LAS VEGAS — The Auto International Association (AIA) hosted its 11th annual awards luncheon on Wednesday afternoon at the Venetian Hotel to honor these winners of its prestigious AIA People Awards:
• Hall of Fame – Dino Crescentini, Centric Brakes;
• Barry Breslow AIA Person of the Year – Mary DellaValle, ImportCar, Babcox Publications;
• Lifetime Achiever – Hans Wulff, WORLDPAC;
• Young Executive of the Year – Brian Cruickshank, University of the Aftermarket.
Dino Crescentini began his import automotive industry career working with his father for Alfa Ricambi in the late 1970s. In the early 1980s, they jointly started Autospecialty as an aftermarket supplier for import cars. Crescentini established Kinetic Parts, a green field rotor manufacturer, as a separate Autospecialty division. They manufactured high-quality brake rotors from casting to finished product, supplying aftermarket and OES Ford. After selling Autospecialty to Lucas in the late 1990s, he started WDSource.com and Stoptech, a performance brake company. In 2000, Crescentini began Centric Parts, a full line brake and clutch product company.
The editor of ImportCar magazine for the majority of her 21-year career at Babcox Publications, Mary DellaValle is an integral part of the company, assisting with many duties, including custom publishing, corporate communications and digital media properties. She has served on the AIA Board of Directors since 2001. The current AIA secretary, she has been a member of various committees, including the Awards Committee where she has participated many times in the judging process for the prestigious AIA Product & Marketing Awards, and the Membership/Marketing Committee where she has helped recruit new AIA members. DellaValle was instrumental in helping launch updated versions of the AIA Import Parts Specialist certification tests, which are now available online.
With more than 35 years of experience, Hans Wulff is truly a pioneer in the import automotive parts industry. In 1979, Wulff became a team member of World Wide Trading (now WORLDPAC). During his 30 years with WORLDPAC, he has held several management positions. In his current position as senior vice president of product and supply strategy, Wulff’s responsibilities include product development, supply chain management, inventory control, supplier relations and cataloging. Wulff also has played a significant role in several of WORLDPAC’s strategic initiatives including the development and implementation of a state-of-the-art automated procurement and supply chain system, WORLDPAC’s internally developed electronic catalog, and two acquisitions and integration projects (IMPAC in 1995 and Metrix TPW in 1999).
After completing two undergraduate degrees at The Ohio State University, Brian Cruickshank was hired by Babcox Publications, where he served in various editorial roles, writing exclusively on the motor vehicle aftermarket. Throughout his 15-year automotive journalism career, he covered nearly every facet of the aftermarket. During his career, he has received numerous industry awards, including the Northwood University Automotive Education Award in 2006. His most recent assignment was as editor of Counterman magazine, a post he left in early 2008 when he was named director of the University of the Aftermarket at Northwood University. He earned his AAP certificate in 2004, and serves on several AAIA committees. In 2011, he will earn an MBA from Northwood’s Aftermarket Executive MBA program.
