NCPA Pharmacy Ownership Workshop Empowers, Educates, and Inspires

"Ownership: You can dream about it, or you can do something about it.”

That’s the phrase that greets pharmacists who visit the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Pharmacy Ownership Workshop web page. There, pharmacists interested in owning a pharmacy can learn more about the Pharmacy Ownership Workshop, sponsored by McKesson and facilitated by the NCPA Innovation Center.

These multiday intensive events are billed as a “soup-to-nuts crash course on pharmacy ownership,” regardless of attendees’ experience levels: Attendees range from those just starting their pharmacy ownership journey to those expanding to become a multistore owner.

“When I kick off the Pharmacy Ownership Workshop, I always say our goal is not to convince you to open or buy a community pharmacy,” said Bri Morris, PharmD, senior director, education and long-term care division, at NCPA. “Our goal is to empower you with the knowledge to make that decision yourself.”

The most recent event was held October 12 and 13, 2023, and—like all Pharmacy Ownership Workshops— included a curriculum of on-demand prework focused on business plan development, contracting, buying and selling, financing, accounting, marketing, floor plans and product placement, and compliance, among other crucial topics. The live portion of the event built on these topics, with hourlong sessions led by expert speakers. This roster included Jeffrey S. Baird, Esq, chairman of the health care group at Brown & Fortunato; Bonnie Bond, CPA, of Sykes & Company, PA; Greco De Valencia, vice president of pharmacy at Live Oak Bank; and Gary LeBlanc, vice president of RxOwnership, southeast region.

The event, which is also sponsored by Live Oak Bank and Pharmacists Mutual Companies, has been attended by more than 2500 pharmacists, according to NCPA. More than 50% of those workshop participants now own a pharmacy.

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In a video for NCPA, Tory Grooms, PharmD, a pharmacist in North Carolina, shared her experience as an attendee: “I did the ownership workshop as a pharmacy student. For me, I saw it as an investment in my future. I’m nowhere close to opening a pharmacy at this point in my life…but that workshop was the first step in me learning what it takes to become an owner and trying to put the pieces together and paving the path for success."

“[It] helped me start thinking, as I moved from a student pharmacist to a pharmacy resident, and now a full pharmacist, in a different way,” Grooms added. “I started thinking about: What services can I implement? NCPA has tons of resources for all the services you can implement in the pharmacy, and they give you so many resources you can fall back on when you’re starting to develop something new or take that first step into ownership.”

“Pharmacy school taught us to be expert clinicians, not business entrepreneurs. The workshop fills that gap,” Morris explained. “It is the most concentrated training on the nuts and bolts of opening or buying a pharmacy available in the market. Where else can you get a team of attorneys, accountants, successful pharmacy owners, transition specialists, and more, at your disposal for this price?”

There are 3 Pharmacy Ownership Workshops scheduled for 2024, in June and October. More specifics for these events, as well as a date and location for the third event, will be announced in the coming months.

To learn more about the Pharmacy Ownership Workshop, visit https://ncpa.org/pharmacy-ownership-workshop.