Press Releases:

(Springfield, IL) – The Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois (ABDI) announced that Bill Olson, President, advised the Board of Directors that he will retire on December 31, 2013. Olson has served as ABDI’s Chief Staff Officer since January 1, 1985, building ABDI into one of the most respected state associations in the alcohol beverage industry. He was named President on November 29, 2006. Under Olson’s leadership, ABDI established a political action committee, ABDI/PAC; ABDI Service Corporation; and most recently, ABDI Education Foundation.

“Bill has been a great asset for the ABDI. There is a long list of accomplishments he has secured for our Members that help strengthen their businesses in Illinois,” said Jim Rinella, Rinella Company, Inc., ABDI Chair. “Most importantly he has set up our organization to thrive and to defend the three-tier system in the future. We all wish him well in his retirement.”

ABDI’s Board of Directors has unanimously chosen Bob Myers, its current Vice President of Government Relations, to lead the association following Olson’s retirement. Myers began his career with ABDI on October 1, 1993, and is responsible for overseeing numerous legislative issues at the state capitol.

ABDI is celebrating 75 years of representing the interests of Illinois beer distributors this year. Beer distributors are independent businesses in the second tier of the state-based three-tier regulatory system. The regulatory system prevents vertical integration (brewers controlling the distribution channel and owning the retailers) which created illegal business practices causing societal problems which lead to Prohibition. After the end of Prohibition, ABDI was organized to represent, maintain, and improve the interests of its Members who distribute beer of all brewers.

Under Olson’s management, numerous other changes to the Beer Industry Fair Dealing Act (BIFDA), which regulates a distributor’s relationship with suppliers, were enacted including:

• Efforts to maintain distributor’s independence and creating market access for all brewers by prohibiting a brewer from preventing a wholesaler from selling products of other brewers.

• A distributor’s right to brand “extensions,” the right to sell its distributorship, and the right for a distributorship to be passed to a family member.

• The requirement that a brewer can only cancel a distribution agreement for good cause.

Olson first started lobbying in 1972. Prior to ABDI, Olson represented the finance and banking industries where he was successful in leading efforts to pass legislation authorizing multibank holding companies which ended Illinois’ unit banking system. He also led efforts to deregulate Illinois’ complicated consumer lending statutes by amending over eight separate statutes that regulated credit to consumers. On another issue, Olson was successful in an effort to override a Governor’s veto on a consumer lending bill – the only instance of a veto override on a consumer finance bill in the country.

“I have had a very rewarding career,” Olson said. “I have worked in an area where one can conceive the need for legislation, help create a bill for introduction, nurse it through the legislative process, and see it enacted into law. That has been a very fulfilling experience.”

“Having the opportunity to turn ABDI in to a well-respected association of prominence has been extremely gratifying,” continued Olson. “I certainly will miss the interaction with the ABDI Members, legislators, and other industry representatives.”

The Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois, a not for profit business trade association, represents, maintains, and improves the interests of its Members who distribute beer of all brewers. Distributors are licensed by the State of Illinois to import and distribute beer to licensed retailers. ABDI Members directly employ more than 3,300 people across the state. They collect and pay $63 million each year in excise taxes to the state and pay more than $280 million in direct wages and health care benefits. Additional information is available at www.abdi.org.

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William D. Olson, president of the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois (ABDI), received the NBWA Life Service Award at the National Beer Wholesalers Association 76th Annual Convention in Las Vegas on Monday, September 30, 2013.

The prestigious honor, given to individuals who have made a contribution that enhanced the malt beverage industry on a state and/or national basis and/or has a proven record of promoting a positive image for the malt beverage industry, was awarded by NBWA 2012-2013 Chairman of the Board Bob Archer and NBWA President & CEO Craig Purser.

“Bill Olson has been a champion for Illinois distributors the past 28 years, delivering results, and serving with distinction,” said Purser.

Archer added, “Bill confronted head on an issue in Illinois involving the independence of beer distributors and the existing rights of small brewers. He persevered through intense, and some might say unprecedented, opposition by building a coalition of large and small brewers, retailers, distributors, and public health groups to help clarify the separate and distinct roles of brewers and distributors. The compromise he helped achieve ensures that the state’s small brewers can maintain their current rights, while at the same time maintaining strong three-tier protections for the state of Illinois.”

Olson is a past president of the Wholesale Beer Association Executives (WBAE), an organization of chief staff officers of state beer wholesaler associations, and currently serves as a WBAE representative on the Industry Affairs Committee of the National Beer Wholesalers Association. In 1989, he was elected by his peers to be “Speaker” of the Illinois Third House, an organization of registered lobbyists in Illinois. Olson has been the recipient of several awards, including ABDI’s “Richard A. Mautino Award” for industry service in 1995.

ABDI Members continue to play an ever increasing economic role to Illinois’ economy by providing thousands of jobs with good benefits. They collect and pay $63 million each year in excise taxes to the state and pay more than $280 million in direct wages and health care benefits. More information on ABDI is available at www.abdi.org.