Press Release:
News for Immediate Release

ACMA Calls for Entries for ACE and Pinnacle Awards

September 22, 2009 (Arlington, Va.)—The American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) is calling for entries in its prestigious annual Award for Composites Excellence (ACE) and Pinnacle Award Competition, which will be held during COMPOSITES 2010 in Las Vegas, February 9-11. All show entries will be judged and awards given during COMPOSITES, the largest composites event in North America.

The awards honor and recognize those companies that have demonstrated exceptional composites technology, process and design innovations. All composites manufacturers committed to the advancement of composites may submit products for consideration in the ACE program and any cast polymer manufacturer may enter the Pinnacle Award Competition. There is no fee to enter.  Entry deadline is December 1, 2009.

The ACE competition is sponsored by Composites One to recognize technology achievement and excellence in the following categories: Infinite Possibility; Process Innovation; Superior Quality in an Open Molded Part, and Most Creative Application. Ashland is sponsoring two awards: Technical Innovation for Corrosion Applications, and Innovation in Green Composites Technology.  The Pinnacle Award, sponsored by Reichhold, Inc., recognizes innovation and creativity in cast polymer design and application and will be presented in two categories:  Residential and Commercial/Specialty.

“Winning last year’s Best-of-Show ACE award allowed Berry Plastics to gain instant credibility in the composites marketplace,” says Gordon Brown, consultant to Berry Plastics, who accepted the ACE award for the company.  Berry Plastics Corporation, Tapes and Coatings Division, Franklin, Mass., developed and submitted its award-winning X-Flex™ Composite Blast Protection System, an advanced composite film tape featuring a peel-and-stick adhesive to allow existing structures to be quickly and cost-effectively retrofitted.

“Entering and winning the ACE award allowed the company to showcase its latest innovations and has helped spawn several new applications for these products,” says Brown. “The ACE award is prominently featured on the company’s product website.”

The same is true for Classic Cultured Marble, the West Palm Beach, Fla., manufacturer that took home multiple Pinnacle Awards last year. In addition to featuring the award on its website, the company proudly displays the award in its showroom.  A number of customers read about the award in their local paper.  The company’s award-winning products included custom-made counters, table tops and vessel sink for an ice cream parlor, a cultured onyx bathroom ensemble, and a swimming pool spillway.

In addition to recognition at COMPOSITES 2010, the ACE and Pinnacle competition winners will receive a beautiful crystal sculpture and will be featured in Composites Manufacturing magazine, on the ACMA website and in press releases directed to industry, end-user, and hometown publications. Plus, every company that enters the competition receives a discount off of one registration for COMPOSITES 2010.

Only manufacturers of finished composites products are eligible to enter both competitions. There is neither an entry fee nor a limit to the number of products that may be submitted by a single company. Both ACMA members and non-members may enter.

Each applicant must submit an entry form and color photograph of the product by December 1, 2009.  For additional details and to complete an on-line entry form, please visit the COMPOSITES 2010 official show website at www.acmashow.org and follow the links to the ACE and Pinnacle Awards programs.

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With more than 850 member companies, The American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) is the world’s largest trade group representing the composites industry. ACMA publishes a quarterly magazine, Composites Manufacturing, offers a universal, comprehensive training program for fabricators - Certified Composites Technician - and provides strong, proactive leadership in technical, government and regulatory affairs. In addition, ACMA hosts COMPOSITES, the largest tradeshow in North America with supplier and fabricator representatives from all market segments. For membership information, call 703-525-0511, or email:Info@acmanet.org. Visit ACMA’s website at www.ACMAnet.org