Winsupply celebrated the 60th anniversary of the organization’s founding with its Annual Meetings and Vendor Showcase March 13-16 in Kissimmee, Fla. The event marked the first companywide meeting since the rebranding effort last fall when WinWholesale became Winsupply.

“The events in branding in 2015 have led to changes in how we handle marketing,” Maury Williams, corporate communications, told members of the trade press March 15 during a session with company executives. “We’re taking an approach that this is a national and cohesive brand, and more of our companies have taken on the Winsupply name. We see this as an opportunity to grow our brand throughout the United States to meet our strategic objectives, one of which is to grow the company.”

Winsupply, whose fiscal year ended Jan. 31, is coming off a year of record sales and earnings, he said. Williams characterized Winsupply’s percentage growth in the middle to upper single digits in 2015 when 5,200 employees in 45 states earned $2.7 billion in consolidated sales for the organization. Two acquisitions in 2015 brought the number of locations to 578 of which 199 now carry the Winsupply name.

Along with its annual meetings, the organization produces a Vendor Showcase every two years. The 2016 event featured 205 vendor booths along with 3,800 one-on-one meetings between Winsupply local companies and vendors.

At an awards dinner, Winsupply named the following vendors of the year in different product categories: American Standard, plumbing; Delta Faucet, plumbing showrooms; Liberty Pumps, pumps; Milwaukee Tool, tools; Uponor, hydronics; Spears Manufacturing, industrial; Victaulic, fire protection; JCI Unitary Products Group, HVAC; and  Rain Bird, turf irrigation.

Also honored at the dinner were local companies for their 2015 achievements. Kansas City Winwater was the overall company of the year. Winsupply named companies of the year in each of its major industry categories: Kansas City Winwater, President Scott Wilson, waterworks; Central Oklahoma Winnelson, President Keith Jones, plumbing; Portland (Conn.), Winair, President Keith Kruysman, HVAC; Baltimore Windustrial, President Vince Brown, industrial; Midland (Texas) Winpump, PresidentStan Bippen, specialty industry; and Bend (Ore.) Winsupply, President Jeff Kroeker, turf irrigation.

Winsupply presented Lew Johnston, president of Orange County (Calif.) Windustrial, with a Lifetime Achievement Award.