Salem Sets Up U.S. Gmm Center

ORLANDO – A U.S. location for Gmm S.p.A. is the newest development for Salem Stone.
At a Coverings 2005 press conference, the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based equipment and machinery distributor announced the opening of Gmm USA offices. The stateside outpost of the Gravellona Toce, Italy-based bridge-saw manufacturer is at Salem’s corporate offices.
Mike Willard, Salem vice president, said the location will stock Gmm equipment as well as parts for the complete line of bridge saws.
“This will allow us to eliminate lengthy delivery times for newly purchased equipment and to maximize customers’ up-time with domestic spare-parts availability,” Willard said. “Even though the Gmm office has been open for just a couple of months, we are already seeing the synergy between the two organizations.”
Taf Wharton, who’s worked around the world for the bridge-saw company, is president of Gmm USA.
Willard also noted that the company added a CNC line to its offerings with PetraDAM machines from Gadia S.A. of Mendaro, Spain.
Willard also gave an update on the merger between Salem and the Bergman-Blair Machine Corp. last October. He noted that Salem is building on Bergman’s success with a field sales team of 18 sales representatives in the United States and Canada.
John Bergman, now Salem’s manager of stone equipment, noted that his former company had “become a victim of success” in selling more than 100 saws a year along with other machinery, and the merger was beneficial for both sides.
Willard cited the merger as part of Salem’s strategy since entering the stone industry in 2001.
“We found that it was tough for our customers to keep up with the volume of production demands,” he said. “The gap that we observed was that there was no one cohesive supplier that could handle high-quality supplies and equipment.
“Our goal has since become to assemble the best line of equipment to service the industry.”
Willard also noted that Salem, as part of Salem Distributing, became a 100-percent employee-owned company as of March 4. Employees first took a 33-percent share of the company in 2001.
“It’s very gratifying to see the enthusiasm in our employees – our fellow owners – taking orders and shipping them out the door,” Willard said. “In business, there is no one more-committed to making an operation successful than a business owner, and we are seeing that at Salem Stone on a daily basis.”