CLEVELAND,OH -- Front Range Stone in Englewood, CO, Valley View Granite in Tremonton, UT, KBR Manufacturing of Cincinnati, OH, The Countertop Factory of Addison, IL, Andrew Lauren of San Diego, CA, and Andrew Lauren of Tucson, AZ, round out the latest stone fabricator shops leveraging the momentum of the Rockhead Group USA (RGU). RGU is a stone fabricator trade group, focused on reshaping industry best practices for today's marketplace and establishing its own private label quartz line, exclusive to its members.
New member stone executive Geoffrey Gran, of The Countertop Factory, explains, "At The Countertop Factory Midwest, we view ourselves as a sales and marketing company that happens to manufacture and install countertops. When we started meeting RockHead group members, we realized that there were other like-minded business owners that were analytical, strategic and ran their company like a business and not a job shop. We wanted to surround ourselves with best-in-class business owners and so we jumped at the chance to join the RockHeads!"
The Rockhead Group began its mission in early 2012. Stone World's Fabricator of the Year, Eric Tryon, of Premier Surfaces in Georgia, is a co-founder of the trade group and explains its origins: "I am not originally from the stone fabrication industry and I was blown away by the lack of business knowledge and metrics most stone fabricators do not seem to have when it comes to operating their businesses. There didn't appear to be a great understanding of the costs basis it takes to run this type of business and where the leverage points to profitability are located."
He and fellow co-founders Jon Kaplan and Nick Began of Stoneworks in Ohio, Paul Menninger of Capitol Granite in Virginia and Larry Crowley of Stoneworks- Cutting Edge in Florida convened to form a new type of trade group with a laser focus on business intelligence. Tryon adds, "As founders we felt there was a huge need and opportunity inside the stone fabrication industry for the more sophisticated owners to have a forum to share best practices and metrics with one another. This forum and platform would accelerate our learning giving all of us the opportunity to leverage the business acumen from some of the best minds in the industry."
The Rockhead Group is now represented in 64 locations nationwide and in Canada. RGU is led by Dawn M. Kennedy Ph.D. as its executive officer and is headquartered in Cleveland, OH, with a satellite office in Saint Louis, MO.
