With a vote of 565 to 25, the memberships of Marble Institute of America (MIA) and Building Stone Institute (BSI) have overwhelmingly decided to authorize a historic merger of North America’s two most prominent stone associations. Effective January 1, 2018, the combined association will formally be known as the Natural Stone Institute, a name widely used during the two year joint venture.
The Natural Stone Institute would like to thank those members who voted and everyone who has participated in the dialogue about the merger. Your trust, support and guidance has helped make this merger possible. Together, members will continue with resolve to provide the best technical, educational, and promotional support for the growing membership and the natural stone industry, as well as expand outreach to the design community. As a result the Natural Stone Institute now has the combined assets to become the largest and most influential natural stone association in the world.
The combined staff emphasized that they share the members’ passion to advance the industry. Natural Stone Institute has a dynamic team of dedicated people who have come together over the past two years to prove this union can work, and that merging is the best move for the industry.
In 2018, David Carnevale (Carnevale & Lohr) will serve as the first president of this merged organization. Greg Osterhout (Northern Stone Supply) will serve as vice president, Robert Zavagno (Cleveland Marble Mosaic Co) will serve as secretary, and Kathy Spanier (Coldspring) will serve as treasurer.
Carnevale commented: “I look forward to serving as first president of the Natural Stone Institute. I want to thank the many current and past industry leaders from BSI and MIA who had the foresight to see what was possible with a merger. The Natural Stone Institute is well positioned to further advance the combined association’s role as a technical and educational leader. We will continue to offer a wide array of opportunities for networking with both industry and design professionals.”
The membership of the combined association will exceed 2,000 members. The leadership will focus on technical and education initiatives intended to further advance the use of natural stone. A new association logo will officially debut at TISE 2018 in January.
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