Thompson Pump & Manufacturing Co. last week named Larry Watson salesman of the year, Pat DeWitt branch manager of the year and Jay Giardina for distinguished customer service, for 2006.

Watson, a two-year Thompson Pump veteran, manages his South Carolina territory from Thompson’s Myrtle Beach branch. Watson provides pump demonstrations and pumping expertise for customers on jobsites where his experience and support can immediately provide solutions to challenging applications.

DeWitt, branch manager in Savannah, Ga., wins the branch manager award for the second year in a row. DeWitt opened the branch with just one other team member and grew the location to nine employees.

Giardina won the distinguished customer service award for his continued efforts aiding in the relief of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Giardina is the first recipient of this award.

The company also honored sales representative Rick Waters, Jim Templeton, Jay Giardina, Jake Brunner, Jerry Golden, Dan Gutierrez, David Perry, Pat Kennedy, Jason Roberson, Pat DeWitt, Larry Watson and Alan Worley with the Quota Buster award.

In recognition of outstanding achievement on behalf of the company and its customers, the following special awards were presented: The Silver Sledgehammer to Pat Kennedy; The Silver Rake to Ashton Milam and Jason Roberson; and The Silver Shovel to Dennis Heater, Jim Templeton and Rick Waters.

Thompson Pump, a family-owned company based in Port Orange, Fla., is a full-service manufacturer and provider of pumps, pumping equipment and engineering expertise for dewatering, bypass and emergency pumping applications. It is No. 45 on the RER 100.