Saskatchewan Jobber Named Jobber of the Year

Jobber News Magazine has announced that the 2012 Jobber News Jobber of the Year Award will be presented to Eric and Teresa Knogler of Sutherland Automotive Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Eric Knogler, an avid believer in community involvement and industry training, is honoured to be receiving the award.

“We see the caliber of people who have won and I have to say it’s humbling to be associated with that class of jobber,” says Knogler.

Eric and wife Teresa, who founded the business together in 1985, will be in attendance at the Jobber of the Year Dinner to receive the award in Toronto April 25.

Sutherland Automotive is a Uni-Select member and ACDelco distributor which also operates Lone Star Automotive in Prince Albert and has a supply arrangement with two other businesses in Saskatchewan.

Formally named the E.J. and A.E. Wadham Memorial Award after the founders of Jobber News Magazine, published monthly since 1931, the award recognizes the very best in Canadian automotive aftermarket wholesale parts distribution for their success in business, service to the industry, and community commitment. The award has been presented annually for the past 29 years.

Knogler is a self-professed “car guy” and still has the maize yellow ’65 GTO convertible he bought before Sutherland was founded, a car that in itself was purchased out of nostalgia for the ’65 GTO he owned in high school.

“I was never a tech, but I always did a lot of my own work. I’ve been a car guy for years, that’s what got me into the business.”

He says he still enjoys the business and he and Teresa both work in the business every day. He does, says however, that he is enjoying being able to get away from the office a bit more.

“I have good management in place. And I have two sons who are expressing interest in the business.”

He says that he owes a debt of gratitude to the solid team of employees that have helped Sutherland grow and expand—they’re just in the final stages of an acquisition—and even here he focuses on the human factors.

“Anybody can buy bricks and mortar and inventory. When I look at a business, it’s really the employees that I’m interested in.”

A full profile of the Jobber of the Year will appear in the July issue of Jobber News Magazine. The award will be presented at a special dinner held in Toronto April 25.

For details  on the awards dinner and to purchase tickets, please click on /jobberannual/