NGA Gives Independent Grocer Rudy Dory Entrepreneurial Excellence Award

The National Grocers Association (NGA) has presented the Thomas K. Zaucha Entrepreneurial Excellence Award to Rudy Dory, executive chairman of Bend, Ore.-based Newport Avenue Market. The presentation took place Feb. 22, ahead of the 2020 NGA Show running Feb. 23-26 in San Diego.

“When you think of what it means to be an entrepreneur, Rudy Dory comes to mind,” noted Greg Ferrara, president and CEO of Arlington, Va.-based NGA. “He’s worked almost his entire professional life in the grocery industry, growing Newport Avenue Market over the last 25 years into an innovative and strong business. The company is dialed into the local community, providing excellence and quality to their customers. For Rudy, his love and passion for what he does is as strong as ever, and our entire industry is better because of him. I congratulate Rudy on receiving this award and look forward to working with him for years to come as we continue to advance the interests of our industry.”

Newport Avenue Market opened in 1991, offering a range of specialty and international foods. In 2015, the business became the first employee-owned grocery in central Oregon.

Last year, Dory received the Clarence G. Adamy Great American Award, the NGA’s highest honor for government relations and public affairs efforts. 

Since 2009, the Thomas K. Zaucha Award, sponsored by Deerfield, Ill.-based Mondelēz International and named for NGA’s first president and CEO, has gone annually to an independent grocer demonstrating extraordinary persistence, vision, and creative entrepreneurship.

NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. The organization’s members include retail and wholesale grocers and state grocers associations, as well as manufacturers and service suppliers.