A panel of three distinguished judges has been named for the 2022 Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge, which is currently accepting entries. Judges for this year’s competition will include Marc Adams, Ana Rothman, and William Sampson.

Marc Adams founded the Marc Adams School of Woodworking and has been woodworking professionally for more than 40 years. His work has appeared in many books and national magazines, including on the cover of Fine Woodworking. His Technical Techniques video series was awarded four Telly awards. This will be his fifth time as a judge for the Veneer Tech Craftsman Challenge Awards. In May of 2017, Adams received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Indianapolis. The Governor of Indiana awarded Adams with a Sagamore of the Wabash, which is Indiana’s highest civilian honor.

Ana Rothman is vice president of sales and estimating at Montbleau & Associates in San Diego, California. She has worked for the last 15 years as a liaison to the Architecture and Design community in addition to handling marketing and sales for the company. Prior to working at Montbleau, she worked for 17 years at a large interior design firm in San Diego. Her emphasis was in the design of large coproate offices.

William Sampson is a lifelong woodworker, and previously served as a judge for the Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge in four separate years. He was the editor of Fine Woodworking magazine in the early 1990s and founded WoodshopBusiness magazine, which he eventually sold and merged with CabinetMaker magazine. He helped found the Cabinet Makers Association in 1998 and was its first executive director. Today, as editorial director of FDMC magazine and Woodworking Network he has more than 20 years experience covering the professional woodworking industry. His popular "In the Shop" tool reviews and videos appear monthly in FDMC and his Woodworking Network podcast is available in popular podcast channels.

Originally created by Veneer Technologies and still sponsored by that company, the Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge is currently owned and conducted by CCI Media LLC, which also owns Woodworking Network and FDMC magazine.

The Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge is considered by many the most prestigious woodworking competition in the world with generous cash prizes. Grand Prize of $1,500 is available to the designer, craftsman, or manufacturer who enters the best work of submitted in the view of the panel of expert judges. 

In addition, there are separate category prizes of $500 each for Architectural, Cabinetry, Furniture, Marquetry, Specialty Products, and Student Work. Special awards or honorable mentions may be given at the discretion of the judges. Any entrant who has not previously entered in any Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge competition will be eligible for a New Entrant award of $500. This is in addition to any category award the new entrant may receive.
It’s easy to enter online and post your entry, including photos. The entry deadline is June 9 for this year’s contest. Winners will be announced at a special event at AWFS in Las Vegas.

In the past, judges have repeatedly mentioned how important quality photographs were to their decision, so entrants might want to check out some photographic advice from Scott Grove, who is a past winner of the contest and has served multiple times as a judge.

A team effort between Fritz Cabinetry & Furniture of Shakopee, Minnesota, and Indiana Architectural Plywood, captured the 2022 Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge with spectacular African crotch mahogany veneered stairway project.

You can also see pictures and read about the 2022 winners.