It’s March and that can only mean that the FE&S awards season is underway. In this issue, we highlight some of the very best examples of creative tabletop installations across five industry segments. Our team of independent judges curated a list of winners that exemplify the best in current trends across a variety of foodservice applications.
By the time this reaches you a separate group of judges will have landed on a choice for the Facility Design Project of the Year, which we will present during FE&S’ 2018 Dealer of the Year and Industry Awards Gala to take place at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago on the evening of May 19.
We truly appreciate the time and careful consideration all our judges provide in determining the winners of both the Performance in Tabletop and Facility Design Project of the Year Awards. These industry professionals volunteer their valuable time and expertise so that we can recognize the accomplishments of so many deserving recipients.
We have added a new dimension to this year’s award ceremony and it is probably overdue. In the seven years since Zoomba Group has published FE&S magazine, operator readership has steadily grown. Under the previous ownership, operator readership was suppressed to limit competition with titles like Restaurant & Institutions and Chain Leader. We have since lifted that constraint and the multi-unit operators directly responsible for purchasing and specifying foodservice equipment and supplies now make up our largest readership segment.
As a result, this year for the first time we recognize an operator as part of our Top Achiever awards lineup. This year’s roster of industry winners:
- Top Achiever-Operator: Mary Angela Miller, administrative director, Ohio State University Wexner Medical
Center, Columbus, Ohio - Top Achiever-Dealer: Joe Schmitt, president, Rapids and Affiliates, Marion, Iowa
- Top Achiever-Consultant: Christine Guyott, principal, Rippe Associates, Minneapolis
- Top Achiever-Service Agent: Glenn Clark, president and CEO, Clark Service Group Inc., Lancaster, Pa.
- Top Achiever-Rep: Dave Kuelpman, president, KLH Marketing, Anaheim, Calif.
Our Hall of Fame recipient this year is Kathleen Seelye, Ricca Design. The FE&S Dealer of the Year is Boelter and, of course, we will announce the DSR of the Year during the event.
Oh, and Fergie will be singing the national anthem. Just kidding!
