by HIGH POINT — The Furniture Manufacturers Credit Assn. held its Fall Education Conference at the AC Hotel Charlotte Center City Sept. 15-16, marking the 61st year of operation for the organization of home furnishings industry credit managers.
FMCA Vice President Wendy Tester, who is director of corporate credit for American Leather Holdings worked hard to put together a great agenda, the group said. FMCA president Ron Teglas, director of credit for Lexington Home Brands, kicked off the conference with welcome and introductions.
Among this year’s presenters was David Conaway, attorney and partner at Shumaker in Charlotte, North Carolina, who discussed “The perfect storm: inflation, commodity prices, interest rates. Will insolvencies follow?” as well as an appeals court victory for the firm that FMCA says was a “game-changing” bankruptcy preference case ruling for the benefit of creditors.
In addition Matthew MacNeil, with sales tax specialist Avalara, presented “Learn how to be a tax expert in every state,” offering up-to-date information on
changing tax rates and rules along with streamlining sales tax to prepare businesses for growth in the global market. And Brian Campbell, of Xpress-pay Systems East, talked about payment card industry (PCI) compliance struggles and solutions.
Prior to the presentations, FMCA held an informative roundtable discussion of credit issues and topics submitted by the attendees, a discussion that was picked up and continued on the second day of the conference.
FMCA also presented its 2021-2022 FMCA Heritage Awards,which recognize members who attend credit interchange meetings as well as use both FMCA credit interchange reporting and collection services. Members who are in the top 5 in collections or credit interchange report usage are also recognized. The honorees are:
A.R.T. Furniture, Lexington Home Brands, A-America, Magnussen Home Furnishings, Ashley Furniture Inds., Martin Furniture, Bassett Furniture Progressive Furniture, Bernhardt Furniture, Rosenthal & Rosenthal, Caracole, Rowe Fine Furniture, Emerald Home Furnishings, Sherrill Furniture, Home Meridian International, Tempur Sealy International, Hooker Furniture, Universal Furniture, La-Z-Boy, Vanguard Furniture, Leather Italia USA, Vaughn-Bassett Furniture, Lee Inds., Whitewood Inds., and Legacy Classic Furniture.
Jan Coggin from Homestretch was awarded FMCA Credit Manager of the Year.
FMCA’s November credit interchange meeting will be held via teleconference Nov. 17.
