Yes, Pleatco Pool Tech Search transitioned into the Pentair Pool Pro Awards when Pentair Pool acquired Pleatco.

This year’s theme is Larger than Life. Pentair Pool aims to celebrate the pool pros who make everyday pool moments — a simple swim, a cannonball, a pool party with friends — feel larger than life.

The Pentair Pool Pro Awards is an honor meant to champion the importance of the pool servicer in the pool industry. If selected as one of the top two Pentair Pool Pro winners, you’ll enjoy the following perks:

• 2025 Atlantic City Pool & Spa Show travel accommodations and special recognition
• Personalized excursion hosted by Pentair Pool
• Enrollment for a Genesis/PHTA training course
• Exclusive interview with AQUA Magazine, an industry-leading publication
• And more!

There will be seven awards given. The top two awards recognize stand-out pool pros — one man and one woman — who are larger than life in their communities. The top two winners will receive platinum-level prize packages. Other finalist categories that will be honored with prize packages include the following:

• Lifetime Achievement
• Young Leader
• Advancing Technology
• Safety Advocate
• Pleatco Pioneer

• Once nominations begin on Sept. 4, 2024, pool pros will be nominated and then vetted by various members of the Pentair Pool team to ensure that all nominees are qualified candidates that meet the criteria of the awards. Nominations that are incomplete or insufficient will not be moved on to the voting phase. Pentair has the right to eliminate any nomination that is deemed insufficient.
• For the voting stage, all validated nominees will be posted online. The general public will be able to place votes through an online form from Oct. 23-29, 2024. The nominees with the most votes will move on to the next phase, which will include interviews by the Pentair Pool selection committee.
• The interviews will take place from November to early December. Winners will then be notified shortly thereafter, and publicly announced on Jan. 8, 2025. The winners will then be formally recognized at the 2025 Atlantic City Pool & Spa Show.

Any pool pro is eligible to be nominated. A pool pro is defined as anyone working in the pool and spa service industry as a service technician. Nominations may be submitted by anyone, including your company, your sales rep, your customers, and yourself.

Nominees will be judged on if they meet the following criteria:

• Commitment and experience in the pool industry
• Passion for pool and enjoying water
• Knowledge of pool industry and products
• Customer service and safety-first approach
• Training and education experience
• Demonstration of leadership and strong engagement in the industry
• Compelling story of success; demonstrating hard work, tenacity, and propelling growth in the industry

To submit a nomination, fill out the form. The form will ask for basic information including who you’re nominating, the name of the company they work for, why they should be considered for the Pentair Pool Pro Awards, etc. We require a photo of the nominee be uploaded (650x900 px preferred), as well as a short video clip detailing why this nominee should be considered for the Pentair Pool Pro Awards.

There is no limit to how many people you can nominate. Please submit only one nomination for each nominee. All duplicate nominations will be combined to one profile for the voting stage.

All nominees who match the definition of a pool pro and have complete nominations will move on to the voting stage. A pool pro is defined as anyone working in the pool and spa service industry as a service technician. If a nomination is incomplete or insufficient, then that nominee won’t move on to the voting round.

The video should be 90 seconds or less and in .mp4 format. Vertical videos are preferred, but horizontal videos are accepted.

The video clip may include:

• Why do you think you or the nominee should be considered for the Pentair Pool Pro Awards?
• What is the nominee’s story? How do you think their work adheres to the criteria (listed above) by which the nominee will be judged? Things to consider discussing are how long a nominee has been in the pool industry, their commitment to their work and customers, and their overall passion for pool enjoyment.
• Video creativity is encouraged but won’t impact how you will be judged during the nomination process.

Please upload your video clip in the nomination form as an attachment.

Voting will occur between Oct. 23 – 29, 2024.

Voting will take place online through a voting form opening on Oct. 23, 2024. Keep an eye out for emails and social media posts reminding you to vote for your favorite pool pro.

Anyone with a valid email address can vote.

During the voting process, you can only vote for one pool servicer. However, you can absolutely spread the word with your customers, families, and friends to vote for you. You can also vote for yourself.

Share the voting form with your network! Encourage customers, family members, and friends to vote for you by sharing the link to vote. One vote per email address is allowed.