Multiquip-Canada, one of the primary equipment providers to the country's rental industry, was honored as Supplier of the Year by the Canadian Rental Association.

The award is based on the quality of products and services as determined by the association's 550 rental store operators and members, said Dorothy Wellnitz, CRA's executive director.

"Our goal is to provide the Canadian equipment and tool rental industry with seamless and smooth access to MQ's products that are designed and manufactured to surpass the high quality/durability requirements of fleet rental operations," said Jim Martin, sales manager at MQ-Canada. "This award is an important statement from our clients, throughout Canada, saying our products, services and efforts are being recognized and appreciated. It's a great honor and reinforces our continuing dedication to the industry."

Since 1999, Multiquip-Canada in Laval, Quebec, has supplied compaction equipment, concrete and masonry working products, power generation equipment, dewatering pumps and much more to rental outlets and contractors throughout Canada. This is the first time it has received Supplier of the Year recognition.

Though considered an annual award, Wellnitz said in many years there are no winners when CRA members fail to recognize a manufacturer as providing superior products and services.

"Of equal importance if not more so," Martin added, "is the eagerness and commitment to providing unparalleled after-sales support. It's not so much where you start that matters as where you end. The purchase of a piece of equipment is but a starting point. How well and how long one co-exists with that equipment is in large part dependent upon the integrity and services provided by the vendor."

The 41-year-old Canadian Rental Association is a non-profit trade association committed to promoting the success of its members while advancing the rental industry. It is also part the American Rental Association's Region 10. Together the organizations represent more than 7,500 rental businesses in 40 countries.