Top 40 distributor AIA Corporation (asi/109480) hosted its inaugural Supplier Summit event in Chicago last month, providing an intimate forum for collaboration and education between AIA and suppliers.

Eighteen attendees from AIA’s supplier MVP community joined AIA leadership for the two-day event. Matt Gresge, CEO of AIA, kicked off the Summit with an update on the state of the business, noting that AIA is on pace to increase its sales by 18% this year. In January, AIA announced that 2018 annual revenue increased 11% year-over-year to $194.9 million.

“Maintaining strong supplier relationships is a critical component of achieving AIA’s sales goals and effectively supporting our Owners,” Gresge said. “The Supplier Summit creates a setting where both AIA and suppliers can speak openly about who we are, our business objectives and how we can mutually support one another.”

Gresge was joined by ASI President and CEO Tim Andrews, who provided suppliers with the latest distributor sales growth data and promo marketing trends. As part of this, Andrews previewed new ASI research that tracked category sales from the last decade, showing gains in categories like technology and drinkware, and declines in categories such as bags and health/safety.

With reported 2017 North American promotional product revenue of $175.4 million, AIA Corporation ranked 11th on Counselor’s latest list of the largest distributors in the industry.