ALBANY, N.Y. — Software developer Transfinder Corp. presented its second annual Ambassador of the Year award to Peter Lawrence, the director of transportation at Fairport (N.Y.) Central School District.

Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella announced Lawrence as the winner at the close of Transfinder’s Annual Client Summit held in Albany earlier this month. The conference drew more than 200 attendees from 31 school districts across the U.S. and Canada.

In announcing the award, Civitella discussed how Lawrence provided valuable feedback to Transfinder at a time when it was growing rapidly, but its products and service were not keeping up with clients’ needs. During this period, about a decade ago, Transfinder lost Fairport as a client to a company Civitella described as “Brand X.”

That decision served as a wakeup call for the global logistics software developer.

“True friends will tell you what you need to hear, not always what you want to hear,” Civitella said. “And Peter Lawrence told me and Transfinder areas where we could improve and we listened and made significant adjustments. We are a better company because of Peter Lawrence.”

Lawrence said Fairport had a good relationship with Transfinder for many years and said the company kept the dialogue going even after Fairport was no longer a client. He said Fairport used different products over the years but came back to Transfinder because of the “core aspects of Transfinder and its ease of use. It’s not out there in a lot of products.

“Something you would think is so basic, Transfinder has it and it’s necessary,” Lawrence added. “The one thing that I really appreciate about Tony and the crew is their ability to listen. When you have an idea they say, ‘Let me write this down. Let me put this in’ and you feel valued.”

Lawrence said he was honored to receive the award.

“It’s great to be back with Transfinder and I look forward to many years of working with the Transfinder team,” he said.

Transfinder awarded the first Ambassador of the Year award to Stephen Janes of Park County, Wyoming, during its Annual Client Summit held in Austin, Texas, last year. Janes oversaw the district’s implementation of right-hand-only bus stops for students in grades kindergarten through third grade using Transfinder’s Infofinder I software.