IBC Honors 2017 Award Winners At Annual Meeting

IBC hosted its annual national meeting in early October, where stakeholders gathered for new business opportunities, strengthen relationships and share best practices. See which industrial distributor and supplier members received IBC's annual awards.

EAST GRANBY, CT — IBC hosted its annual National Meeting on Oct.1-3 at the Delta Hotels by Marriott in Glenview, IL for Independent Distributors and Preferred Suppliers in its IBC - IndustrialSupplyPlus buying group. IBC stakeholders gathered to create new business opportunities, strengthen existing relationships, and share best practices for growing their businesses.

Ron Nuñez, IBC’s President & COO, said the theme of this year’s meeting – All Systems Go – underscored IBC’s mission to help its members build successful businesses by providing the scale, resources, and innovation they need to compete in an evolving marketplace. Nuñez went on to say, “When I think about what will happen in the upcoming year, the one constant I can anticipate is the way all of us do business will continue to change. From the big box competitors and Amazon to new e-commerce players, competition will remain fierce. We are united, not just as members of IBC, but as entrepreneurs, business owners, and people wanting to forge their own paths in the world. As group, it means we don’t have to go it alone.”

Nuñez outlined how the group’s latest initiative, a central billing platform, will enhance its ability to better analyze member purchase data, allowing IBC to work more strategically with Preferred Suppliers and members to ensure sales growth and profitability. “Central billing is a best practice used by the most successful buying groups around the world. It was a natural next step for complementing our growing training and education, marketing, and National Accounts programs. With central billing running at full throttle, our stakeholders will become more strategically aligned and well positioned for long-term growth and success when working together,” Nuñez explained.

IBC supports its members with an award-winning National Accounts program, IBC University (a 24/7 online training portal), and the IBC Marketing Resource Center (a digital marketing platform designed with members’ marketing needs in mind). During his keynote address, Nuñez also addressed IBC’s plans to enhance collaboration, providing members with new opportunities to work in partnership towards group-focused goals.

At the annual Awards & Recognition Luncheon, IBC recognized distributors and suppliers who represented outstanding growth and engagement within the group. The following distributors and suppliers were honored at this year’s event:

  • 2017 Supplier of the Year: Radiac Abrasives, A TYROLIT Company (Oswego, IL)
  • 2017 Distributor of the Year: Haggard & Stocking (Indianapolis, IN)
  • 2017 ISA Golden Eagle Recognition Award (Suppliers): Ho-Keun Song of YG-1 Tool Company (Seoul, Korea)
  • 2017 ISA Golden Eagle Recognition Award (Distributors): Chuck Gray of Machinery & Factory Industrial Supply (Racine, WI)
  • 2017 Pedal to the Metal Award: All Industrial Tool Supply (Huntington Beach, CA); awarded for rapid acceleration in the IBC Rewards Program
  • 2017 Knowledge is Power Award: Julie Raines, RMP Industrial Supply (Fort Worth, TX); awarded to the individual with the most IBC University course completions
  • 2017 Knowledge is Power Award: Haggard & Stocking (Indianapolis, IN); awarded to the distributor company with the most IBC University course completions

The 2017 IBC National Meeting included its popular round robin meetings, a distributor and supplier executive think tank, a distributor booth forum, and guest speaker, Bob DeStefano, industrial B2B marketing expert and author of Old Dog, New Clicks. The show was capped off with a Monday night social event to celebrate Oktoberfest at the Hofbräuhaus Chicago.

IBC is one of North America’s leading alliances of industrial, bearing & power transmission, safety and subassembly distributors with over 400 branch locations and total sales in excess of $2.6 billion. The organization provides multi-location customers a streamlined, cost-effective, dynamic purchasing source for national and regional contracts.

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