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ACES Circle of Distinction 2025 

Honoring Excellence & Partnership

📅 Date: February 11, 2025

📍 Location: Embassy Suites, Concord, NC

Celebrating Our Partners & Achievements

The 4th Annual ACES Circle of Distinction Dinner & Awards brought together our top suppliers, representatives, and partners to recognize outstanding performance in 2024. This evening was a tribute to those who consistently go above and beyond in supporting ACES and our customers.

🎉 Congratulations to Our Award Recipients! 🎉

🏆 Supplier Best in Class Award Recipients for 2024 
RAB – Branch Support 
PECO Fasteners – Operational Efficiency 
Legrand – Training and Development  
Siemens – Inside Sales Support 
NSi Industries - Marketing 
 
🏆 Agency Best in Class Award Recipients for 2024 
Bill Wade & Associates – Branch Support 
Spectrum Hulett Group – Inside Sales Support  
Creative Lighting Solutions – Training and Development  
United Electrical Sales - Marketing 
 
🌟 Outstanding Overall Performance Awards for 2024 
Charlotte Wire and Cable and C&I Enclosures - Supplier of the Year 
KMS Sales and United Electrical Sales – Agency of the Year  
Miles Keohane (IDEAL) - Supplier Professional of the Year 
Carter Drinkard (E.F. Lombardi) – Agency Professional of the Year 
 

Recognizing Our Nominees

Being nominated for a Circle of Distinction Award is an incredible achievement. Each nominee has demonstrated excellence, commitment, and outstanding service in support of ACES. We thank all of our nominees for their hard work and dedication!

 Supplier Best in Class Nominees for 2024 
IDEAL Industries, RAB, Siemens – Branch Support 
Acuity, OmniCable, PECO Fasteners – Operational Efficiency 
Atkore, Legrand, nVent – Training and Development  
AZ Wire & Cable, OmniCable, Siemens – Inside Sales Support 
Milwaukee, NSi Industries, Satco/Nuvo - Marketing 
 
 Agency Best in Class Nominees for 2024 
Bill Wade & Associates, E.F. Lombardi, KMS Sales – Branch Support 
FRM, Spectrum Hulett Group, United Electrical Sales – Inside Sales Support  
Carter York Agency, Creative Lighting Solutions, KMS Sales – Training and Development  
FRM Lighting & Controls, Spectrum Hulett Group, United Electrical Sales - Marketing 
 
Outstanding Overall Performance Nominees for 2024 
Alan Wire, Charlotte Wire and Cable, C&I Enclosures, Siemens - Supplier of the Year 
Carter York Agency, Electric Product Group, KMS Sales, United Electrical Sales – Agency of the Year  
Miles, Keohane, Todd Montgomery, Kurt Morphis, Nate Smith - Supplier Professional of the Year 
Carter Drinkard, Ryan Moose, Gavin Schaffer, Ron Williams – Agency Professional of the Year 
📸 Relive the Night – View Event Photos!
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Each honored company received a commemorative Circle Award, while every participant was presented with an exclusive ACES challenge coin, symbolizing their valued membership in 2024. Marketing Manager, Hillary Doherty explained the tradition of the coins, “Originally a military tradition representing camaraderie and achievement, challenge coins have evolved into a meaningful way to recognize accomplishment, partnership, and excellence in business.” ACES proudly upholds these values, and hoped the coin would serve as a lasting reminder of how essential employees, suppliers, and agency partners are to their success. First time attendee, Don Hudgins with AZ Wire and Cable commented, “As a veteran I was familiar with the concept of Challenge Coins and feel they were appropriate for this award ceremony. Nice touch!” 
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"It was a well planned and executed event, I especially liked seeing quite a few people that I don't see on a regular basis." - Don Hudgins, AZ Wire and Cable

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"It is a great way to deepen and/or renew the relationship and a great way to see people that you call on day to day but see them in a different light." - Gary Dickens, OmniCable
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"I cannot express to you in a short time how that affected me when my name was announced in front of all my peers. Humbled me greatly, to just have my name up there with the others that were considered for this award was unbelievable. To think that in a year of calls on all the branches of ACES that I am responsible for, that these people think that my time was used well for me to grow my company's business with these customers." - Ron Williams, United Electrical Sales
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"Working with ACES has been very refreshing, to work with a distributor who values rep agencies and the role/support we provide… as well as the success we can all have when we work together." - Gavin Schaffer, KMS Sales 
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"What a great honor to receive this award from ACES! It is a great feeling to be recognized in front of your peers and the ACES team. It’s wonderful to know that the ACES team has confidence in me and to know it was the ACES team overall that voted for me." - Carter Drinkard, E.F. Lombardi
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"We had a blast at this event and have never been a part of something like this! We are super grateful for the opportunity to be able to come to the Circle of Distinction Awards Ceremony." - Zach Millis, Creative Lighting Solutions
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"I really appreciate that you put on an even like this. None of our other distributors do anything like this and it’s nice to get together and recognize the success we all have." - Gavin Schaffer, KMS Sales  
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"ACES is a great partner of mine. I appreciate all of the relationships that I have through each of the branches. Those relationships have helped grow both my business as well as theirs." - Miles Keohane, IDEAL Industries  
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"Knowing that ACES is a partner with EF Lombardi Company makes the Lombardi team and I want to do all we can to make sure we help ACES succeed. It is Lombardi’s and my role to keep ACES informed and up to date on the products we offer." - Carter Drinkard, E.F. Lombardi   

Thank you to all who attended and to those who continue to make ACES a leader in the industry. Your commitment, partnership, and dedication fuel our success.

💡 See You at Circle of Distinction 2026!

Event Recap

Tuesday, February 11, 2025, we had the honor of hosting our fourth annual #ACES Circle of Distinction awards, recognizing the outstanding suppliers, agencies, and individuals who went above and beyond in 2024. Congratulations to all of our recipients! Your commitment to quality and service is what makes ACES stronger every year.

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🏆Supplier Best in Class Award Recipients – 2024 🏆

At ACES, we recognize excellence in every aspect of our business, and our Supplier Best in Class Award recipients have set the standard for outstanding support, efficiency, and innovation in 2024. We had the honor of recognizing the following suppliers last month at our annual Circle of Distinction.

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🏆 Agency Best in Class Award Recipients – 2024 🏆

We were thrilled to recognize our 2024 Agency Best in Class Award recipients last month at our Circle of Distinction. These agencies have played a critical role in supporting ACES through training, marketing, and sales initiatives!

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