AIM/R recently honored Gregg Marshall, CPMR, J.N Marshall/Marshall-Rodeno, and Tom Tiernan, CPMR, Tom Tiernan & Associates, as the newest inductees into the AIM/R Hall of Fame during the group’s 46th Annual Conference.

Marshall served as AIM/R conference chairman in Marco Island and president in 1998-1999. Tiernan served as AIM/R president from 2000-2001.

“I am honored to be introducing these two gentlemen,” said Brian Morgan of The Morgan Group. “Tom and Gregg were both very instrumental in AIM/R’s growth and helped elevate the group’s identity and respect within this industry.”

Marshall reflected on four key cornerstones he wanted to help the group accomplish during his time with AIM/R, which were: improve and increase the educational offerings of the association, take a more active role in the industry, promote the importance of the rep function across the industry and improve the committee structure and operations.

As for Tiernan, he remembered former Haws exec Pat Kelly who encouraged him to get involved with the group. “There was always so much good information that members could share between each other that really helped us grow our agencies,” Tiernan said.

“Some of it was thought-provoking ‘open your eyes’ types of discussions while some others were everyday operational practices.” He said that the multi-track conference program AIM/R often offered for larger and smaller reps was a significant benefit for agencies like his that he considered small firms.

CPMR certification

They were also very early proponents of Certified Professional Manufacturers Representative (CPMR) certification, which most plumbing reps were not familiar with at the time. The certification is a three-year program often compared to a master’s degree for reps, with Marshall as the first AIM/R member to earn it in the mid-1990s, and Tiernan shortly thereafter.

“Thanks to the endeavors and example of reps like Gregg and Tom, quite a large percentage of our members have since earned the CPMR designation,” Morgan said. “It takes commitment and drive to take on a challenge like that, but I believe they’d all describe it as a tremendous benefit to their businesses.”