LIVE FROM NGA: Independent Impact

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The 2014 NGA Show opened Sunday in Las Vegas with record-breaking attendance and a new way to clearly show the nation's decision-makers how much economic power the grocery industry wields.

NGA CEO Peter Larkin (pictured below) outlined the results of the association's Economic Impact Advisory Group during the show's opening session at the Mirage Hotel and Casino, noting its "incredibly impressive results." Larkin treated the audience to a video that ticked off the study's high points in brief:

- 21,000 privately owned grocers

- $131 billion in annual sales

- 25 percent of total grocery sales

- 1 percent of the U.S. economy

- 944,200 jobs

- $30 billion in wages

That doesn't include the economic halo that independent grocers radiate to its suppliers and throughout the communities in which they operate, which accounts for thousands more jobs and billions of dollars more in commerce.

Cutting-edge delivery

Rather than issue a written report of the study's results, Larkin noted that all findings are accessible online, where an interactive map allows visitors to find out the independent grocer's impact on local economies by state and respective local and federal legislative district. That makes it easy for grocers to show lawmakers making business policy exactly how much bacon the grocery industry brings home, through food sales, employment, community outreach and myriad other peripheral ways.

The NGA Show continues through Tuesday with sessions focused on all aspects of the grocery business. For more on-floor coverage, watch Progressivegrocer.com and PG editors on Twitter: @pgrocer, @jimdudlicek and @indygrocer.