StoneDimensions

The Marble Institute of America is proud to announce that the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has approved “Natural Stone Tile: An Overview” as a CEU course available to MIA members who are part of the MIA’s CEU Program. The MIA CEU Program helps participating MIA members connect with architects and design professionals by certifying them as approved providers of CEU courses. The MIA works to register these courses with the AIA and IDCEC (a consortium of interior design associations). “Natural Stone Tile: An Overview” is the 12th such course to be recognized.

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The Marble Institute of America has added free safety meeting outlines to its ever expanding list of exclusive content in the Members’ area of its website. The safety meeting outlines, or toolbox talks (as they are commonly referred to) provide everything a stone fabricator or distributor would need to conduct safety meetings at their facility. Each meeting contains an executive summary, an accident summary relating to the topic at hand, an outline for the meeting itself and a sign-in sheet.

MIA Industry Research & Information Manager, Mike Loflin, said, “It is our goal to encourage every MIA member company to conduct these monthly meetings. By providing every employee of every MIA member access to these valuable tools, companies will have no excuse for failing to educate their employees on safety in the workplace.” Loflin added, “All of the safety information is the cumulative work of our Safety Committee. The Safety Committee is a group of volunteers from the distributor community who identified a need for safety resources within the stone industry. Over the past several years they have delivered the goods and continue to bring new content to their fellow members.”

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Marble Institute of America, the authoritative source for natural stone standards and education, and studiomarmo, the renowned Italian expert on natural stone graphic and web design, have announced the much anticipated release of iStone, a natural stone swatch application for the iPad that is available in the Apple App Store.

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CLEVELAND, OH, April 11, 2012 — MS International (MSI), one of the industry's largest stone distribution companies, is making it possible for the Marble Institute of America to produce a major new documentary that memorializes the global historic relationship between mankind and natural stone. Funding for the documentary will be provided by MSI.

The 35-40 minute documentary will be based on a creative concept by Mr. Manu Shah, founder of MSI of Orange, California. The documentary will trace the evolution of man and stone from prehistoric times to today's thriving use of natural stone as one of the premier decorative building materials used in commercial buildings and homes around the world.

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CLEVELAND, OH, MARCH 13, 2012 — Michael Twiss, CEO of MIA Accredited Commercial A Contractor, Columbia Stone, and MIA Accredited Natural Stone Fabricator, Natural Stone Designs, both located in Tualatin, OR; has been elected president of the Marble Institute of America, the 1600-member global organization representing the natural stone industry.

Twiss began his stone industry career in 1982 with the Blaesing Granite Company after working six years in the heavy civil construction industry. He started out as project manager; eventually ascending to the role of director of business development. In 1988, he started Columbia Stone; followed by Natural Stone Designs in 1991. He serves as the owner/chief executive officer of each company. Twiss also holds Civil Engineering licenses in California and Washington State, and has been a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers since 1982.

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The MIA opened the new year by debuting a new website with a fresh, clean look, better navigation tools, and several new integration resources. Initial feedback has been extremely positive with users commenting on the site's ease of use and crisp look.

"We couldn't ignore the fact that the MIA site receives over 1.25 million hits monthly with approximately 2/3 of the unique visitors coming from outside the stone industry," shared MIA's Executive Vice President, Gary Distelhorst. He added, "We made sure that consumers and design professionals had direct portals to the information they needed, especially how to find a qualified MIA stone professional."

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CLEVELAND, OH., January 12, 2012 - The Marble Institute of America (MIA) recently completed its fourth Performance Analysis Report for U.S. and Canadian natural stone fabricators. The survey was conducted in 2011 and contains an evaluation and interpretation of financial data solicited from fabricators.

The survey was made possible through the generous support and sponsorship of Laser Products Industries and Moraware.

Harry Hollander, Moraware's president, stated, "I'm excited about being a sponsor of the 2011 fabricator performance report. Small differences in how you run your company can make huge differences in profitability - this survey helps you learn best practices."

Dan Louis, president of Laser Products agreed, "When you can confidentially compare your data against your peers, it uncovers opportunities to improve efficiencies."

New for 2011 were analyses of some key production metrics:

• Average square feet of granite and quartz fabricated weekly
• Yearly total production (square feet)
• Templating method identification
• Bridge saw vs. CNC use
• Production tracking methods

Like its predecessors in 2007, 2009 and 2010, the report provides one of the most comprehensive set of benchmarks available on financial performance in the natural stone fabrication industry to date. The report is designed to provide fabrication shops with a tool to evaluate existing financial performance and to identify new ways to create improvement.

The 24-page report is organized in the following sections, each designed to assist managers in specific areas of inquiry:

Executive Summary - An overview of study results including a graphical presentation of key results.

Detailed Results - An in-depth analysis of return on investment, the income statement, the balance sheet, and financial and productivity ratios.

Customer Emphasis - Firms were analyzed by concentration of sales to selected customer groups.

Trends - An examination of changes in performance over time for key results and ratios.

Ratio Calculation - A summary of ratio calculations and supporting commentary.

As in previous years, MIA contracted with Profit Planning Group, the well regarded association profitability and compensation analysis firm. Participants' proprietary financial data was kept strictly confidential.

The survey results and final reports were provided at no additional cost to those firms that participated in the study. The Performance Analysis Report is now available to firms that did not participate in the survey through the MIA bookstore at www.marble-institute.com/store/ (click on the "Business Management & Industry Resources" tab). MIA members' price is $199.00 US (non-members $349.00)

About the Marble Institute of America
For over 65 years the Marble Institute of America (MIA) has been the world's leading information resource and advocate for the natural dimension stone industry. MIA members include marble, granite, limestone, sandstone, and other natural stone producers and quarriers, fabricators, installers, distributors, and contractors around the world.

The Marble Institute of America has announced that Chuck Muehlbauer, the association's technical director, has been elected to chair the ASTM Committee C18 on Dimension Stone. With Muehlbauer, Michael Lewis of Façade Forensics, Cincinnati, OH, has been elected to serve as the committee's vice chairman; Kurt Hoigard of Raths, Raths, & Johnson, Inc, Willowbrook, IL, has been elected to serve as the committee's secretary.  The new slate of officers will begin serving their terms on January 1, 2012.

ASTM Committee C18 on Dimension Stone was formed in 1926 to promote knowledge, stimulate research, and to develop specifications, methods of test, definitions and nomenclature, and recommended practices relating to dimension stone. The committee currently has a multinational membership of approximately 125 members representing 14 countries.  C18 has jurisdiction of over 25 standards, published in the Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Volume 4.07. The committee has 5 technical subcommittees that maintain jurisdiction over these standards. These standards have and continue to play a preeminent role in all aspects important to the effective standardization of dimension stone, including, testing, specifications and construction practices.

Muehlbauer started his career in the stone industry after graduating from technical college in 1981, and has been an active member of the ASTM Committee C18 on Dimension Stone since 1989. He has previously served as chairman of Subcommittee C18.08 on Stone Selection and Committee C18 Secretary. He has written and edited papers published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), ASTM, Cold Spring Granite Company, and the Marble Institute of America.

MIA Executive Vice President and CEO Garis Distelhorst said, "Chuck's election as chair of the ASTM C18 further solidifies the notion that the Marble Institute is a clear leader in the natural stone industry, particularly in its technical knowledge and information. His history and his reputation as one of the stone industry's most technically proficient experts, first with Cold Spring Granite Company and for the last seven years with the MIA, earned him this opportunity to assume the leadership of this critically important ASTM Committee.  The entire MIA membership is proud to call Chuck one of ours."

MIA President GK Naquin added, "Chuck's commitment to the natural stone industry and the Marble Institute of America once again has been validated through his election as committee chairman of the ASTM C18 on Dimension Stone. Chuck has made a positive difference representing our industry within ASTM. We look forward to his continued guidance as chairman."