“We expect several more member-ships to come in from the show and that we will reach an all-time high of 1,200 members by December 31,” said Garis F. Distelhorst, Executive Vice President of the association, which serves as an authoritative source of technical infor-mation on natural stone and the leading advocate for the use of real stone in commercial and residential settings.

MIA members also elected a new Board of Directors at the annual meeting and appointed Scott Lardner of Rocky Mountain Stone Co. in Albuquerque, NM, MIA President for 2005. “It is truly an honor to serve MIA in this capacity at this exciting time, when membership continues to swell in response to the very real advances MIA is making in serving the needs of the natural stone professional and the natural stone industry as a whole,” said Lardner, who succeeds Paul Vigna of Artisan Tile & Marble of New Jersey.

Other business included the approval by the MIA membership of an amended and restated set of MIA bylaws. The MIA Board also approved a Partnership Agreement with Hanley Wood, the new owner of StonExpo, through which MIA becomes a leading sponsor of StonExpo for the next 45 years. Hanley Wood's Exhibitions Division conducts 12 premier industry trade shows and events, including World of Concrete, one of the top 20 trade show events in the country.

“MIA plans to work closely with Hanley Wood to make StonExpo an even more powerful educational event,” said Distelhorst, noting that MIA has traditionally sponsored StonExpo's educational programming. “All of our seminars enjoyed robust attendance this year, with 80 or more registering for each. Several of our newest programs, including Small Shop Countertop Fabrication and Exterior Cladding, proved especially popular.”

Sales of MIA educational materials were also brisk, particularly for the much-anticipated “Basics of Stone Shop Safety” CD and the new “Granite Cleanability” poster that touts the hygienic benefits of granite countertops.

Presentation of the highly coveted MIA Pinnacle Awards for achievement in natural stone commercial and residential projects was another highlight of the annual meeting. Winning projects are featured on MIA's Web site at: www.marble-institute.com and in a full-color brochure available from MIA.

The following is a list of the 2005 MIA Board of Directors:

Officers:

• Scott Lardner, President, Rocky Mountain Stone Co., Albuquerque, NM
  
• Kenny Krebs, Vice President, Tennessee Granite & Marble Co., LLC, Hermitage, TN
  
• Jack Seiders, Secretary, Architectural Granite & Marble, Inc., Austin, TX
  
• Jim Hogan, Treasurer, Carrara Marble Co. of America, Inc., City of Industry, CA
  
• Paul Vigna, Immediate Past President, Artisan Tile & Marble of New Jersey, Somerset, NJ

• Guido C. Gliori, Grazzini Brothers & Co., Eagan, MN
  
• Vic Green, VIC International Corp., Knoxville, TN
  
• Jesus Gonzalez, Marble World SA de CV, Garza Garcia, Mexico
  
• Anthony Ieraci, Ciot Imports Co., Ltd., Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  
• Jim Janochoski, Cold Spring Granite Co., Cold Spring, MN
  
• Abraham Mekuria, Mitin Pvt. Ltd. Mining Co., Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  
• Brett S. Rugo, Rugo Stone, Lorton, VA
  
• Mark Shedrofsky, Stone Source, New York, NY
  
• Mario Venezia, Pisani Brothers S.p.A., Avenza-Carrara, Italy