A few months ago, I wrote about a slate producer in the U.K., and the headline described the company philosophy as a “culture of quality.” In writing those words, I wanted to express what I viewed as an overall feeling of pride and craftsmanship that extended to all areas of the company — from the quarries to the production to the office personnel.

To be honest, this business approach is not all that uncommon in the stone industry — especially when examining companies that operate on a smaller scale than what I saw in England. It is one thing for the owner or manager of a company to emphasize service and quality, but it is quite another to see this emphasis maintained at all levels of production, sales, installation, etc. Yet as tough as this can be to achieve day in and day out, I see it all the time in the stone industry, and I am fairly sure that there is a higher percentage of these types of businesses in the stone trade than in most other sectors.