Presidents Award

We are proud to announce that our 2019 President’s Award goes to Phil Carter from American Pool Maryland. Each year our organization recognizes excellence through our Corporate Awards program and the President’s Award is the highest distinction of the program. 

The President’s Award began in 1998 as a way to acknowledge staff members who go above and beyond the call of duty and are true assets to the American Pool organization. Every year, each of our 17 office locations nominates staff for this award and many others. The winner of the President’s Award is selected by the American Pool Executive Team for being a productive and committed team member who carries out their responsibilities to the company with quality and excellence.

Phil joined American Pool with the Community Pool Service (CPS) merge back in the fall of 2018. “Since day one, when Phil sat down to discuss the CPS and American Pool merger, he was nothing but open and on-board,” said Michelle Porter, President of American Pool Maryland. He was able to look ahead and focus on creating the best new way to make American Pool a better company. Phil is someone who goes above and beyond and is always willing to help whether or not it is a benefit to himself or his operations. 

After the merge, American Pool Maryland’s management set-up was completely changed. They had five more vice presidents and sixteen more regional managers all of which began reporting to Phil. He is always willing to jump in to help any department at any time. In the summer of 2019, there were some setbacks with staffing and the first person to get involved was Phil, he wanted to do whatever he could to help. When describing Phil, several words came to mind for Michelle including detailed, organized, energized, enthusiastic, confident, direct, decisive, visionary, and leader. 

Phil has gone out of his way on several occasions to help the organization. After attending a recent Regional Manager’s meeting in Nashville, he seized the opportunity to mentor one of the regionals, showing how much he cares for the company. “The 2019 President’s Award winner is someone that I truly enjoy working with… whenever Phil is asked to do something you know it will be done thoroughly, accurately, and timely,” said Dan Lawler, Chief Operations Officer, American Pool Enterprises.  

“Phil never accepts mediocrity in his team and most importantly in himself. He pushes the team consistently to improve and be better. His contribution to the company as a whole has made a difference to the team and myself personally. We laugh, we have fun and I am thankful he is by my side every day. – Michelle Porter, President, American Pool Maryland

Operation of the Year

Each year, the Operation of the Year Award goes to the office that truly outperformed in comparison to the previous year on all fronts and excelled from both a financial and customer experience standpoint. This operation is one that provides a strong culture that is mindful of the bottom line while holding true to our values of safety, caring, thoughtfulness, and honesty all while accomplishing a safe and successful year. This operation springboards our growth within their local area, increases margins, and has projected growth for the next season.

The 2019 Operation of the Year award goes to American Pool Houston! Brooks Wedeking, President of American Pool Houston, has consistently proven himself as a model from a safety standpoint. In 2019, his operation had one of the strongest safety records within our organization with zero accidents or liability claims. In the last three years, Brooks has put together an impressive NPS customer satisfaction score… the highest score of any operation in our organization. 

“Brooks is engaging, is always looking to learn more, to do better, to understand his business better, and improve himself and his Houston market. In three years, Brooks was able to grow his market from 0-90 pools. His operation embodies what American Pool stands for and the opportunities for all within our organization. Brooks has established himself and his operation in the Houston market as a leader,” said Dan Lawler, Chief Development Officer, American Pool Enterprises, LLC. 

The Silver Shield Award

Each year, The Silver Shield Award is presented to the office that demonstrates an impressive commitment to health and safety in the workplace. This award began back in 2004 and is given to the office that has effectively implemented our Corporate Safety and Health Program. This operation is one that thrives in management, commitment, employee involvement and employee training. Their management made a choice and a serious commitment to the health and safety of its employees and patrons by facilitating a culture of safety.  This operation ultimately has seen a reduction in accidents, injuries, and illnesses over the previous calendar year.   

This year’s Silver Shield Award goes to American Pool Georgia.

“Georgia deserves the Silver Shield Award due to their pure dedication to safety. They’ve created a culture where safety is a priority and everyone plays a part. Their values show in everything they do… their training including driver decision training and coaching and counseling drivers through the vehicle traffic program… it’s the backbone of the safety culture that has been created. Not only do they take safety seriously, but senior management understands that actions speak louder than words.” – Sabraya Isaacs, Corporate Safety Director, American Pool Enterprises, LLC.