February 8, 2016 – Sales for Affiliated Distributors (AD) members grew by 2% in 2015 to 32 billion, according to AD, who added that performance within the group’s operating segments ranged from 10% to -3%.

“Our diversified business strategy, of operating across seven industries and three countries, allowed us to capitalize on high growth areas of the economy and offset the negative impact of commodities, oil and gas and major industrial markets”, said Bill Weisberg, AD’s chair and CEO. “The efficiencies afforded by our scale, along with the management of investments and operational costs allowed us to deliver over 100% of rebates to our independent member distributors and to cover 100% of our expenses.”

AD members across all divisions hired 5569 new employees, the company stated, as well as opened 319 new locations and made 33 acquisitions.

“Consistent with our strategic plan to leverage our overall size to cost-effectively deliver added value to every division, we expanded our service set to include AD eCommerce Solutions and AD HR Services. We believe that the collaborative financial investments made in 2015 put our membership in a strong position to capitalize on the opportunities in 2016”, Weisberg said.

AD is the largest contractor and industrial products wholesale buying group in North America, according to the company, and provides independent distributors and manufacturers of construction and industrial products with support and resources for growth.