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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Rosemarie Kitchin, rosemariek@sema.org                                    909/396-0289 ext 104

Kim Milman, kmilman@jmprpublicrelations.com

818/992-4353

Don Smith of High Performance Distributors Earns 8th Athena Award
 
LAS VEGAS (Oct. 31, 2001) – Don Smith, president of High Performance Distributors, South San Francisco, Calif., received the Athena Award from the SEMA Businesswomen’s Network (SBN) at the group’s annual breakfast this morning.

Immediate past SEMA chairman Charlie Van Cleve, who won the award in 1996, accepted the award on Smith’s behalf. Smith, unable to be present at the ceremony, sent greetings to the group.
           
In making the presentation, SBN president Martha Doyle of Television Media Marketing noted Smith’s persistent efforts on behalf of women in the specialty equipment aftermarket.  “Nominations on his behalf, and there were several, all mentioned Don’s efforts within SEMA and the Performance Warehouse Association (PWA) to advance women to positions of industry leadership. Don was also the instigator of the title change from SEMA Man of the Year to SEMA Person of the Year,” she said.  She noted that Smith is a mentor for several achieving women within the industry.

A former drag racer who held a Super Stock National record at one time, Smith was co-owner of Champion Speed Shop and the Half Moon Bay Drag Strip. He is one of four non-manufacturer founding members of SEMA, and served on SEMA’s board for nearly 14 years.         

Smith was a two-term president of PWA and a PWA board member for more than two decades.
      

Smith’s other industry honors include the 1974 SEMA Man of the Year award, being the first award winner of the PWA Person of the Year award, and membership in the 100-person SEMA Hall of Fame since 1974.

The Athena Award was established in 1994 to honor an industry person or company for outstanding contributions to women in the automotive aftermarket.

The Athena Award is a crystal owl on a marble base, signifying the Greek goddess’s Athena stature as the goddess of wisdom.

Previous recipients include Alex Borla of Borla Performance Products, Rainier Willingham of Flex-a-Lite, Amy Faulk of Hypertech, Angelo Varrone of Shore Varrone, Charlie Van Cleve of Hedman Manufacturing, JR Granatelli of Paxton Superchargers and Relco/Reliable Automotive.

Susan (Zan) Martin, president of Martin Advertising, will become SBN chairman in January 2002.  Liz Lombardo is the SEMA staff executive for the women’s network.

SEMA represents the $24.86 billion specialty automotive industry. The trade association is composed of nearly 4,800 member companies, and is the authoritative source of research data, trends and market growth information for automakers and the specialty auto products industry. The industry provides appearance, performance, safety, comfort, convenience and technology products for passenger cars, minivans, pickups, SUVs and recreational vehicles. It's a specialty market as old as the automobile and as new as cutting-edge technology. For more information, please contact SEMA at 1575 S. Valley Vista Dr., Diamond Bar, CA 91765; call 909/396-0289; or visit www.sema.org or www.enjoythedrive.com.

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