# Press Start

**Source:** Pinball News Website  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2005-10-14  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/news/award.html

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## Analysis

Stern Pinball Inc. won Start Magazine's 2005 Small Business Manufacturer of the Year award, recognizing excellence in manufacturing impact, competitive resilience, and community commitment. Gary Stern accepted the award and highlighted pinball's viability as a modern product.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Stern Pinball Inc won the 2005 Small Business Manufacturer of the Year award from Start Magazine — _Article opening statement, dated October 14, 2005_
- [HIGH] The award required demonstrating excellence in recognizing manufacturing significance to economy, overcoming competitive obstacles, and commitment to workers and community — _Award criteria described in article_
- [HIGH] Pinball remains a viable and exciting product in today's world according to the manufacturing community — _Direct quote from Gary Stern upon award acceptance_

### Notable Quotes

> "This award demonstrates that pinball remains a viable and exciting product in today's world in the eyes of the manufacturing community"
> — **Gary Stern**, October 14, 2005
> _CEO's statement affirming pinball's market viability and industry recognition during a period when pinball was generally perceived as declining_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Stern Pinball Inc. | company | Pinball machine manufacturer, won 2005 Small Business Manufacturer of the Year award |
| Gary Stern | person | President of Stern Pinball Inc., accepted the 2005 Small Business Manufacturer of the Year award |
| Start Magazine | organization | American publication for executives in manufacturing, awarded 2005 Small Business Manufacturer of the Year |

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Stern Pinball received formal recognition from manufacturing industry publication for business excellence and competitiveness (confidence: high) — 2005 Small Business Manufacturer of the Year award from Start Magazine
- **[sentiment_shift]** Manufacturing community recognized pinball as viable modern product during period of industry decline (confidence: high) — Gary Stern's quote emphasizing pinball as 'viable and exciting product in today's world' suggests addressing skepticism about industry relevance
- **[product_strategy]** Stern positioning itself as competitive modern manufacturer maintaining relevance in manufacturing sector (confidence: medium) — Award criteria emphasized remaining competitive and demonstrating manufacturing excellence

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## Transcript

Story dated
October 14, 2005
.

Stern Pinball Inc has won an award from Start Magazine, an American publication for executives in manufacturing.

Winning in the 2005 Small Business Manufacturer of the Year award, the company had to demonstrate excellence in four categories such as recognising the significance of manufacturing to the economy, showing how they overcame obstacles to remain competitive and illustrating a committment to the workers and their community.

Collecting the award, Stern Pinball President Gary Stern said: "This award demonstrates that pinball remains a viable and exciting product in today's world in the eyes of the manufacturing community".

Other companies winning awards included Pfizer, Texas Instruments, Pepsi Co. and General Mills.

Back
to the news index

Back
to the front page

_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-08-04 | Item ID: 1a020065-4121-4a9a-9d16-43dfbf79e805*