FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Adam Pratt Named 2017 Young Fastener Professional of the Year by The Fastener Show
Los Angeles, CA (August 18, 2017) – The Fastener Show has partnered with the Fastener Industry Coalition to choose Adam Pratt, President of Sherex Fastening Solutions, to be honored as the newest recipient of the Young Fastener Professional Award at its annual event in Las Vegas. The Young Fastener Professional of the Year Award recognizes and honors a young professional under the age of forty who has made significant contributions to the fastener industry. A special recognition award ceremony will take place on the show floor in the Session Area at The Fastener Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, October 18 at 3:30 p.m.
About The Award
The Fastener Show recognizes up-and-coming leaders under 40 years old who enhance industry awareness and promote the fastener industry to the business community. Nominees are reviewed by the Fastener Industry Coalition, comprised of thirteen North American regional and national fastener associations concerned with the distribution, manufacture, and importation of fasteners as well as services to the fastener industry. The Young Fastener Professional of the Year Award identifies young visionaries who bring people together, have an unimpeachable record of integrity and respect, and demonstrate innovative leadership skills. This year’s winner of the award exemplifies how innovation and business development together can push the market change to success.
About The Winner
The Fastener Industry Coalition committee reviewed a large field of exceptional nominees before selecting Adam Pratt. As President and founder of Sherex Fastening Solutions at age 24, Adam has grown his Buffalo, New York company of seven employees into a massive global manufacturer with 170 employees worldwide, focused on design and manufacture of innovative fastening solutions for automotive, solar, and other major industries. Under Adam’s leadership, Sherex has developed such innovative products as the patented Riv-Float© and Riv-Float Short© (solutions to the common problem of application misalignment), a full hex product line, and the largest diameter rivet nut product line available on the market today. With revenue now exceeding $30 million annually, Sherex has been nominated nine times as one of Buffalo’s top Fast Track businesses in western New York, and six times for Best Places to Work in Buffalo. His work in the Western New York area has been instrumental in the creation of Buffalo Manufacturing Works (of which Sherex is a member of the Founding Council), as well as supporting Western New York manufacturers as Chair of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s Manufacturer’s Council.
Adam was chosen as this year’s award recipient not only for his personal professional success but for his outstanding contributions as a local and global citizen. Through Sherex Fastening Solutions, tens of thousands of dollars have been raised through several philanthropic initiatives including the 11 Day Power Play, an attempt to beat the world record for the longest continuous hockey game, to raise funds for cancer research, and to Ronald McDonald House Charities. Adam also sponsors a University of Kentucky program designed to assist foster youth pursuing higher education and sponsors business development through peer-to-peer learning support as Forum Chair for the local chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization. Adam’s global dedication to the fastener industry is evident through the Automated Fastener Assembly Systems Group (A-FAS), a group he founded to combine new technologies and development of strategic global partnerships. This innovative model provides a single contact for eight worldwide facilities that together can offer turn-key solutions with fasteners, hand tools, modules, and automation cells.
Adam participates in leadership within all of these groups to enhance the fastener industry because he believes true leadership is most effective within personal relationships. “I like being able to work with and get to know people personally, to guide the industry from within,” Pratt remarked.
The Fastener Show’s unique ability to recognize leaders like Adam Pratt is part of what sets the annual meeting apart from other shows. “What the committee really likes to see in the Young Fastener Professional of the Year is that unique combination of innovation and early leadership. Adam is on the cutting edge of solutions, but he’s also not shy to share his success so that others in the industry can adopt similar models. He’s truly the kind of young professional made for this annual award,” noted Courtney Harold of Emerald Expositions, the operator of The Fastener Show.
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About The Fastener Show
Held annually in Las Vegas, NV, The Fastener Show (previously NIFSME) is the largest fastener expo in North America. Since 1981, the event continues to bring together all participants in the fastener supply and distribution chain. The event consists of a multiple-day conference program, a show floor with more than 600 exhibiting companies from around the world, the only industry-wide Hall of Fame and Young Professional Award Ceremonies, and an education program focused on current industry challenges.
The Fastener Show is owned and operated by Emerald Expositions, the largest operator of business-to-business trade shows in the United States, with most of our shows dating back several decades. We currently operate more than 50 trade shows, including 31 of the top 250 trade shows in the country as ranked by TSNN, as well as numerous other events. Our events connect over 500,000 global attendees and exhibitors and occupy more than 6.5 million NSF of exhibition space. We have been recognized with many awards and accolades that reflect our industry leadership as well as the importance of our shows to the exhibitors and attendees we serve.
More information about The Fastener Show can be found at fastenershows.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Daniel Acuna
(323) 817-2212
daniel.acuna@emeraldexpo.com
