ALEXANDRIA, Virginia —The Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association has presented Ronald M. Powell, president of Moroil Technologies, with the John A. Bellanti Award. The award honors an ILMA member who, through determination, diligence and dedication, has made significant contributions to the association and the industry. Powell was presented with the award last week during the ILMA annual meeting in Palm Desert, California.

Powell started working with his father in the family business in 1979. He began his career in the business working on a loading dock and spent time learning all the company’s departments, from delivery to blending, and was elected president of Moroil in 1984. Through his leadership, Powell transformed the operation from a jobber for a major oil company to a large industrial lubricant manufacturer.

Powell has served as a leader not only within the family business but also within the industry. Holly Alfano, CEO of ILMA, said Powell is one of the longest-serving members on ILMA’s board of directors. “He is rotating off this year, and he is going to be missed,” Alfano said. “He takes his participation very seriously, and he gives 100 percent.”

Since 2000, Powell has served on many ILMA committees, including the Long Range Planning and Strategic Planning Committees. He has also chaired the Operations and Administrations and Government Affairs Committees and is a driving force behind the newly formed Global Affairs & Trade Committee. Powell has also directly advocated for the industry in Washington, D.C., attending fly ins and working with lawmakers on critical regulatory issues.

“Ron is the guy who will always take on any task that you ask him. He has never said no,” said Frank H. Hamilton III, ILMA board member and president of South Atlantic Services Inc. “He speaks his mind and doesn’t always agree with the majority. But he very much puts team before self.”

Powell said being affiliated with ILMA has been a tremendous experience. “It is peopled with some of the highest quality and character people of any group I’ve ever been affiliated with,” he said. “It has given us at Moroil access to information that in some cases I probably wouldn’t have gotten and in other cases wouldn’t have gotten as soon.”

Since 1948, the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association has been the voice of member companies that produce more than a quarter of the nation’s automotive lubricants and three-quarters of its metalworking fluids for customers who use their products to improve performance and increase efficiency.