Bankers Advertising Company (PPAI 101972) has established the Willis M. Bywater Creativity Award and presented the inaugural honor to the award’s namesake, Bill Bywater (above right). President David Bywater, MAS, announced the news at the Iowa City, Iowa-based distributor’s national sales meeting in Galena, Illinois.

Long an advocate for the industry’s creativity, Bill Bywater has served the company and the industry for nearly 60 years. He is a former PPAI board member and a PPAI Lifetime Member, and a member of the PPAI Fellows Program. Bywater was inducted into the PPAI Hall of Fame in 2004.

Bywater received the honor for producing an award-winning program in honor of Nile Kinnick, a University of Iowa football player and Heisman Trophy winner who died while serving as an aviator in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Working with supplier Indiana Metal Craft (PPAI 112175), Bywater provided 50 consecutively numbered cast bronze busts of Kinnick in honor of the 105th anniversary of Kinnick’s Phi Kappa Psi fraternity chapter.

The Bywater Creativity Award, which honors dedication to service and creativity, is not an annual award; rather, it will be given only when a significant and worthy project is presented. To be considered, a project must be a tangible finished product created for an actual promotion or event. It must achieve the customer’s desired result. Custom projects, or custom applications of stock products, are most likely to be considered. The project should be unique. There is no price point requirement, but impact on the industry and the community is considered.