Well, we made it through January, which especially here in the Northeast is usually a long and dreary month. Throw living in a pandemic on top of it, and it seemed even more daunting. But now spring is in sight, and on the work front, there has been a great deal of things going on that have kept me positive and engaged.

For starters, it appears fabricators have remained busy! So many industry members that I or our staff have spoken with during the past few months have said that business has remained steady, if not busier. This is certainly news to be happy about. We hope that this wave continues to grow.

Another reason to be optimistic is there is a chance that later this year many of us will actually be able to see each other in person again. With the COVID-19 vaccine slowly being made available to everyone, trade shows such as The International Surface Event (TISE) and Coverings are hopeful and plan to hold live events in June and July. There are also some in-person Stone Industry Education sessions, which Stone World organizes with the Natural Stone Institute, scheduled to begin in the fall of 2021.

And personally, here at Stone World, we are excited to launch the new platform for our eMagazine. As you scroll through the pages, you will notice they are more interactive, with videos, podcasts and moving images. And we are only getting started. The creative juices are flowing, and we are continually thinking of interesting and engaging ways to present content to our loyal readers. We will continue to be your source for industry news and other information, and we want to hear from you. Please don’t hesitate to let us know what you like or don’t like, and if you have any suggestions of other things you would like to see featured. We want to serve our readers in the best possible way.

Before I sign off, I’d also like to point out that we are anxious to announce Stone World’s 2020 Fabricator of the Year. I would like to thank everyone who voted. We had a great turnout at the polls. While all of the candidates are worthy of the award, we can only have one winner. Look for a video interview with our 2020 Fabricator of the Year in March’s eMagazine.

I look forward to sharing more good news with you next month. In the meantime, I hope everyone continues to stay healthy and safe.