Groovystuff’s University Hall of Innovation & Job Creation Receives ICON Honor
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) July 22, 2013 -- Groovystuff is proud to announce that its University Hall of Innovation & Job Creation was awarded the 2013 ICON HONOR for “Industry Contribution and Influence.” The ICON HONORS recognizes achievements across the gift and home furnishings industry, including those of individuals, manufacturers, retailers, sales reps and service providers. The ceremony is the most anticipated and important night in the home and gift industry.
Chris Bruning, Groovystuff owner and founder of the University Hall of Innovation & Job Creation, received the 2013 ICON HONOR Award Thursday, July 11, during a gala affair held the opening night of the Atlanta International Gift & Home Market at the Marriott Marquis in front of a ballroom filled with hundreds of industry colleagues.
Per Jeffrey L. Portman, President and CEO of AmericansMart Atlanta, “ICON HONORS recognized and celebrates those whose imagination transcends reality to transform their companies, their communities and the home and gift industry we love. It is these rare individuals we celebrate tonight and it is their stunning achievements we applaud.”
Grammy-winning musician, singer and guitarist Peter Frampton performed. “His ICON HONORS performance highlights a spectacular evening celebrating the achievements of those in the gift and home furnishings arena whose passion for what they do is as genuine as the music Frampton will perform,” said Lisa Bokovoy, AmericasMart.
Groovystuff's not-for-profit University Hall of Innovation & Job Creation represents a breakthrough approach to the nurturing of home furnishings design talent in partnership with leading U.S. colleges and universities. Groovystuff ships a box of its recycled raw materials to the design departments of 14 universities where the students participating in the Groovystuff Design Challenge create original projects under the guidance of their professors and Bruning. The best projects are exhibited at High Point Market, voted on by attendees re marketability, then put into production. The winners are awarded lifetime royalties by Groovystuff. The University Hall of Innovation & Job Creation improves the competitiveness of consumer products here in the US by supplying the residential home furnishings industry with the most current education, research, market statistics, technology, product design and innovation, as well as a revolving human resource of graduates from the educational programs and universities that service the industry. In his acceptance speech, Bruning encouraged all of the attendees to reach out to the schools in their communities to encourage those of the next generation to bring their spark and enthusiasm to the industry.
Other ICON HONORS award winners for the night included Donald J. Hall, Hallmark Cards: Lifetime Achievement Honor and Century Furniture: Medal of Excellence Honor. For more information, please visit http://www.groovystuff.com or http://www.facebook.com/groovystuff.
About the company:
Founded in 1998 by Chris Bruning, Groovystuff designs, produces, and distributes unique, sustainable, ecofriendly, reclaimed teakwood furniture at upper-medium and high-end price points. Based in Dallas, it has permanent showrooms in High Point, NC (The Suites at Market Square, G-1025), Las Vegas (World Market Center, B-146), and once a year at the International Causal Furniture Market in Chicago, IL (The Merchandise Mart, No. 8-9036A). Groovystuff is also a major sponsor of “The University Hall of Innovation & Job Creation,” a non-profit founded in 2012 by Chris Bruning that improves the competitiveness of consumer products here in the US by supplying the residential home furnishings industry with the most current education, research, market statistics, technology, product design and innovation, as well as a revolving human resource of graduates from the educational programs and universities that service the industry.
To introduce graduates to the residential home furnishings industry, Chris Bruning created the Groovystuff by Design: Connecting Education with Industry Challenge, and The University Hall of Innovation & Job Creation, a sponsored space at market for university programs to connect with the residential home furnishings industry. In stage one of the contest, students compete for the "popular vote" and a cash prize at the High Point or Las Vegas wholesale furniture markets, where Groovystuff maintains permanent showrooms. Stage Two of the process sees the winning innovative designs from Stage One put into production and launched six months later at the following wholesale market. Those Student prototypes then compete for the grand prize of "Most Orders Written at Market" and the winner rewarded with an additional cash prize, inclusion in the celebrity endorsed Dick Idol Legends Collection, permanent royalties for life, and motivation to join the residential home furnishings industry. For more information, please visit the Groovystuff website.
Chris Brunning, Groovystuff, http://www.groovystuff.com, 214-956-0536, [email protected]
Share this article