FAIRFAX, Va. -- Industry executives David W. Dresser, vice president of tobacco and marketing services at Core-Mark International Inc., San Francisco, and Charles R. Casper Jr., president of Mydad LLC, dba Hardec's, Elizabethtown, Ky., will receive awards from the American Wholesale Marketers Association (AWMA) during the AWMA Summit & Business Exchange (ABX) at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Fla., September 10-13.
Dresser will receive the AWMA Hall of Fame Award, and Casper will receive the AWMA Dean Award, on September 11.
The Hall of Fame Award recognizes leaders who worked to advance the cause of the convenience distribution industry and who have demonstrated a lifetime of service to AWMA at the highest level. The Dean Award recognizes individuals for their outstanding service and contributions to the industry and to AWMA.
Dresser has been in the industry since 1959, starting first with his family's business, General Distributing Co., in San Bernardino, Calif., and continuing when it was sold to Glaser Bros., now Core-Mark. Since 1985, he has been actively involved in AWMA and its predecessor, the National Association of Tobacco Distributors. For the past eight years, he has served on the AWMA Industry Affairs Committee, where he has worked to explore solutions and promote initiatives to improve sales and profits for all industry partners.
Casper, in his work with the wholesale distribution company, is a longtime AWMA member and current chairman of the AWMA Government Affairs Committee. He leads the association's government affairs initiatives and oversees the association's annual Day on the Hill event, which brings AWMA members together with members of Congress to educate them on the issues important to the industry.
"When you get involved, you can make some things happen," he said. "More importantly, you can make sure some things don't happen."
The 2012 ABX will have the highest number of attendees to date, the group said, setting records with a 10% increase in overall attendance, an 11% increase in distributor participation in the ABX, and a 17% increase in ABX supplier participation.
The ABX brings distributors and suppliers together in private meetings where they discuss mutual concerns and where they can make plans. The ABX begins September 11 following the Summit program and continues through September 13.
"The ABX gives you a chance for eyeball-to-eyeball meetings with your business partners," said Dresser. "I highly recommend it to all AWMA members. It will benefit everyone."
The AWMA is an international trade organization working on behalf of convenience distributors in the United States. Its distributor members represent more than $85 billion in U.S. convenience product sales. Associate members include manufacturers, service providers, technology companies, brokers, retailers and others allied to the convenience retailing industry.
In addition to convenience stores, the largest customer segment, convenience distributors also service grocery stores, drug stores, tobacco shops, mass merchants, newsstands, concession stands, gift shops, fundraising groups, restaurants, institutions and more.
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