Matt Kozak, vice president of sales for Bradford White Water Heaters, a leader in the manufacture of water heating, space heating and storage products, has been named the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Golden Eagle Award by the Association of Independent Manufacturers’ Representatives (AIM/R).

The AIM/R Golden Eagle Award, presented annually at the group’s conference, recognizes senior-level plumbing manufacturing executives who have actively supported independent reps and their important role in the supply chain. Kozak was honored at the 49^th Annual AIM/R Conference, held Sept. 28-Oct. 1 in San Diego.

“AIM/R provides valuable resources on issues like succession planning, sales techniques and running a solid business, all of which are of vital concern to their manufacturer partners,” Kozak said. “The support and tools offered by AIM/R enable reps to improve their business practices and strengthen the partnership and communication between reps and their manufacturers. We are such big believers in the group’s value that Bradford White strongly encourages all of our reps to belong to and be active in AIM/R.” 

Kozak is the fifth executive from Bradford White to be selected for the award. Previous Bradford White Golden Eagle Award winners include Bob Carnevale, Nick Giuffre, Bruce Carnevale and Jim McGoldrick.

“Those who have previously been honored with the Golden Eagle Award have set the bar very high,” Kozak said. “Those leaders set the tone for how Bradford White as a company views and treats its reps, and I am pleased to be carrying on that tradition. We continue to only sell through wholesale and we use manufacturers’ reps as a conduit to our wholesale customers and their customers. Our reps are a huge part of who we are. They represent our company, they are our sales force, and they have daily interactions with our customer base, whether it's with our product line or one of the others they represent. We treat our reps like family because if we do our job and take care of them, they will take care of us.”