PRO of NE-IA members are invited to compete for the prestigious PRO Contractor of Excellence Awards (CEA), in recognition of their achievements for remodeling projects finished between October 1st, 2022 and October 1st, 2024.
Each year PRO of NE-IA may have first-time entrants and seasoned participants that go home with an award. No matter what your Contractor Excellence Award experience level, follow these easy steps to be sure your entry is given full consideration by judges and your work receives the recognition it deserves. Please review these pages carefully.
One-person shops to the largest remodeling firms are eligible to enter a project. Members report that winning this award is a major factor in enhancing their image within the industry and with prospective customers, and is a major morale booster for their employees. The numerous marketing opportunities available to PRO Contractor Excellence Award winners help set your business apart from other remodeling companies.
The PRO CEA is a creative awards program developed to grow with the needs of the participating entrants. This awards program isn’t a “Winner takes all” concept, nor was this program designed in a fully-competitive manner. Instead, the Pro CEA awards members’ projects are evaluated and scored on the level of quality, creativity and challenges faced and awarded as a BRONZE, SILVER OR GOLD level project.
We know that many PRO members still possess a competitive streak! With that, we will also award an overall PLATINUM winner, awarded by the judges as the most outstanding project of ALL submissions to ONE CEA entrant.
See more information on how projects are scored and awarded in the THE JUDGING PROCESS
Any project not completing all rules and guidelines are at risk of disqualification. Every project must complete the following task items in order to qualify for an award entry:
All projects entered must be projects finished between October 1st, 2022 and October 1st, 2024
Entries cannot be a project submitted for a past PRO CEA award.
→ Official Project Application and entry fee
→ Homeowners release/signature form
All entries should include before, during, and after photos, and should be of high to professional quality.
Your ability to present your project in a manner that helps judges distinguish your project will go a long way to set you apart from the competition.
The following PROJECT TIPS from judges and staff are provided as guidelines and are derived from feedback from recent program years.
Arrange your photos, drawings, and project descriptions in a way that Is easy to follow and follows the flow of the project from start to end.
Arranging methodically to follow the flow of the judging sheet is also recommended.
Point out any obstacles and how they were handled. A concise project description at the front of the entry can help the judges understand what you were trying to accomplish, laying the groundwork for the project before they get into the details.
Avoid getting too wordy.
Use captions near photos can help tell the project story.
When displaying photographs, show the before and after photos on the same page whenever possible.
Include recommended terms, pairing before and afters
→ CLICK TO VIEW PROJECT ENTRY EXAMPLE 1
→ CLICK TO VIEW PROJECT ENTRY EXAMPLE 2
Entries MAY BE DISQUALIFIED if the rules are not met.
Make this a standard practice and take these shots from many angles. Take photos for work-in progress if it will help show the complexity of the process or the obstacles encountered.
This helps give the judges a good perspective of the transformation. We also need related pairs (the before and after) for print and publication. Take both vertical and horizontal photos.
Do not include photographs that reveal the identity of the client, photographer, your company, or that show any people in the frame.
Projects with this information will be disqualified.
Any photo enhancement is limited to brightness, contrast, or sharpness.
No items may be added or removed through photo enhancement techniques.
We will need all before and after images you included in your project presentation in separate .jpg, .jpeg, or .tiff file format. Professional photography is recommended, but NOT required. These images will be used for our presentation and promotion purposes; the judges will not view these. Each image must be high quality resolution of at least 300 dpi, a minimum of size of 4×6 (1200 x 1800 pixels), and no larger than 10 MB each. (1MB is an ideal size).
A PRO Contractor Excellence Awards Winner is an entry that demonstrates remodeling excellence. Judges need to evaluate the balance of good marketing and the execution of a quality remodeling project. Projects are judged by a NON-PRO member panelist, composed of industry experts from the Omaha and Midwest regions.
All entries will be reviewed by category to assign a point value to each entry. There will be no discussion among the judges prior, during or after the judging process. Nor do they see each others’ score sheets.
The total number of points possible is 100 pts. Awarded recipient levels: GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE, dependent on number of points received. With this, any project entered into a category that receives enough points to maintain a gold level (or silver or bronze) will receive a gold level award. Meaning, all 3 entrants can receive a gold level award if all projects qualify at this standard level of quality. In addition to the gold, silver or bronze level award, any CEA category with 3 or more entries will be considered for an additional “BEST PROJECT” award in the category to determine an overall “first place winner”.
We know that many PRO members still possess a competitive streak! With that, we will also award an overall PLATINUM winner, awarded by the judges as the most outstanding project of ALL submissions to ONE CEA entrant.
Any project scoring under 82 points will not receive an award. But we encourage entrants to take this scoring and judging feedback to tweak their entry and re-enter for the following year if applicable.
Be sure to address all of the following questions in your project entry/portfolio.
All areas below are addressed in categories of project CHALLENGE, VISION, SOLUTION AND RESULTS on the judging form. In order to avoid point reductions, be sure to provide context, concise details and photos to demonstrate the following:
