The Marble Institute of America (MIA) has received the Golden Thinker Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Media Relations. The Golden Thinker, awarded each year by the North America Precis Syndicate, Inc. (NAPS), is given to organizations that have created the feature releases that have received the most pick-ups by America's newspaper editors. This is the second Golden Thinker that the MIA has won in the last 5 years.

Traditionally, stories that NAPS releases are picked up by between 100 and 400 newspapers. MIA's February 2012 story, New Survey Shows Nothing Beats Value, Beauty of Granite Countertops, was picked up by over 2800 newspapers from across the USA with over 50% of those papers being from top 50 markets.

Dorothy York, President of NAPS, said, "The number of placements a release has achieved is a great measure of its success. The results of your release have been absolutely extraordinary, with 2880 placements. NAPS distributes releases for some of the best and brightest minds in PR - most Fortune 500 companies, nearly all of the 100 largest national advertisers, all of the 20 largest PR firms, over 100 associations and many government agencies. Your success marks you as a leader among some of the very savviest PR pros."

Each year, the MIA creates a feature release promoting natural stone. This particular release focused on how consumers favor granite countertops over other countertop materials. Readers are directed to visit the MIA website and contact an MIA member in their area for more information on natural stone.

MIA Executive Vice President, Jim Hieb, said, "We are honored to receive this prestigious award. I hope MIA members see how these releases benefit them and their businesses. By directing the consuming public to reach out to MIA members, we are adding value to membership and reinforcing the concept that MIA members are the most qualified and professional firms in the natural stone industry."