentation and discussion of ideas of mutual importance. At the moment, we are thinking of meeting quarterly but the frequency can be adjusted to meet the needs of the group.

We plan to start small, keeping the committee to a dozen members or so. ABC will present some of our ideas for future direction and use the remaining time for supplier discussion. We are especially interested in gathering ideas on ways to improve the listing, de-listing and item expansion processes. We also envision reserving time for presentations from suppliers on topics such as marketing plans, store design, customer shopping patterns, and any other topics of interest.

ABC is also developing a five-year strategic plan that will serve as a road map for important projects such as store expansions, store modernizations, and e-commerce.

It’s an exciting time for us and we certainly look forward to working with members of the alcohol industry. To summarize, one of our most important goals for the alcohol industry is to strengthen our partnerships to prepare for the future.

J. Neal Insley, Chairman
Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control