TMAC launches statewide manufacturing awards
The University of Texas at Arlington-based Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center, known as TMAC, has announced the winners of its inaugural TMAC Manufacturing Excellence Awards, recognizing organizations and individuals driving innovation, workforce development and economic growth across Texas.
The new annual awards expand TMAC’s previous customer appreciation program into a statewide recognition of excellence across the manufacturing ecosystem, with winners selected by a panel of judges from industry and partner organizations.
“We created these awards to highlight the people and organizations strengthening manufacturing across Texas,” said Brittany Rosenberg, business development officer at TMAC. “The response in this first year shows just how much innovation and leadership is happening across the state.”
2026 TMAC Manufacturing Excellence Award winners:
- Best Place to Work: Morgan Newton Company — A 50-year-old firm whose 100 employees average remarkable tenure and extensive training, reflecting a strong culture of workforce investment and retention.
- Excellence in Quality Management: Osteal Therapeutics (Maddie Ashiani) — Recognized for building a quality management system that strengthens innovation, compliance and sustainable growth.
- Industry Builder of the Year: Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership — Delivered nearly $10 billion in investment and more than 11,000 jobs in two years while advancing major manufacturing projects.
- Excellence in Sustainable Operations: Pittsburgh Paints Co., Carrollton — Honored for embedding sustainability into daily operations through recycling, water stewardship and performance tracking.
- Future of Manufacturing Champion: UTDesign Mechanical Engineering Capstone Program, UT Dallas — Connects students with industry-sponsored projects to accelerate innovation and build the manufacturing workforce pipeline.
- Rising Engineer: Kurt Sounders, AtlasIED — Led development of automated production lines and rapid cobot deployment to strengthen domestic manufacturing operations in North Texas.
- Excellence in Technology Adoption: AtlasIED — Recognized for integrating robotics and AI into manufacturing processes to boost efficiency and global competitiveness.
- Best City to Build Your Dream: City of Fort Worth — Invests in small businesses through training, contracting opportunities and access to capital that support long-term economic growth.
TMAC officials said the awards will continue annually as a way to recognize excellence and share best practices across Texas manufacturing.
About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)
The University of Texas at Arlington is a growing public research university in the heart of Dallas-Fort Worth. With a student body of over 42,700, UTA is the second-largest institution in the University of Texas System, offering more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Recognized as a Carnegie R-1 university, UTA stands among the nation’s top 5% of institutions for research activity. UTA and its 300,000 alumni generate an annual economic impact of $28.8 billion for the state. The University has received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity designation from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and has earned recognition for its focus on student access and success, considered key drivers to economic growth and social progress for North Texas and beyond.