Jerry Helling has a soft spot for young designers. But instead of just buying a piece or two for his living room, he’s giving untested talent a whole new audience. In 2006, Helling, the 47-year-old creative director of North Carolina–based Bernhardt Design—a firm focusing on smart international work—started ICFF Studio, a nationwide competition for up-and-coming designers.

As their prize, winners got to show their work in a dedicated booth at the furniture world’s Super Bowl: New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). Not only does Helling pick up to 10 winners from hundreds of submissions each year, but he nurtures the applicants through the entire process, from design to manufacturing to presenting their projects on the fair floor. “We realized that young designers needed help,” says Helling. “The actual business of design is something they haven’t been prepared for. We’re trying to fill that void.”

The work of Helling’s protégés isn’t just consigned to a corner of the cavernous Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Instead, the pieces—which cover an aesthetic range from simple folded-metal bench to bright orange plastic bucket seat—are front and center. And they get noticed: Three of the 2006 winners have started their own companies.

At next month’s fair, Helling is taking his patronage of fresh faces one step further, integrating the work of students from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, with new creations by much more established names, such as Yves Béhar and Arik Levy, whose pieces are part of Bernhardt’s Global Edition line.

“I thought the work was good enough to be shown side by side,” Helling says of this year’s plan to mix work by new talent and established names in one big Bernhardt Lounge. “It stands shoulder to shoulder with the work of these accomplished international designers.” Spoken like a true talent scout.

"A Good Scout: Jerry Helling" originally appeared in the April 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's April 2008 Table of Contents.