“What’s necessary for success is alignment,” said Tryon. “When I say alignment, it’s company objectives aligned with the individual, especially frontline employees. Are they aligned, or are they in conflict?”

He plans to walk fabricators through common points of misalignment—such as pay structures that reward overtime when companies are trying to control labor costs—and how to redesign systems so “the system does the heavy lifting.” He also expects an open-room format with examples from attendees.

Tryon warned that expense pressure is mounting across the sector, from material to payroll to insurance, and that many shops still operate at thin margins despite years of benchmarking data.

“Expenses are increasing,” said Tryon. “Between material costs and payroll, it costs more to operate these days. This new wave of increased expenses is going to hurt in the form of margins. The great fabricators are at 10% EBITDA and above, but many still sit near 5%.”

Beyond cost inflation, he argued that the quality and availability of labor remain persistent headwinds—making clarity of expectations and performance measurement “mission critical.” He said owners can’t wait until year-end bank balances to judge performance; they need a small set of metrics to steer daily decisions and cross-department teamwork.

Tryon will also share lessons from his post-sale experience, contending that private-equity-driven cost cutting can inadvertently disengage teams and erode results when it breaks alignment.

“They lost alignment based on the decisions that they made,” said Tryon. “They looked at it from a spreadsheet perspective and tried to reduce costs, and they did the opposite. They reduced engagement and pushed frontliners toward selfish decisions — that’s misalignment.”

Tryon, known to many as “Coach T,” said his goal is to equip owners—especially those scaling beyond the mom-and-pop stage—with practical levers they can implement immediately: clearer roles, incentive structures that reward the right behaviors, and dashboards that keep focus on profitability, not just top-line growth.

“This is the ultimate team sport,” he said, previewing a message he plans to emphasize in Nashville. “If departments aren’t functioning as a team with shared objectives, the wheels start to come off as you grow.”

The NSI Stone Industry Education program in Nashville is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 11. Organizers say session details and registration information are available through the Natural Stone Institute.