MIA Elects Officers, Hits 1,000 Mark

CLEVELAND – The Marble Institute of America Inc. (MIA) set a new membership record late last year when it enrolled its 1,000th member at its annual meeting in conjunction with StonExpo 2003 in Atlanta.
Hilltop Contracting of Clark Lake, Mich., became the record-setting member of the organization, which serves as the authoritative source of technical information on natural stone, and the leading advocate for real stone in commercial and residential settings.
MIA members also elected a new Board of Directors at the annual meeting and appointed Paul Vigna of Artisan Tile & Marble of New Jersey Inc. in Somerset, N.J., as president for 2004, Scott Lardner of Rocky Mountain Stone Co. in Albuquerque, N.M., is vice president; Kenny Krebs of Tennessee Granite and Marble Co. LLC of Nashville is secretary; and Jack Seiders of Architectural Granite & Marble Inc. in Austin, Texas, is treasurer.
New members of the board of the directors are Jim Hogan of Carrara Marble Company of America Inc. in City of Industry, Calif., and Jim Janochoski of Cold Spring Granite Co. in Cold Spring, Minn.
“I’m very excited and honored to take the reins of MIA at this critical time in the natural-stone industry, when MIA’s role in educating the design community and the general public about the value of real stone is more important than ever,” stated Vigna, who succeeds Richard A. Booms of Booms Stone Co. in Redford, Mich. “Rich Booms and the staff of MIA have done a tremendous job this past year increasing MIA’s influence in stone education and promotion, and I intend to build upon their success in the months ahead.”
“Over 3,100 registered for MIA educational seminars this year, an increase of nearly 75 percent from 2002,” said MIA Executive Vice President Garis F. Distelhorst at the association’s headquarters in Cleveland. “MIA introduced several new educational seminars for fabricators and installers and all were enthusiastically received. Architects and designers also responded positively to the new sessions designed expressly for them.”
Attendance at StonExpo early last December, including both attendees and exhibitors, was 5,085, representing a 20-percent increase from 2002. A total of 240 companies exhibited and occupied 892 booths, showing increases of 21 percent and 18 percent, respectively, from last year. More than half of the exhibition floor space for StonExpo 2004, set for October 28-30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, was sold at the Atlanta event.