SIMA Announces Award Winners

The Snow & Ice Management Association (SIMA) recognized some of its own at an awards banquet held June 12, 2003 during the Snow & Ice Management Symposium in Buffalo, N.Y.

Beginning the awards presentation, SIMA members showed their appreciation to 60 of their colleagues who earned their 5-year membership pins. Additionally, the group applauded 14 new certified snow professionals (CSPs) – bringing the Association’s total to 36 – and is keeping its fingers crossed for 19 more members who took their CSP examinations at the Symposium.

Jeff Tovar, SIMA president, made a special presentation to SIMA founding member Bill Milbier, president, Northeast Grounds Management, Wilbraham, Mass. “Bill has been a dedicated board member for years,” Tovar comments. “When we created the association we really wanted it to be for the membership and now we want to acknowledge one of our members for his seven years of dedication and his commitment to SIMA.”

Doug Freer, president, Blue Moose Co., Cleveland, Ohio, received the Volunteer of the Year Award, presented by SIMA’s Executive Director Tammy Higham.

“We truly need and appreciate every one of our volunteers,” Higham says. She explained that the Volunteer of the Year award is given to one member, chosen by the SIMA staff, who exemplifies the idea of membership participation. Freer was chosen for his “unwavering dedication and untiring efforts” benefiting the Association.

SIMA also announced the first four recipients of the Excellence in Business Awards – a new award category this year. The winners were selected from four business categories – affiliate, less than $250,000, less than $1 million, and over $1 million – and the SIMA staff considered each company based on their business practices, customer satisfaction, community relations and accountability.

The winners are:
Affiliate – Frank Sorentino, landscape and fleet manager, Beaumont Services Co., Royal Oak, Mich.
Less than $250,000 – Bill Slevin, president, Land Designing, Lake Hiawatha, N.J.
Less than $1 million – Rick Winnestaffer, president, Winnscapes, Gahanna, Ohio
Over $1 million – Steve Bednarz, vice president, Tovar’s Snow Plowing, Elgin, Ill.

This year’s winners were judged anonymously and will serve as judges for next year’s Excellence in Business nominees. Additionally, three new awards will make their debuts at next year’s banquet: the Employee of the Year, Safety and Lifetime Contribution Awards.

The author is Assistant Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at lspiers@lawnandlandscape.com.