Press Releases

American Gem Society Announces Award Winners During Annual Conclave

Published

9 years ago

April 19, 2016

INSTORE Staff

(Press Release)
At the Titleholders Luncheon on April 14, Lisa Bridge, CG, and Anna Samsonova, CGA, co-chairs of the Young Titleholder’s Steering Committee, presented the Young Titleholder Award to Marc Nanasi, RS, for his service to the Young Titleholder Committee and to the AGS. “We are delighted to present Marc Nanasi with our 2016 Young Titleholder of the Year Award,” says Lisa Bridge. “Marc’s devotion to the Young Titleholders started from the beginning, and his enthusiasm and tenacity have contributed to the group’s growth and success.”

The AGS also awarded the Sallie Morton Award to Marc Altman, CGA, the AGS Guilds’ national treasurer. This award recognizes the contribution of individuals who have gone over and above in their service to the guilds each year. Sallie Morton, ECG, was very instrumental in developing and promoting the guilds, and this honor is appropriately named after her. “From day one, Marc Altman has given the AGS Guilds so much time and attention by handling all their financial details and helping publicize almost 300 meetings,” says Laura Stanley, CGA, chair of the AGS Guilds. “Taking that pressure off a local guild has given them the time to devote to organizing the meetings.”

Stanley also presented the Guild of the Year award to the St. Louis Guild. “Our Guild of the Year has set an example of not only having great programs, but also working with the local GIA alumni group in the local area,” says Stanley. “Having one year of success is nice, but sustaining interesting programs year after year takes a herculean effort, and the St. Louis Guild has that. For four years, they have been an active, engaged guild, thanks to the team put together by President Anne Howitt.”

Finally, Stanley presented the John J. Kennedy Award. This award was named after Kennedy as a tribute to his leadership in the Jewelry Security Alliance and for his advocacy and service to the security of the jewelry industry. The award is given to law enforcement professionals who have gone above and beyond to help members of the jewelry industry protect their stores and their teams from theft and other criminal activity. This year’s recipients are two of the AGS’s biggest supporters at the FBI: Special Agents Jay Bartholomew and Eric Ives.

“Special Agent Eric Ives and Special Agent Jay Bartholomew have helped organize and fund FBI speakers all around the country. Without them, we would never have been able to get so many inaugural guild meetings off to such a great start,” says Stanley. “An FBI special agent draws a big crowd and helps support interest in future meetings, too.”

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