Rob Grimes, CEO of the International Food and Beverage Technology Association (IFBTA) sat down with Chad Leedy, Vice President of Retail Compliance for NuArx to discuss their involvement in the food and beverage industry and why they decided to become a global industry partner of the IFBTA.
(R) Hi Rob Grimes here with the IFBTA and I’m here with Chad Leedy who is the Vice President of Retail Compliance for NuArx. But you know what, when you guys connected with the IFBTA, it was ANX. So transitions have happen as you’ve become a member here. So, why don’t we just start with that.
(C) Well it’s very exciting, Rob, thank you for having me today. The exciting part of NuArx is that now we can really, truly focus on PCI compliance. ANX, as you know, did have an automotive division and the healthcare division and after the split, it’s really great that we can focus all of our energy, all of our resources on compliance because we really do truly feel that that is a market that can be underserved.
(R) OK, now, in your role and your title you know, normally when we talk to people, a lot of times it’s the marketing and the sales guy. But you really have an operational title in that it sounds like it’s sort of a consultative role in a relationship that you personally bring to the table for NuArx.
(C) So compliance is sort of unique in that there is a business development piece to it but also, it’s an ongoing process. So I’m very much involved not only in the beginning of the sales process, but throughout a clients compliance cycle.
(R) But you really bring that operational credibility of understanding what it is they need to achieve, not just to sell product.
(C) Absolutely. In order to work with some of these larger organizations, you really do have to have an operational knowledge of the PCI process, networking, and how to reduce their scope as much as possible instead of just coming in and providing a one time consultive service. Our model is really to be there year-round to achieve compliance.
(R) Well obviously the compliance area and the things you bring to the table are very important to the food and beverage industry. You know, I’ve got to say that the IFBTA greatly appreciates the fact that NuArx came in as a founding global industry partner and, you know, that’s a little bit of a risk to join a new association that’s out there. From your perspective, why did NuArx want to be involved with the IFBTA and maybe you can even share some of your experiences since you’ve been involved.
(C) Sure. Well, the food and beverage industry is kind of near and dear to our heart. Some of her first compliance customers were in the restaurant industry so we think that it’s very important to maintain a connection to that industry and the best way to do that, is to be a part of an association like yours because we get to have one on one conversations with IT directors and technology vendors. Everyone in that industry. So, we learn a lot as well as being able to share a lot of knowledge i’m going that we see in the market. Things are evolving and changing so quickly that you can’t just sit on the side. You have to really engage in these kinds of conversations.
(R) That certainly is one of the unique aspects of the IFBTA is the ability to network and share information on an equal basis, you know, at the table. I’m curious, clearly people in the industry are very interested in what you have to say as experts in the data security, PCI compliance area, but what have you taken back in your conversations with people? Maybe some surprise that came up that you hadn’t thought of before.
(C) Well as far as surprises go, I think I’m more surprised at how hungry people are for that knowledge and they’re hungry for interaction with technology companies that have access to the kinds of customers that we have access to. Everybody wants to know how another organization is handling EMV or point-to-point encryption so instead of just coming in as a vendor, we really want to work together and have that conversation since some of these companies are dealing with this evolving technology on a daily basis. They certainly come to the table with unique perspective so I’m always encouraged by that ability to talk to people about their experiences and take that back to our organization.
(R) Well listen, I want to thank you for joining us but more importantly, I want to thank you for taking the leap and helping us to get underway and also being a very valuable, not only industry partner, but resource for our members to be able to use and understand a piece of the industry that they may or may not understand as well but yet is critically important to their operation. So, thank you for joining us today and thank you for both your personal and company leadership of being a global industry partner of the IFBTA.
(C) Thank you very much, Rob.
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