The DPA Buying Group recently held its annual Buying & Networking Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

DPA handed out awards to its Safety Suppliers & Distributors of the Year and presented its 2020 & 2021 Safety Excellence Awards.

DPA’s 2020 Safety Distributor of the Year was Industrial Safety, LLC (Westport, Connecticut) and DPA’s 2020 Safety Supplier of the Year was Medique Products (Fort Myers, Florida). The 2021 Safety Distributor of the Year was Morton Safety (Neenah, Wisconsin) and DPA’s 2021 Safety Supplier of the Year was AMMEX Corporation (Kent, Washington). Two years of awards were given due to the pandemic, DPA said.

DPA’s 2020 Safety Excellence award was presented to Cordova Safety Products (Memphis, Tennessee) and the 2021 Safety Excellence award went to KISHIGO (Fountain Valley, California).

The group said more than 500 attendees were present, making it the largest show in DPA’s history. “DPA distributors and suppliers met one-on-one to place orders, network, and learn about new products,” DPA said. “DPA held three different conferences simultaneously in adjacent ballrooms: JanSan, Safety & Industrial. All distributors were able to meet with suppliers in all three exhibit halls.”