The Federated Auto Parts membership has selected Standard Motor Products (SMP) as Outstanding Vendor of the Year for 2011.

The top Federated vendor award was presented by Rusty Bishop, CEO of Federated Auto Parts during the group’s national meeting and annual awards dinner held April 26 in Phoenix, AZ. Accepting the award on behalf of SMP were Bill Collins, Leon De Long, John Gethin, Matt Guden, Eric Sills and Ken Wendling.

“We congratulate Standard Motor Products for earning our most prestigious award, Outstanding Vendor of the Year,” said Bishop. “SMP received the most votes from Federated members for exceptional dedication to excellence in all areas including leadership, marketing, training and sales support. We want to extend a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to everyone at SMP for their hard work and ‘over and above’ dedication to the Federated membership.”

In addition to the Outstanding Vendor of the Year award, Federated also presented its Outstanding Supplier Support Awards to its supplier partners excelling in each of five categories:

• Training Vendor of the Year – ACDelco

• Order Fill Vendor of the Year – Hastings and USA Industries (tie)

• Marketing Vendor of the Year – Federal-Mogul

• Sales Representation Vendor of the Year – Affinia

• Electronic Cataloging Vendor of the Year – Dorman

“Each year the Federated membership has the difficult task of determining which of our supplier partners stand out in five key categories essential to the overall success of Federated,” continued Bishop. “This year was no different. In fact, we are pleased to recognize these six deserving supplier partners for their outstanding performance and pursuit of excellence.”