Stair builders honored at SMA conference

The Stairbuilders and Manufacturers Association (SMA) is celebrating a strong turnout at its national conference, held April 27-29 in Pittsburgh. The annual gathering of stair building professionals featured presentations, networking opportunities, and a ceremony for the popular StairCraft awards program.

There were 137 attendees, representing a 20 percent increase from 2022.

“Conference turnout was super,” says Terra Erb, SMA’s executive director. “We sold out the event. We didn’t have any hotel rooms left or hotel space to add more to the conference. That was really cool to see a variety of people come together and just participate and learn. We called it ‘Pivot in Pittsburgh’ with different tracks, one for leaders focusing on successions, and another for supporters on how to be leaders themselves.”

The conference also featured a shop talk program that allowed members to share experiences and problem solve. But the announcement of the StairCraft award winners took center stage.

“This year was the 15th year for the StairCraft awards, and the members were still just as excited to win an award as they were the first year that it came about,” says Erb.

The competition received 49 entries from 16 companies, including a joint entry from Heartland Stairways of Holmesville, Ohio, and Custom Handrails of Sassamansville, Pa., that won the Best of Show award.

Other winners included Builders Stair Supply of Crestwood, Mo.; Florida Stairworks and Carpentry of Ft. Myers, Fla.; Bennett Stair Co. of Ballston Lake, N.Y.; Arcways of Neenah, Wis., and Dippanels of Zarnesti, Romania.

Next year’s SMA conference is scheduled for April 18-20, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz. For more, visit stairways.org. 

This article was originally published in the August 2023 issue.