Apr 20, 2009 7:55 AM

Richard Sweebe, president and chief executive officer of Diamond Companies in Memphis TN, has been recognized as the American Truck Dealers’ Truck Dealer of the Year.

One of six nominees, he received the award during the ATD’s recent annual convention.

Candidates for the honor are selected for business excellence, industry participation, and outstanding civil accomplishments by a panel of professors from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Sweebe began his career fresh out of college with International Harvester. In 1982, with the help of an International program called Dealcor, he opened his first dealership, Mid-America International Trucks.

From first-day employment of 56 employees and first-year sales of just under $20 million, he has grown the company to more than 600 employees and more than $220 million in sales with 17 facilities in 12 cities and four states.

Sweebe, who has earned numerous industry and sales awards, attributes much of the company’s success to the work ethic he learned while growing up on a farm in Ohio.