April 2019

Page A36 APRI L 2019 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A © Custom Air Trays YOUWOULDN’TUSEOUR LEAK-RESISTANT CREMATION TRAY AS ANUMBRELLA, BUT YOUCOULD. We test ours in the labsoyou don’t have to test it in the real world. 1-800-992-1925 | CustomAirTrays.com ® “The Original Casket & Vault Combo” www.mccordcasketsandvaults.com • Email: mccordcasketsandvaults@yahoo.com PO Box 646, Bowling Green OH 43402 Independent & Family Owned Since 1945 Order direct at: 1-800-782-8249 Free UPS Ground Shipping 1' $140 2' $290 3' $350 4' $460 Homesteaders to host Certification in Strategic Business Management Class in St. Louis WALL,NJ— Today, more people are getting cremated than buried, and “traditional” doesn’t mean anything when it comes to funeral service. With that comes challenges – but also opportunities. At the Cremation Innovations Summit, being held September 13, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Co- lumbus, OH, attendees will discover how to recognize and respond to both. Learn how to navigate the ap- proval process to open a crematory, improve chain of custody to reduce your chance of being sued, incor- porate receptions and events into your offerings, mer- chandise cremation products to boost family satisfac- tion and revenue, and provide cremation families what they really want. “With cremation continuing its upward march, we wanted to bring together some of the profession’s top cremation innovators and consultants to share action- able steps to deliver more meaningful experiences to cremation families,” said Thomas A. Parmalee, sum- mit coordinator. “Holding our event in Columbus is a bonus, as it’s easy to drive and fly into and gives our at- tendees the chance to enjoy great entertainment, great food and meaningful fellowship.” Speakers at the summit include: Poul Lemasters, owner of Lemasters Consulting, will deliver a talk titled, Making Sure You Cover Your Assets. Michael Schoedinger, president of Schoedinger Fu- News Educational ContinueD WEST DES MOINES,IA— Homesteaders Life Com- pany is partnering with Drake University to of- fer the fifth annual Cer- tificate in Strategic Busi- ness Management course for funeral professionals. The class will take place at Saint Louis University, May 8-10, 2019. The four-day course is designed to help funeral home owners, managers and candidates for succes- sion adopt the most inno- vative business practices. Topics include business planning and strategies, marketing for the future, financial and legal strat- egies, business valuation and succession planning. Attendees will gain ex- perience from case stud- ies and interactive, appli- cation-oriented learning exercises. The curriculum also includes instruction on defining business suc- cess metrics. “We are very excited to offer a reduced registra- tion cost for the fifth an- niversary of the class,” said Judy Ralston-Hansen, Homesteaders executive vice president of Human Resources. “Our new class of graduates will benefit from this in-depth train- ing that includes sever- al takeaways they can put into practice immediately upon their return.” Chapel Hill Mortuary in Cedar Hill, MO will be the destination for this year’s case study. Owner Brian May and his team are ea- ger to welcome this year’s attendees. “I love to visit other firms, so I’m excited to host the group in the St. Louis area. We’ve recently made some renovations to our funeral home, and I’m looking forward to getting feedback from the confer- ence attendees as well.” May was a student at the 2018 course. His biggest takeaway was the impor- tance of focusing on strate- gy. “I’m working harder to avoid getting distracted by day-to-day operations. I’m coaching some of my key staff to focus on fewer, big- ger issues at a time. We’ve implemented weekly man- agement and staff meet- ings, which is something we weren’t doing before.” Homesteaders’ offers a limited number of two-for- one registrations, which are available for firms that register two staff members for the course. Qualified funeral homes may also use any acquired Partner- Points® to offset the cost of the course. Homesteaders Life Com- pany, a mutual company owned by its policy hold- ers, is a national leader pro- viding products and servic- es to promote and support the funding of advance fu- neral planning and end-of- life expenses. Learn more and register for this event at www.homesteaderslife.com/ drake. Cremation Innovations Summit to be held in Columbus, Ohio neral and Cremation Services, will explore Creative Ways to Boost Cremation Revenue. Larry Stuart Jr., founder of Cremation Strategies and Consulting, will focus on Are Your Ready to Own and Operate Your Own Equipment? Mary Andres Russell, professional development direc- tor at Matthews Aurora Funeral Solutions, will high- light The Art of Cremation Phone Inquiries. Doug Gober, a partner with The Foresight Compa- nies, will explain What Cremation Families Really Want. The Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice has approved the summit for 5.5 hours of continuing education. Visit https://ohiosummit.planningpod.com/ to learn more, email tparmalee@kbpublications.com or call Par- malee at 732-746-0201 for more details.