Crown Equipment, one of the world's leading lift truck manufacturers, has announced 19 winners of its annual recognition program for company-owned branches and independent dealers. The program honors Crown's top branches and dealers with Summit and Ascent Awards for outstanding achievements in sales and customer satisfaction. Winners were chosen from Crown's nationwide network of more than 100 branches and dealers.

Jim Moran, senior vice president, Crown, noted that the company's strong performance in a difficult business climate can be attributed to a strong branch and dealer network.

"The importance of our distribution channel cannot be underestimated especially when customers' budgets are being reduced," said Moran. "There's no question in my mind that our strong relationships as a reliable partner helped us get through some challenging times. The performance of our entire network last year will certainly provide short and long-term benefits for our customers and our company."

Among all winners, Crown Lift Trucks of Orlando, Fla. and NorthWest Handling Systems of Portland, Ore., earned the prestigious James F. Dicke Pioneer Award as the company's top-performing branch and dealer, respectively.

NorthWest Handling Systems of Portland won the Pioneer Award in 2008 and earned the Summit Award five previous times in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. This is the company’s second year in a row to win both the Pioneer and Summit Awards.

"The sales and service teams at NorthWest Handling Systems worked as a team to maintain customer relationships and support the equipment so that it performed at intended levels," said Chris Keefer, general manager, NorthWest Handling Systems. "Our customers know that we're consistent in our actions and in turn so is the performance of our forklifts."

This is Crown Orlando's first Pioneer Award and Summit Award. "Last year was difficult from an economy viewpoint, but our people responded by providing excellent customer service," said Branch Manager André Lauber. "We earned these awards because of our commitment to our customers. We believe in the Crown forklifts we're selling and our customers believe in the productivity they deliver."

2009 Summit Award Winners

• A.J. Jersey, Inc., South Plainfield, N.J.
• NorthWest Handling Systems, Inc., Portland, Ore.
• Action Lift, Inc., Pittston, Pa.
• Homestead Material Handling Company, Roanoke, Va.
• Crown Lift Trucks, Orlando, Fla.
• Crown Lift Trucks, Boston, Mass.
  

Ascent Award Winners
The Ascent Award recognizes branches and dealers that performed well and are continuing to move toward the summit.

• Naumann/Hobbs Material Handling, Inc., Phoenix, Ariz.
• Material Handling Supply Inc., Brooklawn, N.J.
• NorthWest Handling Supply Inc., Seattle, Wash.
• Lift Solutions, Inc., Omaha, Neb.
• Fallsway Equipment Company, Akron, Ohio
• CFE Equipment Corporation, Norfolk, Va.
• Crown Lift Trucks, Miami, Fla.
• Crown Lift Trucks, Atlanta/Tifton, Ga.
• Crown Lift Trucks, Denver, Colo.
• Crown Lift Trucks, San Antonio, Texas
• Crown Lift Trucks, Tampa, Fla.
• Crown Lift Trucks, Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Crown Lift Trucks, Salt Lake City, Utah

About Crown Equipment Corporation
Crown is one of the world’s largest lift truck manufacturers. Crown’s award-winning line of lift trucks maintains a reputation for exceptional product design, engineering, and manufacturing. From the smallest hand pallet truck to the highest lifting turret truck, Crown seeks to provide users with safe, efficient and ergonomic lift trucks that lower total cost of ownership and maximize uptime. Headquartered in New Bremen, Ohio, Crown manufactures lift trucks that are sold throughout the world.