Atlanta—Harounian Rugs International CEO David Harounian became just the third person to receive the AmericasMart Atlanta President’s Award. His accomplishment was recognized during the recent 2012 America’s Magnificent Carpets Awards here.
Harounian received the award because of his “selfless service and leadership” within the rug industry, most notably evidenced by his tenure as the longest-serving president of the Oriental Rug Importers Association (ORIA), noted Jeffrey Portman Sr., AmericasMart president and COO, who created the award in 2003.
During Harounian’s ORIA presidency and afterward, he established some of the first schools in India and Pakistan for children of rug weavers. The schools created vital educational resources and advantages which otherwise would have been non-existent, Portman noted. “David’s mark on the rug industry is indelible and without peer. His vision and leadership within ORIA, and across the rug community at large, set the standard for integrity, stability and business advancement, all of which continue today.”
The President’s Award is conferred at the sole discretion of the AmericasMart Atlanta president and COO as the highest honor bestowed upon an individual in recognition of “supreme professional and personal accomplishment,” and awarded in cases of extraordinary accomplishment.
The two previous President’s Award recipients are Lucille Laufer, ORIA executive director, and Karl Goldberg, immediate past president of the Americas-Mart Atlanta Home Furnishings and Gift advisory board.
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