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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Achieve More in Life: NFDA Launches Work/Life Resource Program

Brookfield, Wis. – To help members find balance between a fulfilling career and meaningful life outside of the funeral home, the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is happy to introduce the Work/Life Resource Program (EAP) as a new benefit of membership. Supporting grieving families and ensuring every detail of their loved one’s service is perfect requires extraordinary effort. Being a funeral director is gratifying work, but it can be physically and mentally taxing. The Work/Life …

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Board of Director Seats Open for Election June 2017

Deadline to apply for an open seat is April 30, 2017! The AFCCA is constantly looking for new talent, thoughts on the industry and emerging leaders. If you are interested in becoming more involved with the association, please apply for a board seat in the upcoming election. Those who choose to be considered for an elected leadership role with the AFCCA will be working on behalf of the Association on projects and initiatives that benefit the …

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2017 Arizona Legislation: SB1295 and SB1296

What You Need to Know: SB1295 – http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/53leg/1r/bills/sb1295p.htm This bill would reduce the number of Funeral Directors that can serve on the Arizona State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers from 4 to 3 and increase the public members to 4. 1/26/17 – Introduced by Sponsor Farnsworth 2/13/17 – Read to Commerce Committee – Failed to pass with a 5-2-1-0 Vote SB1296 – https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/69094?SessionId=117  Originally introduced removing educational requirement to receive Funeral Directors License. Amended version now …

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