Centric Parts has announced that Steve Hughes, the company’s vice president of governmental affairs/logistics/supplier development, has been named the Peter Klotz Person of the Year by the Auto International Association (AIA), which recently changed its name do the Import Vehicle Community. Hughes was honored by AIA Chairman Ira Davis at a banquet held during AAPEX 2015 in Las Vegas.

In selecting Hughes for the award, the board recognized his contributions to the entire automotive aftermarket, and in particular how instrumental he was in assisting the industry by closely monitoring labor negotiations earlier this year at West Coast ports and helping collect key industry data on the negative impact of the related slowdowns on the industry as a whole.

In addition to his work at Centric, Hughes has been deeply committed to the entire international automotive community in its efforts to promote free and fair trade. He has been an active volunteer member of several industry associations and has organized and led several industry coalitions to provide input on anti-dumping investigations, even providing key in-person testimony before the International Trade Commission. Most recently, Hughes was appointed to the Department of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative Industry Trade Advisory Committee for the automotive industry (ITAC2).

Hughes works with the other members of ITAC 2 to provide trade policy and technical advice, information and recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) regarding trade barriers, negotiation of trade agreements and implementation of existing trade agreements. ITAC 2 also performs other advisory functions relevant to the development of U.S. trade policy as may be requested by the Secretary and the USTR, or their designees.

In addition to his service with ITAC, Hughes is a contributing member of several other industry and governmental affairs organizations, including:

• Auto Care Association (Governmental Affairs Committee)
• Brake Manufacturers Council (BMC Council member)
• Motor Equipment Manufacturers Association (Governmental Affairs Committee)
• CAWA (Manufacturers Advisory Council and Public Affairs Committee)
• SAE Brake Dynamometer and Brake Friction committees