David Harounian Receives Americasmart's President's Award

February 20, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Rugs on February 21, 2012

Harounian Rugs International CEO David Harounian has received the President€™s Award from AmericasMart Atlanta for professional and personal accomplishment.

The President's Award was personally presented to Harounian Jan. 16 on the stage of the 2012 America's Magnificent Carpets Awards event by AmericasMart President and CEO Jeffrey L. Portman Sr., who created and designed the Award, which is fabricated in crystal by the Frabel Studio in Atlanta.

Harounian won the award for selfless service and leadership within the U.S. area rug industry, most notably his tenure as the longest-serving president of the Oriental Rug Importers Association, the national trade association formed in 1958 to foster ethical business practices and promote the best interests of the oriental rug trade in the United States and in countries that produce oriental rugs. During his ORIA presidency and afterward, Harounian established for the benefit of the children of rug weavers some of the first schools and classes in the "rug belt" of India and in the rug-producing regions of Pakistan. The schools, which were developed in collaboration with Harounian's brother Lee, and later supported by ORIA and AmericasMart parent AMC Inc., created educational resources and advantages which otherwise would have been non-existent.

"David's mark on the area rug industry is indelible and without peer," Portman said. "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."