LCT Showgoers Celebrate The Industry Greats

SANDS EXPO, Las Vegas — Anticipation was palpable as operators sipped complementary cocktails and chatted over delectable dinners while waiting to hear if their names would be called during the 2017 Operator of the Year Awards, held March 14 during the International LCT Show in the Sands Expo.

Upbeat “club party” music spun by the DJ perfectly accompanied the cheers coming from the audience each time hosts Sara Eastwood-Richardson, LCT publisher, and Ty Bobit, CEO of Bobit Business Media.

If you weren’t lucky enough to be in the room where it happened, here’s a list of this year’s champions:

 2017 LCT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR

51+ Vehicles Category

Premier Transportation

Dallas, TX

Eric Devlin

2017 LCT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR

31-50 Vehicles Category

Pontarelli Companies / Pontarelli Worldwide Ground Transportation

Chicago, IL

Arthur J. Rento, Debbie Rento, Diane Albrecht, and Cindy Hani

2017 LCT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR

11-30 Vehicles Category

Ecko Transportation Inc.

San Jose, CA

Harry Dhillon

2017 LCT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR

1-10 Vehicles Category

Eight Black Transport

Longmont, CO

Simon Chen and Matthew Deutsch

2017 LCT GLOBAL OPERATOR OF THE YEAR

Alquimavi Limos

Mexico City, Mexico

Ramon Mateos

2017 LCT MOTORCOACH OPERATOR OF THE YEAR

Arrow Stage Lines

Omaha, NE

The Busskohl Family

A panel of six independent judges scored two to four finalists in each category on a scale of 1-10 each in the following ar­eas: Customer service, technology, safe­ty/insurance, chauffeur training, media/ marketing, and community/industry in­volvement. The highest scorer out of a maximum of 60 points became the winner.

Among the winners were unexpected newcomers and returning OOY winning alumni Eric Devlin and Harry Dhillon.

A total of 17 finalists for the above awards were selected from a wider pool of applicants, who submitted forms and supporting materials through LCT’s on­line portal.

Before the Operator of the Year Awards, Na­tional Limousine Asso­ciation President Gary Buffo and executive di­rector Sarah Gazi pre­sented the first joint LCT-NLA Association Award of Excellence, which rec­ognizes a state or local industry trade association for its mem­bership, advocacy, and overall efforts on behalf of the chauffeured transportation industry.

This year’s winner is:

Virginia Limousine Association

President Paul Walsh, leaders Andrea Saathoff, Ben Mercer, Glenn Stafford, Randy Allen, Jeff Shanker, and executive director Philip Jagiela.

Keywords

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