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“Smart, driven, unwavering” • Recap AD North American Meeting 2017

September 27, 2017 | By Anthony Capkun


Paul Shillington, Gimpel Electric Supply. Photo A. Capkun.

September 27, 2017 – We’re wrapping our visit at the 2017 North American Meeting of AD’s Electrical Supply Division (NAM ESD). Again, the highlight was celebrating this year’s Spirit of Independence Awards recipients. Congratulations to the following Canadian distributors and suppliers:

Canadian Member of the Year for Performance (Under $10 million)
• WINNER: Gimpel Electric Supply Ltd. (Ontario)

• 1st runner-up: Harwell Electric Supply (Ontario)
• 2nd runner-up: Gray Electric (Quebec)

Canadian Member of the Year for Performance (Over $10 million)
• WINNER: Electrimat Ltée (Quebec)

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• 1st runner-up: Electrozad Supply (Ontario)
• 2nd runner-up: Eddy Group Ltd. (Nova Scotia)

Canadian Supplier of the Year for Performance (Under $5 million)
• WINNER: Dimplex

• 1st runner-up: Burndy
• 2nd runner-up: Generac

Canadian Supplier of the Year for Performance (Over $5 million)
• WINNER: Kidde

• 1st runner-up: Electro Cables
• 2nd runner-up: RC Lighting

Giving Back Award
• Though it did not win, Standard Products was among the nominees for this award. Kudos!


Keynote address
“Every year, AD members outgrow the market and, every year, AD Suppliers outgrow the market with us,” said AD CEO Bill Weisberg earlier that day during his keynote.

The theme, if you will, of this year’s meeting was #ADSTRONG. During his keynote, while contemplating what makes independent distributors strong, Weisberg distilled his thoughts down to these three points:

• Smart
• Driven
• Unwavering

These three qualities separate those who achieve sustainable success from those who do not. He noted AD members are smart about people and business, with emotional intelligence, and the smarts to know they can never stop learning.

“We don’t think life is easy; we don’t think the world owes us anything. We are driven.”

And, on the third point, Weisberg explained “unwavering” does not mean avoiding changing with the times, but rather being unwavering in your core beliefs and principles.

“Storms come to every life, to every business,” said Weisberg. “Will you prevail? It depends on the strength of your foundation.”

Back to awards
At the conclusion of the awards ceremony, Weisberg took a moment to go off-script to recognize and thank Jim Milne, AD Canada’s outgoing president, who has been leading the organization for roughly five years, since Independent Electrical Distributors (IED) merged with AD Canada. You will be missed!

SEE ALSO Without EECOL, IED to merge with Affiliated Distributors.

With over 3800 branches from 550+ independently owned members, Affiliated Distributors says it is North America’s largest marketing/buying group for construction and industrial supplies. It has achieved annual sales of $34 billion US across seven industries and three countries.

AD Electrical Supply Division’s next North American Meeting is slated for October 29-31, 2018, at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, right outside Dallas.


* This article also appears in the October 2017 edition of Electrical Business Magazine. Check out our ARCHIVE page for back issues.


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