The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association and Casual Living magazine selected Ron LaRocca as this year’s winner of the prestigious Donna H. Myers Barbecue Leadership Award. A 30-year sales/marketing veteran, LaRocca has worked at all levels of the barbecue industry, involving everything from sauces, marinades, and charcoal briquettes to grills and accessories.

He has helped more than a dozen barbecue-related companies (such as KC Masterpiece® and Hickory Specialties) redefine and move their products forward in the market. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he served as chair and vice chair of the Barbecue Industry Association (BIA), and he was instrumental in realizing its merger with the Hearth and Patio Association. The 2015 Donna H. Myers Barbecue Leadership Award was presented in Nashville, Tennessee, during the Big Green Egg Chef Cook-off at HPBExpo 2015.

Ray Shelor, national sales manager for components manufacturer DiversiTech (Duluth, Georgia), says, “Ron has dedicated a large part of his life to the growing of the barbecue industry. From his initial introduction to the industry—taking KC Masterpiece from a basement hobby to a massive, worldwide-known brand—to serving two terms as BIA president, Ron has mentored many, including myself.”

Now in its fourth year, the award recognizes innovative leaders who have contributed to the growth of their companies and the overall industry. Recipients combine distinguished professional achievement and community service with problem-solving skills and an unwavering commitment to the barbecue industry. Donna H. Myers was a leading barbecue-industry advocate who died in January 2011. Previous winners are Ed Fisher, founder and chair of Big Green Egg (2014), and George A. Stephen, founder of Weber-Stephen Products and creator of the Weber kettle grill (2013). The first award was given posthumously to Myers in 2012.