Stone Column

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In the 20 years that I have been covering the stone industry — in good times, bad (really bad) times, and everything in between — I have learned one irrefutable fact.

In addition to visiting the many stone events on the “Spring Trade Show Circuit” so far this year — Las Vegas, Brazil, Atlanta, etc. — I took some time last month to travel to Salt Lake City, UT, for the Utah Stone Summit

In last month’s issue of Stone World, we published the year-end U.S. stone import and export statistics, which are provided to us by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

A month ago, I reported on the tremendously positive feedback I received on StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas

Back in January, Stone World published its annual “Fabricator Market Forecast,” a survey conducted by BNP Media (Stone World’s parent company) that is sent to thousands of fabricators across the America.

Just before the start of this past holiday season, I made my final business trip of 2012 — boarding the last of many flights I took to cover our industry over the course of the year.

With the close of StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas this month, the stone industry loses a valuable resource with the retirement of Gary Distelhorst, who has served as head of the Marble Institute of America (MIA) for more than a decade

I realize that the term “Green Building” is more than a bit overused these days — to the point that it is almost a cliché, in my opinion.

When I look at the stone industry, I see a totally mixed bag — and I don’t mean that as a good thing.

Earlier this year, I took a very unique trip with a trade delegation of almost 30 North American members of the Stone Fabricators Alliance.