PTDA hands out Pike and McDonald Awards
The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) has named John Masek, senior vice president, Bearing Service Inc., Livonia, Mich., the 25th recipient of its Warren Pike Award for lifetime achievement in the power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) industry.
Masek received the award, named for PTDA’s co-founder and first president, at the Association’s Industry Summit in Chicago. The award was established in 1984 to honor individuals who have demonstrated outstanding, continuous, long-term support of PTDA and the PT/MC industry, and is only presented when an individual’s achievements merit this prestigious recognition.
Masek has been an active and committed PTDA and PTDA Foundation volunteer for over 20 years beginning his service on committees such as the Employee Relations, Industry Relations and Communications committees. John served as a Trustee for the PTDA Foundation from 2003-2005 and will be serving again beginning in 2016. He was elected to the PTDA Board of Directors in 2004, continuing in additional officer positions during the years, culminating with a term as president in 2008.
Warren Pike Award recipients are selected by the PTDA Board and are not informed of the honor in advance. Masek graciously accepted the award, stating, “This is something I never thought to have.” He thanked his wife, Sue Masek, for 33 years of support and Doug Savage, Bearing Service Inc. president, for getting him involved in PTDA. Bearing Service is the first PTDA member organization to have two Warren Pike Award recipients and three PTDA presidents from among its employees. Masek also thanked his Bearing Service Inc. colleagues for their “hard work to keep all the customers happy” and the manufacturers with whom they have endured some hard times but still stuck together.
Wendy B. McDonald Award
To honor the memory of Wendy B. McDonald, one of the power transmission/motion control industry's true pioneers, the PTDA Foundation established the Wendy B. McDonald Award. The award acknowledges a woman who has established herself as a critical contributor to her company's success and has affected positive change within the power transmission/motion control industry. The 2015 recipient of the Wendy B. McDonald Award is Elizabeth (Liz) Moon of Kaman Industrial Technologies Corporation.
Moon began her career at Western Bearing, Incorporated in June 1975 and was responsible for inventory and purchasing. Shortly thereafter, Kaman acquired Western Bearing and Liz has been with Kaman ever since. She was promoted to operations manager in the Salt Lake City Distribution Center and then moved into the role of director materials management. As Kaman continued its rapid growth, Moon was chosen to lead the company’s first centralized purchasing group. In 2001, Moon served as the distribution center manager and, under her leadership, the facility’s team became the highest performing DC operations group at Kaman. For the last three years, she has served as director of purchasing.
In her acceptance speech during the PTDA Industry Summit in Chicago, Moon called her career at Kaman “the perfect job” and described her career progression from receptionist at a local distributorship to director of purchasing for a global company. She advised other women in the field to heed the advice of Wendy B. McDonald herself who said, “Don’t forget who you are. You have to have a lot of common sense and a sixth sense for people.” She credited Mrs. McDonald as paving the way through the world of industrial distribution before her. She thanked her mentors and colleagues at Kaman throughout her 40-year career in the power transmission/motion control industry, including Jack Cahill and Carlos Ingram who were her managers at Kaman. She also recognized Barbara Ross, Garlock Sealing Technologies, and Tribby Warfield, Kaman Fluid Power, for their advice and resilience.
Mrs. McDonald's son, Scott MacPherson, was on hand to present Moon with the award.
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The March/April issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about Joyce Lansdale and Vallen. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dirk Beveridge, Frank Hurtte, and David Kahle, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
