LAS VEGAS—Herregan Distributors of Eagan, Minn., was recently recognized by resilient tile supplier Metroflor with its Gerald Raskin Visionary Award. The honor came as part of Metroflor’s annual Distributor Awards presentation during Surfaces ’09 here.

Now in its 10th year, the awards are designed to honor the manufacturer’s partners that have not only outperformed its expectations, but are committed to “executing a plan that involves focus, growth and understanding that exemplifies the word ‘partnership,’” said Michael Raskin, president.

This year’s honorees were:

• Artistik—Adleta

• Metroflor—Tri-West

• Commercial—Tri-West

• Konecto—Adleta

• President’s Award— Ohio Valley Flooring

But the highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Visionary Award, which was renamed this year in honor of Raskin’s father, who founded Metroflor in the late 1960s as a distributor of primarily domestically manufactured flooring products, covering the New York metropolitan area.

“My father saw a lack of innovation among domestic products and began to seek out manufacturers overseas for out-of-the box, ahead-of-their-time ideas,” Raskin said. “He then started developing proprietary products designed and branded under the Metroflor name.”

The company went on to be the first to import resilient floors with designs in fiberglass sheet vinyl and self-stick tile from Germany. “Dad’s challenge was convincing customers that the quality was similar or better than domestic products. However, he managed to do this by offering excellent value, high performance and stylish designs. These are the principles on which Metroflor was founded. My father had the vision to manufacture high-end luxury vinyl tile and plank products and was always ahead of his time. This award honors his memory.”

For more on Metroflor and its partners, call 866.687.6357.