NPW Hosts 7th Annual Million Dollar Vendor Award Dinner

This past weekend in Miami, some of the aftermarket industry’s leading suppliers gathered at what has become a truly one-of-a-kind event. These particular suppliers were being honored on Friday, Jan. 25, at a black tie affair by National Performance Warehouse (NPW) for reaching the million-dollar mark with the family owned performance parts distribution business.

https://www.aftermarketnews.com/people/npw-2019-million-dollar-vendor-award-winners/

This past weekend in Miami, some of the aftermarket industry’s leading suppliers gathered at what has become a truly one-of-a-kind event. These particular suppliers were being honored on Friday, Jan. 25, at a black tie affair hosted by National Performance Warehouse (NPW) for reaching the million-dollar mark with the family owned performance parts distribution business.

NPW, based in Miami, is run by President and CEO Larry Pacey at the helm with his two sons, Chris and John, serving as part of his leadership team. Chris Pacey, who serves as executive vice president, has been with the company 16 years; his younger brother John, for 13 years as VP of operations. The company is a member of both the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance, as well as AAM Group. NPW is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year.

This is the seventh year NPW has hosted this special event, according to Larry Pacey. “We started the club off with nine vendors in 2012 and we are up to 30 now. Hopefully, we will have many more next year.”

Among this year’s honorees listed below, eight were new additions to the club in 2019. Four recipients, including Dorman, Federal-Mogul, Gates and SMP, reached the $5 million vendor mark this year. By volume, the vendors recognized at this year’s event total approximately $150 billion dollars in revenue.

NPW Million Dollar Vendor Award winners for 2019:

*names in bold are new vendors on list for 2019.

3M
AC-Delco
APDI
APW
Baldwin Filters
BASF
BBB Industries
CARDONE
Centric Parts
DEA-Marmon Ride Control
Dorman Products
Deka
Federal-Mogul
Exide
Energy Suspension
Gates Corp.
HDA
Holley/MSD
MAHLE
Melling Engine Parts
NGK
REMY
Standard Motor Products
Tenneco
TYC
Valvoline
WAI
WIX Filters

All of the suppliers recognized were given the opportunity to say a few words upon accepting their crystal awards and each took time to thank NPW and the Pacey family for the unique recognition, which is not seen anywhere else in the industry. “I’ve accepted trophies before but I think it was the most fun accepting this one,” said Joel Kruger of ACDelco.

Also during the event, Pacey provided guests with an update on NPW’s growth in 2018 and its business outlook for 2019. The company experienced a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent in 2018, as well as acquiring four warehouses in the past 12 months. Pacey said the company plans to continue its growth through acquisition in the coming year, specifically looking to expand in the central U.S.

Following Pacey’s update, John Washbish, president and CEO of the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance, gave a keynote speech. A popular speaker on the aftermarket circuit, Washbish shared a business lesson for the audience in his characteristic humorous storytelling style. “We are a family of family owned businesses,” Washbish said of the 45 independent Alliance shareholders. “And, we are fortunate indeed to be able to be with this great family,” he added, pointing to the Pacey family.

His business lesson for the audience was culled from his own personal experiences in sales, sharing a story from 1982. His ultimate message, as told from the memory he shared, included three rules for any great leader: “Empower your people. Encourage your people to think logically – at all levels of the organization,” Washbish said. “Second, eliminate fear. Don’t have your people in fear of ‘If I call a shot, I’m gonna be shot.’ And third, when they make a mistake, constructive criticism, not destructive demoralization.”

The weekend of events in Miami continued Saturday evening with the FAST Expo Customer and Vendor Awards, with the winners seen below.

Vendor of the Year (Traditional): Gates

Vendor of the Year (Performance):Redhorse

Rep of the Year: Patrick Cunningham (Dorman)

Bumper to Bumper (Traditional Accounts)	Parts Pro (Performance Accounts)
Gold	Gold
Winchester Auto Parts	Powersource Motorsports
National Sunshine Auto Parts	Race Fittings
International Auto Parts	Speed & Truck World
Silver	Silver
Valdivia Auto Parts	American Motorsports
Jims Auto Parts	Nook & Tranny
JV Auto Parts	Backdraft Racing
Bronze	Bronze
Hi Tech Auto Parts	Horsepower of South Florida
Save On Auto Parts	United Speed World
Kam Auto Parts	MPR
Westside Auto Parts

Canadian Division

Gold – Dasilva Racing

Silver – Truck Accessories

Bronze – CJR Performance

NPW’s weekend of events continued on Sunday, Jan. 27, when more than 4,500 people attended the NPW Fast Expo trade show, the company’s best attendance ever for the event. The trade show featured 125 exhibitors, headlined by three-time NASCAR Cup Champion Tony Stewart, Street Outlaw’s Jeff Lutz, Darrell Gwynn, Miami Heat Dancers and more. NPW raffled off a 383 Chevrolet Motor with proceeds going to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society during the event. Other giveaways included a 50-inch TV given out every hour, with the final door prize of a Caribbean cruise.