After a two-year hiatus, 2,500 automotive icons, professionals, supporters and celebrities reunited to celebrate the winners of the SEMA Person of the Year, Manufacturer of the Year, WD of the Year and Gen-III Innovator of the Year at the 2021 SEMA Industry Awards Banquet, which took place Thursday, November 4, at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino.
About 2,500 automotive icons, professionals, supporters and celebrities attended the SEMA Industry Awards Banquet in Las Vegas.
In addition, SEMA paid tribute to this year’s SEMA Hall of Fame inductees: Jessi Combs, Rick Love, Bob Moore and Carl Schiefer. Hosted by Jarod DeAnda and Kevin Oeste the event is the automotive specialty-equipment market’s premier awards ceremony where industry excellence and achievements are celebrated.
The evening featured a cocktail hour, formal sit-down dinner, a performance by Light Balance—a Hi-Tech neon and LED show with elements of acrobatic and dance choreography—and comedy by Adam Ferrara.
A performance by Light Balance featured a Hi-Tech neon and LED show with elements of acrobatic and dance choreography.
The following companies and individuals were honored with industry awards:
2021 SEMA Person of the Year
Sara Morosan, LGE-CTS Motorsports
2021 SEMA Manufacturer of the Year
ORACLE Lighting Inc.
(runners up: KW Automotive and CSF Racing & High-Performance)
2021 SEMA WD of the Year
Turn 14 Distribution
(runners up: Meyer Distributing and Keystone Automotive)
2021 SEMA Gen-III Innovator of the Year
Matt Kossoff, Driven Lighting Group
(runners up: Justin Hartenstein and Keith Ferry)
Sara Morosan of LGE-CTS Motorsports was named 2021 SEMA Person of the Year.
Morosan, vice president of LGE-CTS Motorsports and president of BAJA Forged, received the association’s most prestigious award for SEMA Person of the Year. During the pandemic, Morosan formed BAJA Forged, a company specializing in off-road products and custom builds. She also dedicated hours of her time to volunteer for SEMA and the industry, most recently as chair-elect of the SEMA Businesswomen’s Network (SBN), a member of the SEMA Truck & Off-Road Alliance (TORA) select committee, and a SEMA Cares Committee member.
ORACLE Lighting Inc. was recognized as 2021 SEMA Manufacturer of the Year.
The SEMA Manufacturer of the Year honors went to ORACLE Lighting. The company is a nominee for the 2021 Lantern Award (which honors excellence in manufacturing for the entire state of Louisiana), and has been named a Small Business Champion by the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the Louisiana Exporter of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Jefferson Parish’s Small Business of the Year by JEDCO, Millennial Business of the Year by the Greater New Orleans Business Alliance and winner of an American Business Award for Consumer Products Company of the Year (Bronze Stevie).
Turn 14 Distribution was honored as 2021 SEMA WD of the Year.
Turn 14 Distribution was named SEMA Warehouse Distributor (WD) of the Year. Turn 14 has grown its business exponentially with technologically advanced, state-of-the-art warehouse facilities. The company makes data-driven decisions and is the first WD to implement a brand equity specialist to ensure they comply with manufacturers that have real pricing policies.
Matt Kossoff of Driven Lighting Group was named 2021 SEMA Gen-III Innovator of the Year.
The 2021 Gen-III Innovator of the Year award was presented to Kossoff, founder and chief product officer of Driven Lighting Group. With his company, he created an entire market segment by inventing the world’s first commercially available projector retrofit lighting product and he continues to innovate the industry with his products. What started in his basement during college has developed into 80 full-time workers and he owns six of the most well-known lighting brands in the industry.
Attendees watched the top two SEMA Launch Pad finalists compete live on stage and voted for their favorite product.
Attendees also had the opportunity to watch the top two SEMA Launch Pad finalists compete live on stage and vote for their favorite product. Dustin Woolf of Woolfpack Racing was ultimately the winner with his Natural Nitrous product. He walked away with a grand-prize package valued at $100,000.
Comedian Adam Ferrara entertained the crowd.
2021 Hall of Fame member Bob Moore was a pioneer in establishing standards for product data in the automotive aftermarket.
Jessi Combs’ mother Nina Darrington accepted the Hall of Fame honors on her behalf. Combs set a land-speed record for women at 522.783 mph.
Carl Schiefer’s son and current SCS Founder and CEO James Schiefer accepted the Hall of Fame honors on Carl’s behalf. Carl founded what has evolved into a thriving marketing agency dedicated to automotive brands.
2021 SEMA Hall of Fame member Rick Love of Vintage Air never wavers to volunteer his time, expertise and energy to helping the industry.
The SEMA Industry Awards recognize outstanding commitment to the industry and a high level of involvement with SEMA committees, task forces, councils and board of directors’ participation. Don’t miss the 2022 SEMA Show, to be held November 1–4 in Las Vegas.