The National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association (NMEDA) recently honored the 2012 inductees to its inaugural Hall of Fame during the Annual NMEDA Conference in Phoenix, Ariz, according to a NMEDA news release. The NMEDA reports that the recipients were selected based upon their contribution to growing and improving the automotive mobility industry, and their commitment to serving individuals with disabilities.

According to the release, the 2012 inductees include business leader and author Ralph W. Braun, founder/CEO of Braun Corporation, Winamac, Ind, who has overcome adversity stemming from muscular dystrophy. Braun is a 20-year NMEDA member with 50 years of experience in the industry and has chronicled his business efforts in his book Rising Above.

The news release reports that inductee Mike Bruno, founder of Oconomowoc, Wis-based Bruno Independent Aids, is another recognized figure in the automotive mobility industry who urges his dealers and employees to see problems through the eyes of their customers, NMEDA points out. 

The list of inductees also includes Becky Plank, founding director of NMEDA, whose efforts in 1989 aimed to unite businesses to speak in one-voice for the greater good of the industry and customer. 

Peter Ruprecht, president of Drive Master, Fairfield, NJ, is included among the 2012 inductees in the news release thanks to his 62 years of service in the industry and his innovations which include his company’s Drive-Master Push-Pull Hand Control System.

NMEDA reports that its next inductee, Martin Smith, owner of Alamo Mobility, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, has served on multiple NMEDA committees as vice president of the board of directors and later president Smith also reportedly facilitated NMEDA’s Quality Assurance Program (QAP), and has served 28 years in the military.

Rounding out the group of 2012 NMEDA Hall of Fame inductees, the news release notes, is Tom Wright, retired owner of United Access, formerly Wright-Way Inc. Wright entered the industry in 1952 and served as a NMEDA board member for 14 years. The NMEDA adds that Wright has contributed to multiple committees including the QAP Compliance. 

David Hubbard, NMEDA executive director and CEO, articulates the organization’s excitement in celebrating the 2012 inductees, “They have helped shaped today’s marketplace for automotive mobility dealers and manufacturers, and the customers they serve,” Hubbard says.

Source: NMEDA