The boards of the Central Wholesalers Association and the Michigan Association of Distributors held a joint meeting this fall at which they took preliminary steps toward a formal merger. CWA and MAD members may be asked to vote to approve the plan in June.

The combined organization would represent about 90 wholesalers, 29 manufacturer members and 47 manufacturers representative members. The group would represent Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Jan. 1, 2004 is the target date set to have everything in place, assuming the merger is approved.