Etna Granitos do Brasil Ltda. started in 2002 as a buying office for clients located throughout the northeast corridor. As demands increased, and to have better quality control over its materials, the company's principals invested in nearly 325,000 square feet of land in Serra, Brazil - near the port city of Vitoria - with the intention of building a factory.

“If you're processing stone for Home Depot, it better be right,” said Thomas L. Beames, president of Wilbedone of Cortland, NY, a 52-employee fabricator that exclusively processes Silestone® quartz countertops for Home Depots in Upstate New York.

Established in 1990, Pokarna Ltd. has become one of India's leading granite sources, and is known worldwide for its state-of-the-art facilities and distinguished materials.

Construction of the Nautilus Insurance Co. headquarters in Scottsdale, AZ, was completed this past May. The three-story 75,000-square-foot building is clad in Indian granite quarried by Tab India and supplied through the company's U.S. branch, Amsum & Ash of Minneapolis, MN, to present a feeling of strength and permanence.

Occupying 25 floors, and comprised of 1 million square feet of space, the Manhattan Municipal Building at One Center Street in New York City is considered one of the largest government buildings in the world. It was originally built in the early 1900s by the internationally renowned architectural firm, McKim, Mead and White, and this past year, Loring Consulting Engineers was brought on board to renovate and modernize the restrooms, which included the addition of Indian stone supplied by Hindustan Granites Inc. of Hauppauge, NY.

Salvadeo Associates Architects, P.C., recently designed a private residence in Staten Island, NY, to recall a Mediterranean villa. The look for the 7,000-square-foot house was achieved with the extensive use of Indian stone materials from Ankur International.

If you walk around any of the numerous stone trade shows, you will see at least a dozen companies selling CNC machines. It seems everyone nowadays is getting a CNC. I have seen many fabricators have great success with these machines, and I have seen others who have not seen this success. It is critical to understand what a CNC can do for your business - and more importantly, what it cannot do.

When you're evaluating software to organize your office and shop, you'll be confronted with many choices of companies and products. Many software packages will appear to have the same functionality. However, each application works very differently, and will have different strengths. To evaluate which is the appropriate solution for your business, the following points should be considered:

Having been a supplier of cultured marble since 1993, Southern Marble & Design of Orlando, FL, made the move into stone fabrication in 2004, opening a branch called Designer Surfaces, Inc. And to ensure a high level of quality and efficiency, the company has invested in the latest generation of stoneworking machinery, including CNC technology.

Since Adam Anderson and Israel Cruz started BuildersPlus Counter-tops six years ago, the company has experienced a surge of growth. What began as a two-man operation in Houston, TX, has expanded to a business currently comprised of over 40 employees, with steady work from many area builders.