PPG Industries’ (NYSE:PPG) automotive refinish business has named Gipe Automotive, Inc., the PPG 2012 Platinum Distributor of the Year. Bob Wenzinger, director of the PPG Platinum Distributor program, announced the award winner during the annual PPG Platinum Distributor Conference at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Wenzinger and Greg Benckart, PPG vice president, automotive refinish, Americas, presented the award to Gipe Automotive President Tom Gipe.
“It is always a pleasure to recognize the Platinum Distributor of the Year, and this year is no exception,” Wenzinger said. “Gipe Automotive has been an outstanding, customer-service-oriented PPG distributor for years and deserves to be honored for its growth and success and the contribution it has made to supporting the PPG brand, our products and, most important, its customers. We are proud to recognize the Gipe team tonight.”
Tom Gipe accepted the award with key members of his management team.
“To be named Platinum Distributor of the Year is quite a surprise and very humbling,” Gipe said. “I’m accepting the award on behalf of our entire company. I’m happy for all the people at Gipe Automotive. They’re top quality, great to work with and the reason we’ve received this honor. We all focus on the success of our customers; that’s the key to our success. I thank PPG for recognizing Gipe Automotive.”
Gipe Automotive, a fourth-generation family-owned auto paint and parts supplier based in Owensboro, Ky., has been in business since 1931. The company has 82 employees across two warehouses and 11 sales locations in Kentucky and Indiana. Gipe Automotive became a single-line PPG distributor in 1988 and a PPG Platinum distributor in 1995. The company has been heavily involved with the PPG MVP program and has taken advantage of PPG’s many support and training programs. Although not located in a mandatory low-VOC (volatile organic compound) area, Gipe Automotive is encouraging and assisting its customers in converting to PPG waterborne products with the ENVIROBASE(R) High Performance coatings system, now the company’s top-selling refinish system.
The PPG Platinum Distributor program began in 1995 as a loyalty and support initiative for PPG single-line distributors, with the ultimate goal of providing exceptional service and benefits for PPG refinish customers. The program delivers competitive advantages to its participants by aligning the technology, training and customer support of PPG with the entrepreneurship, customer awareness, local market knowledge and service capability of the independent distributor.
For more information about the PPG Platinum Distributor program, call 800-647-6050 or visit the PPG Automotive Refinish website at www.ppgrefinish.com.
