ISFA Launches Inaugural EDGE Awards, Setting a New Standard for Industry Recognition

NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — August 14, 2026 — The International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA) today opened the submission portal for the EDGE Awards, a national recognition program for the countertop and surfaces industry. Entries are accepted from August 15 through September 30, 2026, at isfanow.org/isfa-awards. Winners will be announced at the ISFA Annual Conference on November 4.

EDGE stands for Elevating Design, Growth & Excellence and the name describes the program's purpose as much as its categories. This is not a renamed version of the awards ISFA has run in the past. It is a rebuilt program, designed from the judging process outward, and measured against an external accreditation standard rather than the association's own preferences.

Why this program is built differently

Trade association awards carry a familiar set of criticisms: winners chosen behind closed doors, criteria that are never published, entry fees that make recognition look purchasable, and panels drawn from the same leadership that governs the association. ISFA built the EDGE Awards to answer each of those objections directly.

• The scorecard is published before anyone enters. Four weighted criteria,  for project awards, member awards, safety, and product innovation,  are posted publicly with every criterion and its weight. Judges score each criterion on a 1–10 scale against a 100-point total. Entrants can see exactly what will be measured before writing a word.
• The judges are independent of ISFA. Five - seven voting judges score every entry. Independence means no board membership, no employment by ISFA, and no governance role within the organizing body. Judges are selected through an open application process rather than appointed by any individual. ISFA's Chief of Brand and CEO serve in a process-oversight capacity only and do not score entries.
• The whole thing is measured against an outside standard. The EDGE Awards are built to the requirements of the Awards Trust Mark, a not-for-profit awards accreditation scheme administered by the Independent Awards Standards Council (IASC). The scheme sets a voluntary code of conduct covering transparency, independent judging, and conflict management, the same benchmark applied to accredited awards programs internationally.

“For years, this industry has done extraordinary work that nobody outside of it ever sees. If we are going to ask people to trust an award, we must be willing to show them how it was decided. That is why we published the criteria before we opened the portal and why we went outside our own board for the judges.  We wanted a standard.” , Laurie Weber, Chief Executive Officer, ISFA

Fifteen categories across projects, community, safety and innovation. The program comprises 13 core categories open to all eligible members, plus two national Product Innovation Awards for Associate Partners:

• Countertop & Surface Manufacturer of the Year — the program's Grand Prize, with three semi-finalists and two runners-up also recognized at the ceremony
• Fabricator of the Year, and Associate Member of the Year
• Residential Excellence and Commercial Excellence, each in two project-value tiers, so smaller shops compete on craftsmanship rather than budget
• Material Mastery in Quartz, Solid Surface, Natural Stone and Ultra Compact
• Outdoor Project Excellence
• Shop Safety & Excellence Award
• Product Innovation Awards for Materials and for Tools, open to Associate Partners

The two-tier structure for residential and commercial work is deliberate. Splitting by project value means a $12,000 residential kitchen is judged against comparable work rather than against a six-figure commercial installation,  an acknowledgment that exceptional craftsmanship is not a function of budget.

A safety award that cannot be self-nominated. The Shop Safety & Excellence Award is the clearest illustration of how the program is structured. It is peer-nominated only: a shop cannot enter itself. Another company, a supplier, a partner, or a competing fabricator, must sponsor the nomination and document the shop's safety program, training practices, shop conditions and safety record on its behalf.

The criteria documented safety programs and training, including silica and dust control and PPE use, at 30 percent; shop conditions at 25 percent; safety record and culture at 25 percent; and operational excellence at 20 percent. The category reflects ISFA's continuing work on fabricator safety and engineered stone silica exposure, and it recognizes shops for protecting their people at the same level the program recognizes them for their finished work.

How to enter

The submission portal opens August 15 and closes at 11:59 p.m. on September 30, 2026. Members may enter the same project in more than one category using a separate form for each. Each entry requires a written narrative covering design intent and technical challenges, and three to eight high-resolution photographs including at least one wide installation shot and one detail shot.

Entrant guides, the photo standards one-sheet, all four scoring criteria and a pre-submission checklist are available alongside the entry form at isfanow.org/isfa-awards. Members with eligibility questions can reach ISFA to Marc Lassalle, Membership Administrator at marc@isfanow.org or (816) 330.7049.

Key dates

• August 15, 2026- Submission portal opens to all eligible ISFA members
• September 30, 2026 - Submissions close, 11:59 p.m. — hard deadline
• October 2026- Independent judging period; conflicts declared and recusals applied
• Late October 2026- Scoring complete and all category winners confirmed
• November 4, 2026 - Winners announced at the ISFA Annual Conference in Ft Worth, Texas at the ceremony during the Annual  Conference.

About ISFA

The International Surface Fabricators Association is a trade association representing the countertop and surfaces industry. ISFA provides its members with safety resources and training, education, industry advocacy, networking and technical support, and represents fabrication shop interests in regulatory and legislative matters affecting the trade. ISFA is headquartered at 1520 Clay Street, Suite B1, North Kansas City, Missouri 64116.

About the Awards Trust Mark

The Awards Trust Mark is a not-for-profit awards accreditation administered by the Independent Awards Standards Council. It operates through a voluntary code of conduct covering transparency, fair and independent judging, and the management of conflicts of interest, and accredits awards programs at tiered levels of assessment. More information is available at awardstrustmark.org.

Media contact

Mikaela Coffey, Chief of Brand, ISFA

816-330-7046 | mikaela@isfanow.org | isfanow.org