(TMA International Headquarters)
In 1993, TMA
initiated its awards program to recognize a turnaround practitioner of the year,
outstanding individual contributions to the association and/or the corporate
renewal industry, outstanding national service, and an outstanding chapter for
the year.
The program has been modified and expanded over the years, and this year,
five individuals and two TMA chapters will be recognized at the 15th Anniversary
Convention for their contributions to the association and the industry. As part
of the convention, several TMA chapters also will receive Community Commitment
Awards, which recognize chapters for using the unique skills of their members to
revitalize and strengthen their communities.
In addition to recognizing a Chapter of the Year and a Most Improved
Chapter of the Year, the awards program now bestows Turnaround of the Year
awards for work with small, large, and international companies and for pro bono
work. Outstanding individual contributions continue to be recognized.
“It’s no small feat now to receive an award from TMA,” said James B.
Matthews, TMA’s Vice President of Membership and a member of the awards
committee. “There’s a lot of competition. The increase in the number and quality
of nominations every year underscores that fact.”
As TMA has evolved, so, too, has its awards program. The Practitioner of
the Year award was replaced in 1996 by the small- and large-company Turnaround
of the Year categories. The international Turnaround of the Year category was
added in 1998, and the pro bono Turnaround of the Year award was introduced a
year later. In addition, TMA has bestowed one Lifetime Achievement Award and
introduced a Chairman’s Award.
Sheila Smith, who has chaired the Awards Committee for the past three
years, said the international company Turnaround of the Year award was intended
to encourage the organization’s international growth. David Weinstein, a former
chairman and current awards committee member, said the award was also intended
to highlight that TMA was evolving from a U.S.-dominated organization to one
with a global presence. The pro bono award was established to encourage other
members and chapters to follow the lead of those who led early philanthropic
efforts.
“We have all made a lot of money in the profession, and we need to give
back to our communities,” Smith said.
The Awards Committee scrutinizes all entries for individual merit, and
awards are not always given in all categories each year. Smith said the
competition has “grown exponentially over the past five years.” To date, 51
individuals have received various TMA awards, including four winners of the
Chairman’s Award — John Wm. Butler Jr., Martin McKinley, Ward K. Mooney, and Jay
Alix — and the winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award, Lawrence J.
Ramaekers.
Butler also received a 1993 Outstanding Service Award. Other two-time
award winners include Clyde A. Hamstreet, CTP, who won the 1993 Practitioner of
the Year Award and a 2001 award for Outstanding Individual Contribution, and
Randall Wright Patterson, CTP, who received a 2001 Outstanding Individual
Contribution award and the 1998 Small Company Turnaround of the Year
award.
Three chapters have also won multiple awards. The Chicago/Midwest Chapter
was named Chapter of the Year in 2002, 1999, and 1993 (when the award was known
as the Outstanding Chapter award). The New York Chapter was named Most Improved
Chapter of the Year for 1998 and Chapter of the Year for 2000. The Northwest
Chapter was named Most Improved Chapter of the Year for 1999 and Chapter of the
Year in 2001.
Smith, a former president of TMA’s Northeast Chapter, said that when her
group won Chapter of the Year honors in 1998, the outlook of many of its members
changed. “From my own experience, it helped motivate the chapter. It got them
closer to understanding national’s role,” Smith said. “It bolsters attendance at
conferences and recognition of the larger turnaround community that we’re
in.”