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.

In this month’s Industry Perspective, Joey Marcella writes about when attending a trade show, workshop or other industry event, you should walk away with a “couple of good ‘nuggets’ of information.” I couldn’t agree more.

The natural stone industry is filled with companies of all sizes, but we know that most are small-to-medium size companies. When it comes to marketing and training, I often hear about limited budgets and staff resources.

While working for another company primarily doing tilework, Kurt Bartzsch was given the challenge to start the company’s fabrication shop. Bartzsch primarily learned on a trial-and-error basis before going out on his own.

In this issue, you will see that we address the subject of shop safety, which I think everyone agrees is an important topic. In a matter of seconds, one wrong move or misjudgment can lead to an accident, or even more tragic to think about – a fatality.