Gerry Price, the CEO and namesake of Price Industries, will receive the 2024 International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award (IDEA) from the University of Manitoba’s Associates at the Asper School of Business.

Price has built his company into the largest manufacturer of commercial HVAC products in North America with more than 4,500 employees and $1 billion in annual revenue.

When he and his wife, Barb, acquired the company in 1986, it was doing about $30 million in revenue.

In the years that followed, the company expanded its operations into the U.S. including large manufacturing facilities in Atlanta and Phoenix, becoming the largest player in the commercial HVAC products market in the U.S. and Canada. Price’s dedication to innovation and research and development is legendary.

The company, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2024, has since branched out into additional industries, including aluminum extrusion and glass manufacturing.

Price will be the 40th recipient of the award, which will handed out at a gala dinner on May 30.

After the late Israel Asper, Gerry Price is the second person in the University of Manitoba’s history to be celebrated with the rare trifecta of an honorary degree, a Distinguished Alumni Award and the International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

Martin Cash
Reporter

Martin Cash has been writing a column and business news at the Free Press since 1989. Over those years he’s written through a number of business cycles and the rise and fall (and rise) in fortunes of many local businesses.

   Read full biography