DENVER, CO — Artisan Group member Front Range Stone is the first stone fabricator in Colorado to be Marble Institute of America (MIA) Accredited. Accredited natural stone fabricators represent the best companies that work on residential and commercial stone projects.

Currently, only 45 natural stone fabricators in the country have achieved accreditation, 17 of which are Artisan Group members: Bangor Wholesale Laminates (Bangor, ME), Block Tops, Inc. (Anaheim, CA), Blume’s Solid Surface Products (Freeport, PA), Consolidated Kitchens & Fireplaces (Omaha, NE), Creative Countertops (Las Vegas, NV), Duracite (Fairfield, CA), Eastern Surfaces (Allentown, PA) Fineline Pacific (Kent, WA), Front Range Stone (Englewood, CO), Innovative Surfaces (Hastings, MN), NBC Solid Surfaces (Springfield, VT), Rocksolid (Cleveland, OH), Rocky Mountain Stone (Albuquerque, NM), Solid Surfaces (Rochester, NY) Solid Tops (Easton, MD), Surface Products (Cornelius, NC) and Top Master (Kansas City, KS).

“Front Range Stone is now able to proudly display the accreditation logo, which symbolizes that they both are among the finest in the natural stone industry with respect to craftsmanship, safety and business practices,” said Garen Distelhorst, the Accreditation Manager at the MIA.

“Our product offering and customer service is unparalleled and warranties are offered on all products,” said Brad Pearce, owner of Front Range Stone. “Achieving accreditation from the MIA is just one more step in offering our customers the best possible finished products, while ensuring overall employee and shop safety. We are proud of this achievement because it is a reflection of the pride and dedication our employees have to the Artisan Group of premier countertop fabricators.”

Founded in 2001 by Clark Lechner and Brad Pearce, Front Range Stone has become one of Colorado’s largest custom countertop and commercial surface fabricators. Offering a breadth of countertop products, including granite, solid surface, quartz and exotic wood, Front Range Stone can meet any design requirement at a reasonable price, the company reports.

To become an accredited natural stone fabricator by the MIA, a company must have successfully completed three phases of application. Phase one is the completion of a lengthy application that requires the applicant company to provide various documents and references which ensure that the company is in compliance with the 10 standards of accreditation as laid out by the MIA Accreditation Commission. Phase two requires the company’s qualifying agent (the designated company representative responsible for filing and maintaining accreditation records for the applicant company) to pass a 200-question multiple-choice test. The exam tests the applicant’s knowledge and application of material usage, installation, fabrication, restoration, care and maintenance, administration, legal/contracts, and jobsite and shop safety. The third phase is a comprehensive site visit, which includes a facility review, document review and one or more installation site visits.