This past weekend in Miami, National Performance Warehouse Companies Inc. (NPW) set out to honor its best suppliers through its unique Million Dollar Vendor (MDV) award program. The black tie affair, now in its fifth year, was held Jan. 27 at the famed Starlight Ballroom in the Miami Beach Resort Hotel on the South Beach waterfront. Bill Hanvey, president and CEO of the Auto Care Association, was the keynote speaker for the event. (Stay tuned for more on Hanvey’s presentation in an upcoming issue of AMN Daily.)
Guests of the MDV dinner were entertained by a Las Vegas-based Frank Sinatra impersonator and enjoyed a meal of steak, lobster and bananas foster before receiving engraved crystal plaques recognizing their support of NPW. The club began five years ago with just nine companies making the cut. This year, 19 vendors in all were honored for their partnership with NPW. To qualify for the award, as the name would suggest, NPW must do more than $1 million in business with supplier the prior year. Four new companies made the list this year: Deka Batteries, MAS Industries, Tenneco and WAI.
The complete list of 2016 Million Dollar Vendors includes:
- APW
- Autometer
- BBB
- Centric
- Deka
- Dorman
- Edelbrock
- Federal-Mogul
- Gates
- Holley
- Marmon Ride Control
- MAS
- MSD
- NGK
- Standard Motor Products
- Tenneco
- Valvoline
- WAI
- WIX
In accepting the award on behalf of his company, Scott Street, director of sales for Valvoline, made a statement echoed by many in the room. “I’ve been working with Valvoline for 30 years and have never seen an event like this,” said Street. “We are honored to be part of this distinct group and look forward to continuing our growth.”
Congenial and humble, Larry Pacey, president and CEO of NPW, says he “borrowed” the idea for the MDV dinner from Larry Sills and Standard Motor Products, when NPW became a Standard customer about 10 years ago. “He’s the only one in the industry we knew who does that. So we thought, you know, ‘Nobody ever does anything for our vendors.’ All we ask of the vendors is money, money, money, do this, do that … so, we thought we really do have good vendors out there and it’s nice to show them our appreciation for being a good supplier and that’s how the idea evolved,” said Pacey.
Noting how much of an investment suppliers make to attend and participate in any number of group events and trade shows throughout the year, Pacey’s event is simply based around the golden rule, he says. “Any transaction needs to be two-sided and we feel its good to be nice to the vendors,” he said.
To view an image gallery from the MDV dinner, click here.
National Performance Warehouse, a member of the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance and the AAM Group, was founded by Larry Pacey in 1969. Today, he runs the business with his two sons Chris and John, who both serve in vice president roles within the business. For the past few years, the Pacey family has been focused on an aggressive growth strategy adding to its distribution footprint across North America. 2016 was no exception with the acquisitions of Dahl Warehouse in Gardenia, California; Felt Auto & Machine in Ogden, Utah; and Evacam Solutions Co. in Dallas. Pacey said the company is currently in discussions regarding new acquisitions, which could be announced as early as March.
The MDV Dinner is part of an entire weekend of events for National Performance Warehouse. The weekend continued on Saturday with more than 250 in attendance at a customer appreciation dinner where NPW’s best customers were recognized on Saturday, Jan. 28. This year’s winners were:
2016 Vendor/Customer Awards
Vendor of the Year – APDI
Rep of the Year – Scott Morgan, KYB
Person of the Year – LJ Colboch
Bumper to Bumper
Platinum – Hi Tech Auto Parts
Gold – Johnny’s Auto Parts
Gold – Congress Auto Parts
Gold – National Sunshine Auto Parts
Gold – International Auto Parts
Silver – Save On Auto Parts
Silver – Jim’s Auto Parts
Silver – JV Auto Parts
Bronze – Kam Auto Parts
Bronze – Westside Auto Parts
Bronze –Margate Auto Parts
Parts Pro
Platinum – Murray’s Speed & Custom
Gold – Powersource Motorsports
Gold – Race Fittings Solutions
Gold – ESR Performance
Silver – Nook & Tranny
Silver – Worldwide Racing
Silver – United Speed World
Bronze – Horsepower Sales of S. Florida
Bronze – Wells Performance
Bronze – Mustang Performance Racing
On Sunday, Jan. 29 the NPW FAST Expo at the Miami Airport Convention Center was attended by a record 3,140-plus visitors who came to see more than 100 automotive aftermarket exhibitors and their products on display. While the coinciding collector car show was rained out, the event still featured a number of collector vehicles on the show floor. In addition to giveaways and hundreds of door prizes, the Fast Expo featured an all-day meet-n-greet with NHRA Pro Stock driver Erica Enders and an appearance by the Miami Heat Dancers.
The next NPW Million Dollar Vendor Dinner will take place Jan. 26, 2018.
