A highlight of its recent North American Meeting, the 2021 AD PHCP Business Unit Spirit of Independence Awards ceremony celebrated members and supplier partners in all three divisions who excelled in sales performance, marketing excellence, employee engagement, leadership and giving back. 

Milwaukee Tool recognized Preferred Sales as Agency of the Year within the plumbing and HVAC channels at its National Sales Meeting this fall. 
Milwaukee Tool recognizes several agencies and individuals for outstanding achievement within the plumbing and HVAC channels. Award recipients are measured on consistent year-over-year sales growth, product knowledge, product conversions, promotional and merchandising execution. 

The word “essential” has taken on a bit of a new meaning since the onset of 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic. When talking about how business behaved throughout the ups and downs of the past 20 months, many mention how thankful they were to be an essential business, and how this title allowed doors to remain open and business to continue.

Steve Rossi, director of government affairs at ASA, along with more than 1,800 engaged ASA members, are largely to thank for that.

The days of manufacturers’ reps hitting the pavement making sales call after sales call are long gone. Today, reps are often taking on reporting, marketing, training, data analytics and through times of disruption, damage control.

Heading into his year as ASA President, CEO of New England PHCP distribution giant The Granite Group, Bill Condron, plans to continue the upward trajectory that both ASA and his company are on.

Condron began his career in the industry stocking shelves in the warehouse of the family business. While he never intended to join the industry, his plans changed as he worked his way up through the company over the past 20 years.

AD is reporting member sales in the first nine months of 2021 were $44 billion, an increase of 34% across its 13 divisions and three countries. Same-store sales were up 19%. Member companies’ purchases from AD supplier partners grew 31%. Net distributions to its members were up 41%. 

AIM/R will hold its 50^th Annual Conference October 12 -15, 2022 at the Gaylord Rockies Resort in Aurora/Denver, Colorado. The Association is returning to its roots and where the first Annual Conference was held back in 1973. The theme is "Mission Celebrate." 

Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report, showing the average sales performance by HARDI distributors was an increase of 21 percent during September. The average annual sales growth for the 12 months through September is 19.6%.

Ferguson and Explore the Trades, a nonprofit organization with a mission to recruit individuals to the plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical trades, have partnered to introduce the skilled trades to a new generation. The two organizations came together to create Explore The Trades Skills Lab Built by Ferguson — a program that will provide support to career and technical education high schools across the U.S., as they establish new plumbing and HVAC career pathways. 

Berner International, a  U.S. manufacturer of air curtains, announced manufacturer representatives SRS Enterprises of Middletown, New Jersey and S & J Equipment Co. of Westfield, Ind., received the company's Rep of the Year award for 2020 in the buy/resell and commission reps categories, respectively.