SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The shareholders of Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Inc. (Alliance), marketing under the names Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper, gathered Dec. 5-8 in Boca Raton, Fla., for their annual winter meeting.

The annual meeting, held at the Boca Raton Resort & Club, is one of two general membership meetings held each year bringing together members from Canada, Europe, Mexico and the United States. More than 500 participants representing 52 shareholders and 120 vendor partners reviewed past and current business performance and upcoming opportunities. Reports and breakout meetings focusing on sales, marketing, product, information technology and education were held.

Alliance President and CEO John Washbish commented, “Our winter shareholder meeting is an important component to the success of the Alliance programs. We reviewed what we did well in 2010 and focused on our future, especially 2011.”

Eli N Futerman, co-president and CEO of Hahn Automotive and chairman of the Alliance, said, “This was the best winter meeting we’ve ever conducted, and I believe all shareholders share this view.”

The Tuesday joint shareholder/vendor meeting was extremely well-attended and contained an “Aftermarket Industry Public Service” component. This component included an industry Political Action Committee (PAC) update by Corey Bartlett, president of Automotive Parts Headquarters, as well as an industry update from AAIA Director of Member Services Larry Northup. Additionally, Jim John of Northwood University explained a host of educational opportunities for ‘aftermarket minded’ individuals that are available from Northwood.”

The highlight of Tuesday evening’s banquet was the presentation of the coveted Annual Supplier Awards.

The following recognition was awarded to outstanding vendor partners:

• Supplier of the Year – Wix Filters
• Outstanding Manpower Support – Federal-Mogul
• Outstanding Parts Master Vendor – Parts Master Oil by Valvoline
• Outstanding Training Support – Standard Motor Products
• Outstanding Logistics Support Vendor – CARDONE
• Outstanding Marketing Support – Federal-Mogul
• Outstanding Technology Partner – Activant Solutions and Experian Automotive
• Outstanding Customer Service – Dorman Products
• Outstanding Technology Support – Standard Motor Products

The Alliance says fill rate is a key to the organization’s ongoing success, and with that said, the following vendors were recognized for their 95 percent or better shipping performance for 2010 with the Outstanding Shipping Performance Award:

Amrep Inc., ATP Inc., BBB Industries, CARDONE Industries, Castrol North America, Champion Spark Plugs, Cloyes Gear and Products, Continental Battery, Cooper/Bussman, Curt Mfg., Dayco Products, Delphi Service and Solutions, Duragloss Appearance Products, East Penn Manufacturing, EMPI, Inc., Forney Industries, Freedom Marketing, Gates Corporation, Gojo Industries, Haynes Manuals, K&N Engineering, Motorcar Parts of America, Old World Industries, Original Engine Management, Parts Master Filter by Wix, Parts Master Oil by Valvoline, Parts Master Wire by Standard, Peterson Mfg., Plasti-Kote, Plews/Truflate/Edelmann, Precision U-Joints, Remy International, Richporter Technology, Spectra Premium Industries, Standard Ignition Wire, Stant Corporation, Universal Mfg., Uquality Auto Parts, USA Industries, Valvoline Oil, Wagner Brake and Wix Filters.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The shareholders of Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Inc. (Alliance), marketing under the names Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper, gathered in Boca Raton, Fla. Dec. 6-9, for their annual winter meeting.

The annual meeting held at the Boca Raton Resort & Club is one of two meetings held each year bringing together the 54 shareholders of Alliance from Canada, Mexico and the United States, where they review past and current business performance and upcoming opportunities. Reports and breakout meetings focusing on marketing, product, information technology and education were reviewed.

This year, the banquet was a tribute to retiring President and CEO Richard Morgan. Friends, family and colleagues were present to share stories, offer well wishes and give thanks for his years of dedication and commitment to the industry and to the Alliance.

Incoming president, effective Jan. 1, 2010, and current Executive Vice President John Washbish had this to say, “This meeting is an important component to the success of the Alliance as we review what we did well in the past six months and what we need to do in the future. We consider it very serious business.” He went on to say, “But we do have fun, too, especially with our tribute to Dick. It was a well-earned moment as we highlighted Dick’s contributions to the industry and to the success of our group. I’ve got big shoes to fill.”

On Tuesday morning, Maureen Brown, from Susan G. Komen for the Cure, was presented with a check for $15,000 derived from proceeds generated from company-wide sales of a 1955 Fleetwood 60 Series Cadillac Die-Cast Collector 1:24 scale replica of the legendary pink sedan made famous by Elvis Presley.

The Tuesday morning meeting concluded with the presentation of the coveted Annual Vendor Awards. The following were awarded to our outstanding vendor partners:
• Supplier of the Year-Category I, Monroe Ride Control
• Supplier of the Year-Category II, Gates Rubber Co.
• Supplier of the Year Alliance Parts Warehouse, ACi Automotive Components
• Outstanding Manpower Support, Wix Filters
• Outstanding Private Label Vendor, PartsMaster Oil by Valvoline
• Outstanding Training Support, Standard Motor Products
• Outstanding ReMan Vendor, CARDONE
• Outstanding Marketing Support, Federal-Mogul
• Outstanding Technology Partner, WHI Solutions
• Outstanding Promotion, East Penn Mfg., Exide Technologies, Gates Rubber, Monroe, Standard Motor Products and Valvoline

Outstanding Shipping Performance-Bronze Level was for vendors obtaining 95.0-96.9 percent shipping performance for the year. Recipients were Amrep, CARDONE, Continental Battery, Delphi, Gates Rubber, GSP North America, Motorcar Parts, PartsMaster Filters, PartsMaster Wire, Plews/Truflate/Edelman, Precision U-Joints, Robert Bosch, Standard Wire, Wilmar Tool and Wix Filters.

Outstanding Shipping Performance-Silver Level vendors with a 97.0-98.9 percent fill rate were ASC Industries, ATP, BBB Industries, Cooper Bussmann, CRC Industries, Dayco, East Penn Mfg., Forney Industries, Foster Parts, GOJO Industries, Haynes Manuals, IAP/Dura, International Brake, Lisle Corp., Lucas Oil, Permatex, Peterson Mfg., Plasti-Kote, Remy Products, Universal Mfg., UQuality Auto Parts, USA Industries and Walker Exhaust.

Outstanding Shipping Performance-Gold Level outstanding shipping performance vendors achieved 99 percent or above during 2008. These exceptional vendors were Castrol, Cloyes, Curt Mfg., Duragloss, Exide, K&N Engineering, MANN & HUMMEL, NGK Spark Plugs, Old World Industries, PartsMaster Oil, Specialty Products and Spectra Premium.