
Outstanding Leadership Award in Honor of Jack Creamer
Outstanding Leadership Award in Honor of Jack Creamer (formerly the Jack Creamer Automotive Leader of the Year Award)
This annual award recognizes an individual, employed in the aftermarket, who over the past several years, has made a unique and monumental contribution to the industry and/or the association. The accomplishment that warrants this award must go well above and beyond any routine or day-to-day activity and shall be reflective of a commitment to the industry that few individuals can match. This award is to be perceived as the industry's highest honor/recognition. Award winners need not be AWDA members.
2022 RECIPIENTS
The Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association (AWDA), a community of the Auto Care Association, presented its 2022 Outstanding Leadership Award to Larry Northup, Auto Care Association (retired).
During his more than 20 years at the Auto Care Association, Larry Northup was a dedicated champion for the aftermarket. In his latest role as the AWDA executive director, Northup worked to encourage and support the re-establishment of the AWDA community’s decades-long tradition of leadership within the industry.
Since 2004, Northup’s efforts for the AWDA community included the integration of AWDA members into all aspects of the Auto Care Association’s leadership, including the board of directors; committees; task forces; the association’s political action committee; special projects like career promotion, Right to Repair, the University of the Aftermarket Foundation; and many other aftermarket industry advocacy efforts. He was also key to bringing the annual AWDA conference into the fold as part of Industry Week every year in Las Vegas. In addition, Larry’s advocacy during the pandemic helped establish the auto care industry as an essential service throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to his role as executive director of AWDA, Northup served as a lobbyist for the association’s government affairs department and as the staff liaison for the Paint, Body and Equipment Specialists (PBES) community. He served as the head of the association’s membership department, where he was tasked with managing AWDA’s integration into the Auto Care Association as a community. Northup also managed the association’s community engagement efforts for several years, eventually becoming the full-time executive director of AWDA.
“I had the good fortune of working with Larry for many years,” said 2021 recipient Roger McCollum of N.A. Williams. “I knew of few people more dedicated to this industry, especially when it came to his involvement with warehouse distributors and AWDA. Larry worked with a passion that was contagious and made those around him better for knowing him and working with him. He deserves all the best in retirement – and this industry will not be the same without him.”
- 2021 Roger McCollum
- 2020 Bill Hanvey, MAAP / Paul McCarthy
- 2019 John Bartlett
- 2018 Larry Pavey
- 2017 Bill Maggs
- 2016 Fred Bunting
- 2015 Larry Sills
- 2014 Joseph A. Pomaranski, MAAP
- 2013 Rusty Bishop, AAP
- 2012 Kathleen Schmatz, MAAP
- 2011 Dennis M. Welvaert, MAAP
- 2010 Rollance E. Olson
- 2009 E. Fletcher Lord
- 2008 Robert F. Egan
- 2007 William D. Grote, III
- 2006 Dr. David Fry
- 2005 Timothy A. Lee, AAP
- 2004 John Washbish, AAP
- 2003 Richard Morgan, AAP
- 2002 Joe Owen
- 2001 Michael Cardone Jr.
- 2000 Jack Creamer, AAP
- 1999 Tom Gallagher
- 1998 N. Arthur Epstein, AAP
- 1997 Aaron Berkowitz
- 1996 Clay Buzzard, AAP
- 1995 David O'Reilly
- 1994 Nathaniel Sills / Bernard Fife
- 1993 Robert H. Raff, MAAP
- 1992 Arthur E. Lottes III
- 1991 Larry McCurdy
- 1990 Martin Fromm, AAP
- 1989 O. Temple Sloan
C. Hamilton Sloan - 1988 Peter R. Kornafel, MAAP
- 1987 Robert Sirotek, AAP
- 1986 Allen C. Richey
- 1985 Sen. John C. Danforth
- 1984 R. Jack Alexander Jr.
- 1983 Charles N. Gaskill, AAP
- 1982 Elliot Lehman, AAP
- 1981 Wilton Looney
- 1980 Mort Schwartz, AAP
- 1979 Robert Z. Friedman
- 1978 A.K. Hannum
- 1977 Basil J. Mezines
- 1976 Rene C. McPherson
- 1975 Richard C. Teasel
- 1974 John M. Yantis
- 1973 Frederick J. Mancheski, AAP
- 1972 Frank M. Norfleet
- 1971 Arthur Wolff
- 1970 E.N. "Ernie" Robinson
- 1969 Thomas S. Perry, AAP
- 1968 H.C. "Skip" Stivers
- 1967 Olin Ennis
- 1966 Edward Gammie
- 1965 C.M. Scates
- 1964 C.S. Rogers
- 1963 C.A. Benoit Jr.
- 1962 Harold T. Halfpenny
- 1961 Joe E. Bickel
- 1960 Ira Saks
- 1959 Victor L. Toft