Martha Stewart Holds Annual American Made Awards
Martha Stewart, famed homemaker and East Hampton resident, is searching for the finest American makers. The 2014 Martha Stewart American Made Awards celebrates creative entrepreneurs and local small businesses across the country.
Thousands of nominations are submitted to the annual contest, 10 of which will receive the grand prize of $10,000. Winners will also be featured in Martha Stewart Living and on her website. Another perk for the 10 American Made Award Winners is a trip for two to the American Made event in New York City this November.
Local Hamptons businesses have entered Stewart’s national contest before, including Southampton Soap Company. Other notable Hamptonites have also contributed to her annual American Made conference, including Montauk’s Mickey Drexler and Southampton’s Calvin Klein, who both hosted panel discussions at the 2012 event.
Nominations may be made in one of four categories: crafts, design, food and style. A panel of four judges for each category will evaluate applicants, with final decisions handpicked by Stewart herself. Judging will be based on originality, workmanship, appearance and the embodiment of American Made theme.
Of all the nominees, 1,000 finalists will be selected to compete. The judges will select 800, with the remaining 200 to be determined by the public through Facebook and Twitter. The judges will pick nine of the final ten award winners and one will be selected by audience vote.
Interested nominees may start the process at marthastweart.com/americanmade. Applicants are encouraged to include photos, videos and more to fully tell their story to the judges.
All submissions must be entered by August 29. Judging will continue throughout the summer as entries are received and end on September 8. Online voting for the audience choice American Made Award winner will continue through October 13. All winners will be announced on October 17 in anticipation of the culminating American Made event November 7 to 8.