The Ceiling and Interior Systems Construction Association (CISCA) is gearing up for its second annual Contractor Challenge, set to take place April 22 during the CISCA Summit at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas.

"Registration is ahead of where it was last year, and last year's registration was really off the chart," said Jim Moody, CISCA's executive director. "We have more people who've applied for awards or entered our awards competition than we had last year. We've sold more booths than we sold last year."

Alan Alfano, special products division manager at Marek and chair of the Contractor Challenge, explained that companies send teams of two top-performing installers to compete in blind installations of specialty and acoustic ceiling systems. Competitors won't know what products they'll be installing until the day of the competition.

Teams will be narrowed down to the final two or three, who will then compete in a specialty ceiling contest for the grand prize: $5,000 cash, Hilti tools, a championship belt, and bragging rights for the year.

"Competition is going to be pretty steep," Alfano said. "We have the returning champions coming back, M&H Building Specialities from Las Vegas. They're stepping into Texas, which happens to be my home state. So, there's going to be a lot of North Texas contractors and just Texas in general fighting for that top prize."

The Contractor Challenge will be integrated with CISCA's product showcase, allowing attendees to watch the competition while interacting with dozens of ceiling system manufacturers. "If you see a product that's going up in the challenge that you're interested in, you just go find that booth and ask for the details," Moody said.

Beyond the competition, the CISCA Summit will feature educational sessions on practical acoustics, mental resilience and agility in construction, an economic outlook, and a panel discussion on how strategic tech collaboration is transforming ceiling design and installation.