NSCA has announced three award honorees for 2020, with Michael Hester to receive the Per Haugen Lifetime Achievement Award, Steve Emspak to receive the Founders Award, and Nate Ross to receive the Volunteer Of The Year Award. Recipients will be honored during the 22nd annual Business & Leadership Conference (BLC) to be held February 26-28 in Irving, TX.
As a teenager, Hester — a former NSCA president — worked a sound board for a local Houston band that was prominent enough to tour with major acts of the day, including The Who and Janis Joplin. That experience, he says, hooked him on audio technology.
After high school, Hester entered the U.S. Army where he excelled in a leadership program, and then he studied communications at the University of Houston. After graduation, he worked for healthcare and school communication and life safety solutions provider Rauland-Borg (now Rauland) for years before launching AV and life safety integration firm Beacon Communications in 1998.
Hester says he founded Beacon Communications as a customer-service-oriented integration firm. His focus on the business and leadership sides of integration led him to become involved in NSCA, eventually becoming a board member and president.
“Mike Hester is a great leader and even better person,” says NSCA executive director Chuck Wilson. “He built a business using the principles, ethics, and core values consistent with the criteria this award is based upon.”
“I am very honored to be appreciated and recognized by NSCA,” Hester notes. “These are the very people I have admired and worked so hard to emulate. That is why this is so extraordinary for me.”
The Per Haugen Lifetime Achievement Award is designed to recognize individuals who exemplify characteristics of former NSCA president Per Haugen. These include volunteer efforts, leadership, generosity, ethics, core values, integrity, strength of professional relationships, and strategic vision for both their company and the integration industry.
Emspak, a partner at the global consulting firm Shen Milsom & Wilke and an NSCA Education Foundation Board of Directors member. A driving force behind the Drunk Unkles band, he has led fundraising efforts for the foundation for the past 15 years, which in aggregate has raised over $1 million through its charity performances.
“Steve Emspak has worked tirelessly for many years as a fundraiser and board member for the NSCA Education Foundation,” Wilson says. “He truly values the mission, and his contributions will leave a lasting mark on the industry.”
“I’m honored and humbled to receive this award,” Emspak states. “Finding NSCA, an organization that truly cares about their constituents, has been an incredible discovery. Over my many years in the industry, finding a place within that organization where I felt I could make a difference has been an extremely rewarding and gratifying experience.”
Ross, who works with AVI Systems is a full-time digital marketing manager and part-time golf pro. He has championed six golf tournaments on behalf of the NSCA Education Foundation, specifically for the Ignite initiative, and brought in $100,000.
The Ignite initiative connects students, educators, and employers to meet the demand for a new generation of leaders in the thriving communications technology industry. This initiative would not be possible without volunteers, such as Ross.
“Nate Ross loves golf, and he loves serving the organization,” Wilson says. “His contributions have helped the foundation immensely. He embodies the true spirit of volunteering.”
