The International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA) announced the winners of its annual awards at the association’s recent annual meeting in Atlanta. The ISFA awards are chosen by association members, and given to those in the industry that stand out as the very best.
Taking top honors, the Fabricator of the Year Award was given to Fadi Halabi of Duracite in Fairfield, Calif. The Fabricator of the Year is awarded to an individual of a fabricator member company that in the past year has best exemplified the ISFA ideals of quality, innovation, character and exemplary service to ISFA and/or the decorative surfacing industry, with overall excellence. Halabi, fabricator of solid surface, granite and other natural stone, quartz surfacing and recycled materials, operates his business with 10 locations in California and Nevada. He earned the award for being a model leader of a large fabrication company and specifically for perfecting for his business a color-coding process for the hearing impaired, first introduced in the automotive industry. The process allows anyone at any time to walk into any of the company’s shop locations and know exactly where in the process a job is.
The other honored winners are:
The Associate of the Year Award is given to an associate member company that in the past year has best exemplified the role of servicing the needs of fabricator member companies, and who has best supported ISFA in all activities. This year’s winner is R.S. Hughes for its program of offering ISFA members with product discounts and for overall customer satisfaction. Additionally, the company readily participates in ISFA functions and supports the association’s goals.
The Innovator Award is for the member firm or individual who goes outside the box to create a product or system that enhances the life or elevates the role of the surface fabricator. The winner for 2013 was Russ Berry of A.S.S.T. in Hannover, Pa., for applying ingenuity to the field of solid surface fabrication that leads to the building of out-of-the-box items and amazing projects that others might shy away from. Berry is a past Board Member and President of ISFA, who has given tireless of his time for the betterment of the industry.
The Envision Award is given to the ISFA member firm or individual that excels in creating something imaginative and special for the surfacing industry. The winner for 2013 was Cosentino for the creation of a whole new category in the surfacing industry with the development of its new Dekton product. A new proprietary process, called Particle Sintering Technology (PST), was created in the invention of the product, which is likened to an accelerated process for creating metamorphic rock. Additionally Cosentino has been a long-time supporter of ISFA and its goals in the industry.
