It’s hard to believe another year is almost in the books. For us at Contemporary Stone & Tile Design, 2019 has been a great year meeting and learning about different architects and designers and seeing the projects they have produced.

Acme Brick Company was founded in 1891 to supply brick and other high-quality building products to architects and builders.

My favorite thing to say about us is: ‘We are not the best stone company in Chicago because we are the oldest. We are the oldest, because we are the best,’” said Tom Van Etten, when speaking about his family owned business Galloy & Van Etten, which was started in 1899.

Living in the digital age with technology at the forefront, Marmomac 2019 is stepping it up to offer attendees a virtual experience. It will be debuting its new app at this year’s exhibition, which is slotted for September 25th to 28th in Verona, Italy.

The Royal Alberta Museum is the largest museum in Western Canada. It originally opened in 1967 and was called, at the time, the Provincial Museum of Alberta. In 2011, construction of a completely new museum was announced and started in 2014. The museum was finished two years later in 2016.

Recently, Stone World had the opportunity to tour this region, which remains a viable source of limestone. The quarries and mills that we visited were busy with activity – many working on multiple projects, including some high-profile ones.

It only took me 23 years, but I finally made it out to visit the Indiana Limestone Belt. I’d have to say it was long overdue. A big “thank you” goes to my friend Todd Schnatzmeyer at the Indiana Limestone Institute who made my excursion possible, along with all of the companies that graciously welcomed me into their quarries and mills.

The first Stone Fabricators Alliance workshop of the year, hosted by James Donaire of Perfection Connection Marble & Granite, Inc., attracted the largest crowd in the history of the organization’s workshops. Around 200 people attended the event, which was held from June 20 to 21.

If you’ve been in this industry for any length of time, chances are you’ve been to more than a few trade shows and seminars. Looking back at all that invested time, what do you really remember? How much of that information have you used to improve your business?