Fabricators Learn How to Drive Profitability for Their Businesses
Pacific Shore Stones hosted a Stone Industry Education (SIE) event at its slab warehouse in Olive Branch, MS, on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
Business consultant Ed Young led the discussion on profitability at the seminar that was organized by Stone World in partnership with the Natural Stone Institute (NSI).
Mark Meriaux, NSI accreditation and technical manager, also talked to the fabricators in attendance about shop safety and OSHA regulations.
Aaron Dahnke, CAE, NSI education and membership manager, took a few minutes to provide insight into the NSI and benefits of its membership program.
Attendees had time to speak with sponsors, such as Dry-Treat, to learn more about their products.
Big Dog Adhesives was also among the sponsors who attended the Memphis SIE event.
Laser Products Industries (LPI) also drew attendees to their table to check out their templating system.
Participating fabricators spent time with sponsors to stay up to date on the newest innovations that can help them with quality and efficiency.
LPI had its templator on hand for fabricators to see first hand its capabilities.
During the lunch break, participants had an opportunity to tour Pacific Shore Stones’ facility to view its slab inventory.
Jason Osborne, warehouse manager/sales executive for Pacific Shore Stones, represented his team and received a certificate of appreciation from speaker Ed Young.
Fabricators from the Memphis, TN, region came together for a one-day workshop hosted by Pacific Shore Stones at its facility in Olive Branch, MS, on Thursday, April 16, 2026. The event was one of 10 in the Stone Industry Education (SIE) series organized by Stone World and the Natural Stone Institute (NSI). The presentation was led by Ed Young, a seasoned business consultant with a wealth of experience spanning startups to Fortune 100 corporations.
Learning objectives for the SIE event include:
- Calculate the true profitability of your business – every day.
- Predict the bottom line on your monthly P&L – before the end of the month.
- Use the right metrics for essential business tasks like financial forecasting and key decisions like adding headcount.
- Accurately evaluate the profitability of customers and market segments.
Young brings expertise in business turnarounds, growth strategies and operational improvements and spends time assisting organizations in streamlining processes and maximizing profitability. His consulting acumen is grounded in a diverse career in manufacturing, where he held leadership roles from industrial engineer to director of operations.
“One thing we are going to cover today is how we calculate profits for a day,” Young told attendees. “If we can show you a way that you can get a pretty good prediction of profitability today so that you can look back at yesterday and understand if you won the day or not, would that be helpful?
“Owning a business and being able to predict your P&L is huge,” he went on to say. “To be able to answer the question: How much money do we plan to make next Tuesday? If you start answering those questions reliably, now you have control of your business.”
Another discussion point Young laid out at the start of the session was quality. “We are going to take those same accounting metrics and apply those to quality. Then we are going to get into long-range planning.”
Participants were receptive to Young’s presentation and engaged by asking questions and sharing experiences. Young also shared a PDF with attendees so they can review his presentation once they are back at their shops.
The day also included a shop safety discussion led by Mark Meriaux, NSI accreditation and technical manager. The talk shared updates on Cal/OSHA legislation as well as the dangers of silicosis.
Several breaks throughout the day, including lunch, allowed participants to talk with the sponsors to learn about their newest products. Sponsors in attendance included Big Dog Adhesives, Dry-Treat and Laser Products Industries. Additional sponsors of the Memphis SIE event were Park Industries and The International Surface Event (tise).
“NSI and Ed Young did an outstanding job with their presentations,” said attendee Billy Shaw of Countertops of Memphis in Memphis, TN. “Ed's knowledge of systems and manufacturing processes is the best. We are going through the emailed presentation and PDF to tune up our processes and will get with Ed to start working with us. Also, I’m so glad other vendors were there to update us in what they have rolling out.”
The next SIE event is scheduled for Thursday, April 30, 2026, hosted by MSI in Grand Rapids, MI. For more details about this event, as well as the complete 2026 lineup, visit: www.stoneindustryeducation.com.
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