2017 Honorees – Presidential Award, Lifetime Achievement and Of the Year Awards

It takes great individuals and organizations to continue moving the profession of aftercare to the next level. Each year, it is an honor to award those who strive to provide the highest quality of service, promote education and lead with ethical standards. Congratulations to the following individuals; your state association applauds your dedication and leadership in the industry. Presidential Award Each year the AFCCA Elected President selects an individual who has high ethical and professional …

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NFDA Consumer Survey: Funeral Planning Not a Priority for Americans

Contact: Funeral Service Trade Media: Jessica Koth, 262-814-1536, jkoth@nfda.org All other Media: Henson Consulting (for NFDA), Lucy Emery, 312-374-8569, lemery@hensonconsulting.com  The National Funeral Directors Association’s 2017 Consumer Awareness and Preferences Study Reveals Inconsistency in Funeral Planning Practices Brookfield, Wis. – June 22, 2017 – For the fifth consecutive year, the National Funeral Directors Association’s (NFDA) annual Consumer Awareness and Preferences Study indicates that consumers acknowledge the importance of preplanning their own funeral, but fail to do …

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IF YOU MISSED THIS YEARS CONVENTION, YOU MISSED…….

By Steve Palmer, AFCCA Treasurer BE AUDACIOUS IN BUSINESS by Angelique Simpson, Matthews-Aurora Funeral Solutions First up on the speaker line up, we learned that Audacious is defined as showing a willingness to be bold. Bill Clinton once said, “The price of doing the same thing is higher than the price of change”. Angelique taught us to remember: Change always happens; we should anticipate change; we need to monitor change; we need to adapt to …

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Stericycle Pricing Fraud Lawsuit: What to Know and How to Get Involved

By: Christopher L. Farmer Over the past several years funeral service businesses have faced several challenges that have affected performance and profitability, including an increasing cremation rate, decreasing revenue per call, and increasing operating costs. We have worked hard to face those challenges, and some of those challenges can be managed. Expenses like employee-related costs, insurance, liability costs, etc., can be controlled with careful and diligent management. However, some costs imposed on our industry have …

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2017 CGCC Mortuary Science Graduation and Scholarships

May 11, 2017 – 26 new Mortuary Graduates from Chandler Gilbert Community College proudly took the Funeral Service Oath and officially entered into the field. Congratulations to each and every one of these students and for what they accomplished. AFCCA William Aaron Scholarship Presentation The AFCCA is dedicated to promoting the further development of professional, ethical, responsive death care providers that are a credit to the industry. This is why the  William Aaron Scholarship Program was created …

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Funeral Service Foundation Announces Academic Scholarship and Career Development Award Recipients

Brookfield, Wis. – Bill Wappner, chair of the Funeral Service Foundation Board of Trustees, announced that the Foundation awarded this year’s first group of academic scholarship winners and Career Development Award recipients. The scholarships and awards are part of the Foundation ’45 Awards, which are designed to help funeral service professionals and students unlock their potential and take their careers to the next level. In addition to the Career Development Awards and academic scholarships, the …

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Biotech Inc. Announces Distribution Agreement with Dodge to Tackle Deadly Prions

WOODINVILLE, Wash., May 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Briotech Inc. is proud to announce that it has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement for the mortuary market with The Dodge Company, Billerica, MA to distribute their Briotech HOCL, disinfection product BrioHOCL™ PrP. Briotech’s CEO, Dan Terry noted, “Partnering with a company of Dodge’s reputation builds on Briotech’s strategy to scale our innovative products through strategic distribution partnerships worldwide that provide immediate access to large addressable markets. …

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Policy Board Meeting Report – April 26, 2017 by Steve Palmer

[member only] POLICY BOARD MEETING – April 26, 2017 by Steve Palmer ARRANGER TRAINING Lacy Robinson gave a 15-minute recap of arranger training. It is more than getting information and setting services. It is to get everyone to the “Life Honoring Point”. You must ask “Who are my customers?”. Everyone that was touched y that person’s life is your customer. Everyone that reads the memorial tribute/obituary is your customer. Customer behavior has changed; but the …

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AFCCA Board Members Attend the 2017 NFDA Advocacy Summit

This past week, Steve Palmer (AFCCA Board Treasurer and NFDA Policy Board Rep) and Mike Darus (AFCCA Board Vice President) ventured to Washington D.C. to represent the state of Arizona at the NFDA Advocacy Summit. Legislative issues that were presented to our State Representatives were: H.R. 1212: The BRAVE Act: Burial Rights for America’s Veterans’ Efforts Act of 2017 H.R. 2022: The LATTS Act: The Labeling and Transporting Tissues Safety Act of 2017 For two …

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