On January 17th, "The International Facility Management Association of The Greater New York Chapter" held their 25th Annual Awards Dinner at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. As guests arrived, cocktails and appetizers were served in the grand ballroom for an hour of glorious mingling. Guests were then led to the main hall where a spectacular three-course dinner was served and the nominees for the Awards were announced.
Welcome remarks were given by Carole Green, president of IFMAGNY. She thanked the awards committee & sponsors for making this event happen, and honored David Ushery, co-anchor of NBC's News Channel 4. Carole also introduced Ed Norton, past president and founding member.
David Ushery spoke about what a humbling honor it was to be given The Visionary Award. He gave special thanks to Martin Sillen, Frank Lazzaro & the whole "NBC" family who were the founding members, and collectively worked together to make this the chapter that it is today.
Ed Norton also thanked the Greater N.Y. Chapter & expressed what an honor it was to be here to celebrate the 25th Anniversary. He took a look back at when IFMAGNY first started with the decision of creating a local chapter in 1980. A committee, IFMAGNY, was formed by the founding members who are Steve Binder, Rob Hamilton, MC R of Citibank and Ed Norton. With the help of Carol Farren, the newly founded chapter established goals and compiled a list of 200+ facility managers to send them postcards promoting the chapter. It was in 1983 that IFMAGNY was recognized as an official Chapter and that membership opened up to everyone in the 5 boroughs with January marking the Chapter's Anniversary month. All types of events such as luncheons, dinners, boat rides and the big Annual Conference started to take place for all the participating members. By 1987, IFMAGNY won The Chapter of the Year Award, having the highest membership & best Newsletter. They won this again in 2005! Ed thanked Peggy Yaslow, Marlene Weisler, Gary Fescine, Brian Ostrowe, & Carole Green for all their hard work in making the IFMAGNY Chapter win The Chapter of the Year Award again and dedication to the Chapter.
Ellen Hains of Humanscale, Awards Committee Chair, thanked Tiffany's for all their help with the Crystal Awards for all the categories. She thanked everybody in the awards committee, & Kathy Schnabel, chapter administrator of IFMAGNY, for all their tremendous hard work. Ellen mentioned that each of the nominees demonstrated the finest example of professionalism within the IFMA organization and contributed to the Greater New York Chapter of IFMA. Moreover she mentioned that this year's decision was especially difficult because the nominees invested a significant amount of time, energy and support into the Chapter. Each award was then presented by one of the Awards Committee members.
Below are the winners of the Awards for the different categories based on their accomplishments, diligence, commitment and hard work:
* The Distinguished Associate Corporation Award went to The Mohawk Group for being the best host of IFMAGNY's breakfast networking meetings, executive board meetings, & toolbox luncheons. They have also helped boost membership attendance at these events. This award was presented by Matt Poveromo of Waldners Business Environments.
* The Distinguished Associate Member Award went to Nadine Cino, president for Tyga Box and programs committee chair. She has been tremendously dedicated and helped bring record attendance, especially in toolbox luncheons. Without her, IFMAGNY would not be what it is today. This award was presented by Stephanie Chippas of Perkins Eastman Architects.
* The Distinguished Professional Member Award went to Laura Gimpel, NY Facility Manager for Google and membership co-chair. She has greatly increased the membership of facility managers, and was instrumental in organizing the IFMAGNY Google tour. This award was presented by Dominick Chieco of Milrose Consultants.
* The Facility Management Achievement Award went to Brian Ostrowe of Black Rock. Ostrowe has been an IFMA member for over 20 years, and has spent the past 10 years overseeing Corporate Services for Black Rock. He was highly successful in re-organizing & restructuring the entire corporate services department. His initiatives have helped save Black Rock an impressive $25m in annual costs. This award was presented by Mindy Williams of IA Interior Architects.
* The Distinguished Educator Award went to Marjorie Dorin who has been a great teacher to facility management students in NYU. She has taken over the curriculum since 2002 and has recently added an additional course to her syllabus. This award was presented by Ellen Hains of Humanscale.
* The Environmental Awareness Award went to Interface Flooring that has adopted green as part of their corporate philosophy and standard operating procedure. They now have adopted "Mission Zero," a program to eliminate any negative impact the company has on the environment by the year 2020. This award was presented by John Leitner of Environmental Building Solutions.
* Finally, the Design of a New Facility Award went to Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. The office space has a stunning nine story open staircase designed by Mancini Duffy elegant lighting designed by Maryanne Hay, a beautiful pantry area, and amazing art work that all make this an exceptional place. This award was presented by Michael Sweeney of Sweeney & Associates.
After the awards were given, raffles were auctioned, and then guests were escorted outside to the ballroom where desserts were served. This proved to be a great chance to network for the second time and congratulate the winners. What a fabulous finish to a spectacular evening!

Gabriela de Oliveira of Global Arch, LLC & Liz Arauz Chang of ThinkSpace are NY IFMAGNY PR committee chairs Tags: