The Marble Institute of America announced that it has vastly expanded its newly launched one-day seminar programs and curriculums to include more offerings on restoration and other subjects of interest to the natural stone community. Beginning this month, the expanded schedule will include 21 cities in the U.S. and Canada. “The feedback from the first five seminars held since we announced the original program early this year has been very encouraging,” said Jim Hieb, director of special projects for MIA. “The result has been an expansion of the curriculum into more bite-sized sessions and to offer more courses in restoration and maintenance.” The lineup of one-day seminars for the remainder of 2005 includes “How to Profit in the Rapidly Growing Stone Restoration Business,” “Fabrication Shop Efficiency, Productivity, Safety, OSHA & More: Avoid the Mistakes & Traps Made by Other Shops,” “Stone Shop Safety -- A Practical Approach (How to avoid fines and business interruption due to safety concerns),” and “A Nuts & Bolts Approach to Greater Success and Profits In Stone Fabrication.” To register, call MIA at 440-250-9222, or visit the MIA Web site at www.marble-institute.com.

CCS-Stone, a stone importer, distributor and fabricator based in Moonachie, NJ, recently hosted a stone demonstration and presentation for the New Jersey Chapter of ASID. Speakers included Jonathan Mitnick of CCS-Stone, who spoke on the stone industry in developing markets such as China, Robert Theofeld of Maverick/Bellinzoni, who spoke on stone care and maintenance, and Stone World Editor Michael Reis, who gave a presentation on the rapidly growing stone industry in Brazil.

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