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SAN ANTONIO—The Consumer Healthcare Products Association awarded Chris DeWolf, Co-Owner, President, and CEO of Lil’ Drug Store Products, the prestigious Ivan D. Combe Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening session of its annual Self-Care Leadership Summit.
The Ivan D. Combe Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor in the U.S. consumer healthcare industry. It recognizes individuals whose lifetime achievements have made a lasting impact on the sector and their communities while advancing consumer self-care. The award ceremony celebrated DeWolf's decades of dedication and service in front of DeWolf’s family, peers, and more than 340 senior industry executives.
DeWolf has been a transformative figure in the industry. He has steered Lil’ Drug Store Products into a major supplier of health and beauty care items to over 180,000 retail locations. Under his leadership, the company expanded from $25 million in revenue in 2000 to more than $500 million in annual retail sales. His strategic initiatives have fostered partnerships with top distributors, significantly enhancing consumer access to self-care products.
“It’s such an honor to recognize a remarkable industry leader like Chris, an honoree whose entrepreneurial spirit and strategic vision helped transform Lil’ Drug Store Products into a leading player in the consumer healthcare and personal care sectors,” said CHPA President and CEO Scott Melville. “As our awardee is always quick to note, this success is a testament to the joint business prowess of Chris, his wife Suzy, and their commitment to growing and diversifying their business, while contributing to the betterment of their community through an extensive range of philanthropic efforts.
Beyond his corporate achievements, DeWolf has been deeply involved with CHPA, serving on its Board of Directors from 2007 to 2018 and returning in 2024. He was Board Chair from 2009 to 2011 and later led the CHPA Educational Foundation (now the Health in Hand Foundation) from 2014 to 2019, during which time he launched its first-ever Gala—now an annual flagship industry fundraiser.
“Chris has been actively involved with CHPA for many years, serving from 2007 to 2018 on our Board of Directors, and back again in 2024 to present, including a term as Board Chair from 2009 to 2011,” continued Melville. “His commitment to the consumer healthcare industry is undeniable and further demonstrated by his outstanding service to the CHPA Educational Foundation (now the Health in Hand Foundation) as a member of its board, including a term as foundation Board Chair from 2014 to 2019. It was under Chris’s guidance that the foundation made significant strides in public health education and advocacy, as well as in its own organization and financial sustainability, innovating and launching its first Gala, which has since become the annual flagship industry-wide event and fundraiser. Chris’s overall involvement with CHPA, our foundation, and the broader industry showcases his dedication to advancing consumer healthcare.”
DeWolf and his wife have received multiple accolades for their contributions to business and philanthropy, including the Howard Hall Excellence in Business Award and recognition as Outstanding Individual Philanthropists of the Year in 2020. He also serves on several boards, including the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business and the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, reflecting his deep commitment to economic and social development.
View a list of past Ivan D. Combe Lifetime Achievement Award winners here.
