44
TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
MAY/JUNE 2013
AWMA AWArds
Inducted into the AWMA Hall of
Fame in 2013 were John White,
vice president of Swisher Interna-
tional as the 2013 AWMA Manufac-
turers Hall of Fame inductee, and
the late Bob Douglas, founder of the
Douglas Cos. Inc. and past chair-
man of AWMA, as the 2013 AWMA
Distributor Hall of Fame inductee.
The AWMA’s 2013 Hall of Fame
Awards were presented to John
White, vice president of national
sales at Swisher International, and
to the late Bob Douglas, founder of
Douglas Companies in Texarkana,
Arkansas.
“The secret of John’s success
is simple,” said Keith Canning,
managing partner of Pine State
Trading Company, Gardiner, ME,
who presented the award to White.
“He’s an honest man. He tells the
truth, like it or not. He does what he
says he’ll do and he’s fair. John has an
uncanny knack for connecting with
people, for making them feel their
concerns are his—because they are.”
Accepting the Hall of Fame award
on behalf of Douglas were his son,
Steve, and daughter, Susie Douglas
Munson, who continue to operate
the family business. “Bob was a
man of strong opinions and firm
principles,” said Sherwin Herring,
CEO of Southco Distributing
Company in Goldsboro, North
Carolina, who credited Douglas with
leading the successful effort to save
AWMA in 2001 when he became
chairman. “There was no ‘go along to
get along’ in Bob. He’d fight for what
he believed in, even if he was the
only one, for which he was widely
admired.”
TOB
Keith Canning and Hugh Raetzsch with 2013 AWMA Hall of Fame Award winner John White.
Sherwin Herring and Hugh Raetzsch joined Steve Douglas and Susie Douglas Munson who accepted the
2013 AWMA Hall of Fame Award on behalf of their late father, Bob Douglas.
Past and present chairman of AWMA assembled at
the show.
Hugh Raetzch, 2013 AWMA Chairman
