American Coatings Show + Conference
ACA Honors Dave Penichter with Distinguished Service Award
Penichter retired as director of business development for specialties at Univar Solutions last year.
From left, Mike Johnson, ACA president and CEO; Dave Penichter; ACA chairman Jeff Powell; and ACA vice chairman Chase Bean. (Photo Credit: Liz Lynch)
The American Coatings Association (ACA) presented Dave Penichter — who retired as director of business development for specialties at Univar Solutions last year — with its Distinguished Service Award. Penichter received this recognition during ACA’s Industry Awards Dinner, held prior to the American Coatings Show in Indianapolis.
The Distinguished Service Award recognizes enduring service to ACA and the paint and coatings industry. Over his 45-year career in the industry, Penichter carved a commercial path, primarily through the distribution channel.
For more than 20 years, he brought his distributor lens to his active participation with ACA. He served on the association’s Architectural and Industrial Coatings Committees, as well as the Industry Suppliers Committee. Penichter acted as Industry Suppliers Committee chair for six years, during which he also served on ACA’s Board of Directors.
As chair of the Industry Suppliers Committee, Penichter was instrumental in bringing supplier and distributor members together to understand the industry’s most pressing challenges.
Under his leadership, the committee routinely invited a manufacturer member to meetings to discuss the procurement process for raw materials and equipment and learn how suppliers and distributors could more fully support the industry. He was also a steadfast supporter of ACA’s American Coatings Show since its debut in 2008.
Penichter began his industry career in 1980 as a sales representative for Spencer Kellogg (Textron). In 1982, he took on the same role at D.H. Litter Co., where he remained until 1989, when he joined W.R. Grace & Co/Davison Chemical Div., as regional sales manager.
Penichter returned to D.H. Litter as vice president from 1998 until 2011, after which he joined Archway Sales Inc., as vice president of marketing. He remained in that position until 2019, when he took on the role of director of business development for Nexeo Solutions.
Penichter was a member and officer of the New York Society for Coatings Technology for 10 years, and the Metropolitan New York Coatings Association (MNYCA) for 15 years. He received MNYCA’s Paint Pioneer Award in 2022.
