Lawrence I. Sills, chairman and CEO of Standard Motor Products Inc. (SMP), was presented with AWDA’s Jack Creamer Leader of the Year Award by the Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association (AWDA) at its 2015 annual conference in Las Vegas. Each year, AWDA bestows this prestigious honor on an aftermarket professional who has contributed to the industry in a unique and significant way.
Presenting the award was last year’s Leader of the Year, Joe Pomaranski, Tenneco’s vice president and general manager, North America aftermarket.
SMP opened in New York in 1919, specializing in ignition and electrical products. Over the course of 92 years, the company dealt with numerous economic ups and downs, including the Great Depression. In the process, it grew to become a dominant force in the aftermarket and the top supplier in several product categories.
Since 1986, Larry Sills has served as CEO of this public – yet still very family-oriented – company. An accomplished businessman, Sills is a member of the class of 1961 at Dartmouth College. He has an MBA from Harvard University and a master’s degree from New York University. Sills’ steady hand and creative mind led to a rapid expansion of the company’s product lines.
Bill Maggs, president of the National Pronto Association, describes Sills as, “…an industry icon who’s been in the aftermarket his entire life, supporting his distributors and his many other customers. He is respected by everyone I know.”
A true leader, Sills still visits each of SMP’s 20 locations every year – including those in Europe and Asia – and speaks to every employee on every shift. He feels it is very important that everyone gets to hear from him, but as importantly, he says he learns a huge amount about what’s really going on in the company and the marketplace.
Mike Lambert, former CEO of the Automotive Distribution Network, added, “Larry literally represents generations within Standard Motor Products and that’s very unique. A lot of family manufacturing businesses have come and gone, but SMP has not only survived, but has grown and prospered under Larry’s leadership.”
“Perhaps the most important thing about Larry Sills is his humanity,” said Tim Lee of Lang Auto Parts. “He’s a warm, caring, decent guy who has created a warm, caring and decent company that all his employees are delighted to work for. Larry has a social conscience and truly feels an obligation to our industry that is second to none. That would have been Jack Creamer’s kind of a lifestyle and Larry lives it every day.”
