At its annual meeting in January, the Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association presented David Hurwitz of David Hurwitz Originals in Randolph, Vt. with its Woodworker of the Year Award.

The VWMA supports industry professionals throughout the state and represents primary and secondary processors and related businesses statewide. It presents the award annually to a group or individual.

“Each year we identify someone who is doing something innovative or creative within the industry or someone who’s really representing the industry throughout the year in a positive light,” VMMA project administrator Erin Lorentz says.

“David Hurwitz is someone who almost always participates in everything we do. He is always the first one to provide feedback. He has been on the board of directors for several years and was the appointee for the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers. He always volunteers and is really the kind of person that the next generation of woodworkers are seeing as the example of what can be done in the state with a woodworking business.”

Hurwitz has been a professional woodworker since 1998 and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in woodworking and furniture design from the School for American Craftsmen at Rochester Institute of Technology. He has won numerous awards for his unique “taffy” designs in his furniture and woodenware and has been featured in many industry publications.

Hurwitz has served on the VWMA board of directors for several years and participates in the annual Vermont Fine Furniture, Woodworking & Forest Festival every year in Woodstock, Vt. He is a member of the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers, as well as an instructor at the Vermont Woodworking School.

To see more of his work, visit www.davidhurwitzoriginals.com.

This article originally appeared in the April 2014 issue.