Accelerate Automotive, auto industry research and production company, announced that company president Jared Hamilton has been awarded the 2008 Association of Automotive Internet Sales Professionals' (AAISP) Distinguished Service Award. The award was presented during a ceremony at the 4th annual Digital Dealer Conference at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, FL. AAISP recognizes industry leaders and outstanding contributions annually.

"Jared really goes above and beyond. He is well known and respected in the industry because of his significant contributions to improve dealership performance and adaptability to the changes created by the Internet. He is a pioneer whose research and innovation has helped countless dealers. Recently, he has been instrumental in developing the forthcoming AAISP Certification Program", commented AAISP interim Executive Director and President of Dealer Communication, Mike Roscoe.

Having an extensive background in retail auto sales, Hamilton began with odd jobs at his father's dealership. Working in sales for a number of dealership groups, he came up through the ranks. He was most recently the General Sales Manager for a large Ford store, and is a graduate of NADA's Dealer Candidate Academy. By emphasizing effective leadership through proper financial statement management, and leveraging technology and eCommerce opportunities, Hamilton has devoted his career to making dealerships more profitable. He is President of Accelerate Automotive, Inc., which recently completed a two-year research project, a ground-breaking documentary that explores the impact the Internet has had on the car business and how the most successful dealers are leveraging the web for growth, "The Masters Series: Automotive eCommerce".

Hamilton is currently focusing on DrivingSales.com, an industry-specific network and online best practice sharing community that connects auto industry professionals with the people and information they need to take the industry to new levels. Begining as a way for a group of dealer academy classmates to keep in contact with each other, DrivingSales.com is the original dealer online network, and as dealers increasingly see the value of social networking sites, it is growing into one of the industry's most valuable resources.