FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	October 23, 2000
Contact: Claudia Bernath
Sumner Rider & Associates
(212) 297-2130

New York, NY -- Michael H. Martin, president of Martin Architectural Products of Cary, N.C., has been selected to receive the Builders Hardware Manufacturer Association's Award of Excellence for the year 2000. Martin started his company in 1975. Today it employs 114 people and is a premier supplier of architectural doors and hardware in the Eastern North Carolina area.

BHMA is the national trade association of U.S. manufacturers of architectural hardware products. In presenting the award, BHMA officials lauded Martin's active promotion and specification of quality hardware, his firm's "in-stock" inventory for backing sales efforts, and its full-time installation maintenance service. In addition to the Cary office, Martin also maintains a Greenville, N.C. sales office.

BHMA presents its award annually to an individual deemed to meet the highest standards of excellence in representing the needs of the architectural hardware industry. Criteria for issuing the award focus on the individual's ability to promote specifications to architects, to accurately take-off and schedule projects, to promote high quality products, and to properly service contractors and users by understanding the product attainability, function, and intended usage.

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