“When we tallied up the votes for the Outstanding Vendor of the Year, it was nearly a photo finish between many competent suppliers, but one stood out as the overall winner, Standard Motor Products,” said Bo Fisher, chairman of Federated Auto Parts. “SMP earned our top honor again this year because of their commitment to excellence in areas such as education, plus their creativity in new products and market segments. We congratulate SMP and thank them for their dedication to the success of our membership.”

Fisher presented Federated’s most prestigious vendor award to Standard Motor Products during the group’s national meeting and annual awards dinner held April 25 in Orlando, Fla. Accepting the award on behalf of SMP were Bill Collins, Robert Frick, Matt Guden, Bob Kimbro, Alex Simmons and Ken Wendling.

In addition to the Outstanding Vendor of the Year award, Federated presented its Outstanding Supplier Support Awards to its supplier partners that excelled in five key categories:

• Education and Training Vendor of the Year – Denso

• Electronic Cataloging Vendor of the Year – Dorman

• Marketing Vendor of the Year – Federal-Mogul

• Order Fill Vendor of the Year – East Penn

• Sales Representation Vendor of the Year – Gates

“Each year Federated members choose the supplier partners that stand out in areas important to the overall success of Federated. It takes teamwork to be successful and we thank these deserving MVP suppliers for their outstanding performance for the Federated team,” said Federated CEO Rusty Bishop.

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