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When Samantha Post of T&M Hardware took the stage to accept an award Dec. 6, she wasn’t just representing her family’s business. She was asking a crowd of retailers to look beyond their own operations to support small business in every way they can.
The North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) and shop local organization Independent We Stand honored Post with the Spirit of Independents Award.
The organizations created the award to honor a home improvement retailer who makes exceptional efforts to promote the shop local movement in their community.
They selected Post as their first-ever Spirit of Independents Award honoree because of her work with the Bellevue Initiative for Growth and Revitalization, a nonprofit community development organization, and her tireless efforts to refer and attract customers to other independent businesses in her area.
Post believes that communities thrive when independent operators support other small businesses’ success, she says.
Dan Tratensek, executive vice president of NRHA, and Bill Brunelle, co-founder of Independent We Stand, presented the award Dec. 6 at the NRHA 2018 State of Independents Conference in Chicago.
Post’s family owns and operates six T&M Hardware stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Post directly manages one store location, among other roles within the company.
