Canstar’s Art Johnson wins prestigious award
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Narrator: In early March, 2011, Art Johnson, Operations Manager at Canstar Restorations in Vancouver
BC, not only received the prestigious Martin L. King award at the Restoration Industry Association’s annual Industry Summit, he was also the first Canadian to ever do so. Humble as ever, Art says he was caught totally by surprise.
Art Johnson: I didn’t know I was in the running. It was a complete surprise. There were four people that knew about it: the nominating committee and the selection committee, which is the same, and the founder of the award. I went to Colorado because I sit on the board of directors (for RIA) and we were all brought up on the stage and introduced because it was a membership meeting. I was sitting at the table when they were reading off all the awards for different things, and all of a sudden I was listening to the Martin King Award and started to recognize my bio. Until then I didn’t have a clue and I couldn’t hear very well because the way the sound was, so all of a sudden I started putting two and two together and I could start to identify it was me, but it was only during the last minute of the presentation so it was a tremendous surprise to me. The fact that they would think of me was a tremendous honour, but made it even more compelling that I live up to the award in the future.
The Restoration Industry Association always tries to include international presence in the board and for them to recognize a Canadian, that was definitely an honour and kudos to them right?
Narrator: Patti Harman is the Director of Communications for the RIA, she explains why Art was a unanimous decision as this year’s recipient.
Patti Harman: When we look for a candidate for the Martin L. King Award, it’s usually somebody who has not served the industry for just a couple of years. We look at their body of work in the industry. And Art is one of those people who is always one of the first to volunteer; who has given hours and hours of his time and effort and expertise. He’s chaired a number of RIA councils, and when we were discussing who the recipient should be this year Art was one of the first names that came up, and that’s because he does all of this not for the recognition but just because he wants to make the industry better; and that is one of the things we look for in the individuals that are selected for the Martin L. King Award.
Narrator: And just to clear up any misconceptions, the Martin L. King award is not named after the famous civil rights leader, but after Marty King, one of the founding fathers of the restoration industry.
Patti Harman: It is actually named after Martin L. King who is one of the founding fathers of restoration. Marty started in restoration probably in 1960. He is one of the most respected and revered individuals in the field today.
