Grease Monkey International Inc. has announced its 2016 Vendor of the Year: Advance Professional. The award was presented to Advance at the 2016 Grease Monkey International Conference, which was held Sept. 22-25 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Advance has been a valued vendor of Grease Monkey for well over two decades, with a strategic partnership forming approximately two years ago.

“Advance Professional has become a superb vendor for Grease Monkey. Our partnership thrives because they understand our direction and have effortlessly aligned with Grease Monkey,” said Rick Juarez, director of purchasing and corporate regional director of Grease Monkey International Inc. “We deeply appreciate the support and training we have received from them.”

Advance Professional is the commercial business segment of Advance Auto Parts Inc. With more than 5,000 company-operated stores and a dedicated sales force, Advance provides commercial customers access to thousands of quality parts in addition to business solutions, programs and training that shops need to help grow their business.

Grease Monkey says it has gained a lot of value from its partnership with Advance, and that the respect the companies have for each other is mutual.

“We’re honored to be named Grease Monkey’s Vendor of the Year,” said Advance’s Director of Strategic Accounts Scott Krinsky. “Grease Monkey is a valued partner to Advance and we’re proud to have the opportunity to serve them. We look forward to continuing to grow our partnership by providing the parts, service and business solutions that Grease Monkey needs so they can serve their customers better than anyone else.”