HHI Spirit of Life Campaign
The HHI Spirit of Life® campaign brings together leaders across the National Hardware Homebuilding Industry around a shared belief: when an industry comes together, it can move progress faster and make a lasting difference for patients and families.
This collective effort will support City of Hope’s work to transform cancer and diabetes care—accelerating discoveries from the lab to the clinic, expanding access to whole-person care, and strengthening care delivery in communities across the country.
Our Honorees
Maria Ford
President, US Commercial & Industrial Sales & Marketing
Stanley Black & Decker
Maria Ford serves as President of U.S. Commercial & Industrial Sales for Stanley Black & Decker, where she leads one of the company's largest commercial organizations, overseeing a multi-billion-dollar business serving the commercial and industrial construction marketplace. In this role, she is responsible for accelerating revenue growth, expanding market share, strengthening strategic customer relationships, and driving profitable growth across the construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, and industrial sectors.
With nearly three decades of experience at Stanley Black & Decker, Maria has built a distinguished career defined by customer-centric leadership, operational excellence, and business transformation. Since joining the company as a sales intern in 1998, she has held leadership positions across sales, product management, end-user marketing, channel marketing, and commercial strategy, developing a deep understanding of the evolving needs of contractors, distributors, industrial end users, and strategic partners.
Michelle Newland
EVP & Chief Global & Retail Officer
Oatey
Michelle Newland serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Retail and International Officer for Oatey Company and is a member of the company’s executive leadership team. She leads Oatey’s Retail and International businesses, with responsibility for profitable growth, strategic customer relationships and expansion across domestic and global markets.
During her three-decade career with Oatey, Michelle has held positions of increasing responsibility across purchasing, marketing and sales. A defining focus of her career has been the growth of Oatey’s retail business, where she has helped build enduring partnerships with leading home improvement retailers and strengthen the company’s position in the retail channel.
Dennis Trine
Owner
Champion Power Equipment
Forty-eight years ago, Dennis Trine took his first job in the home hardware industry. He couldn't have known then that the road from managing logistics and distribution, through years in sales, would lead to the founding of his own company. But in 2003, that's exactly what he did, launching Champion Power Equipment and bringing outdoor power equipment to retail partners across the USA and Canada.
Champion has since grown into a world-class brand and an industry leader in market share. Dennis, true to form, will unambiguously tell you it could only have happened with dedicated people committed to quality, customer service, and "always doing the right thing!"