INDUSTRY AWARDS
2021 NSSA ACHIEVEMENT AWARD The NSSA Achievement Award is designed to acknowledge exceptional performance and/or significant contributions by an individual or partnership, past and present. Open to all NSSA members and employees who have demonstrated excellence in their business, career, field or passion.
Jamie and George Koutsoukos ClearShield Australia
Growing up in the industry and working with their father in the family business of Louie’s Flyscreens in Western Australia, Jamie and George were on the tools and going to installations after school and every school holidays. Louie’s Flyscreens centred on simple mesh flyscreens. In the 1980s, Jamie and George encountered their first diamond grill system on the work bench. ‘We didn’t know how to put them together, but we were told to go out there and sell them’, says Jamie Koutsoukos. The brothers learned on the job and fast, not only about the manufacture of security screens, but as security standards evolved and demand for higher performing product evolved, so too did the brothers’ expectations of what made a good security screen product. In the 1990s, Jamie and George set about experimenting and refining a mining perforated mesh screen they had seen and re-engineering it to be a highly aesthetic and secure product, known today as ClearShield. Development took around 12-24 months and it was not until their security screens underwent testing and received accreditation that they knew they were on the right path. The NSSA Achievement Award committee commented, ‘George and Jamie were selected as worthy winners for their dedication and continued innovation at ClearShield, admirably following in their family’s security heritage in Western Australia. They have pioneered the acceptance of highperforming perforated security screens into the Australian marketplace and continue to innovate and challenge the status quo when it comes to safety and security. It is worth mentioning the personal relationships they have formed with staff, customers and industry over such a long tenure.’ Launched in 1999, ClearShield’s original design cues form a strong part of the product’s form and function to this day. Jamie and George continue to strive for improvements and expanding into markets such as cyclonic screens.
Congratulations Jamie and George Koutsoukos.
GOOD DESIGN AWARDS
View the 2021 NSSA Achievement Award announcement video on the NSSA website: nssa.org.au/nssa/events/awards
• Cyclone Screen product – 2013
BUILTVIEW
• Security Door and Screen System – 2014
ISSUE 10 SUMMER 2021
57
