An international jury convened in early March in Verona, Italy, to review major architectural projects in stone that were completed over the last two years. Over 40 projects were evaluated, and the winning projects were recently announced. The awards will be presented at a ceremony on Saturday, October 6, 2007, during Marmomacc, and the projects will also be featured in an exhibit at the fair.

On September 12 and 13, the Marble Institute of America (MIA) will hold its second annual leadership workshop in Chicago, IL. According to a description by the MIA: “The two-day event is geared to provide attendees with a chance to be with people who have proven strategies that will help keep you in business; an opportunity to find someone in attendance who just faced down the Goliath company down the street and actually increased sales; and the opportunity to be with management experts, as well as stone executives you couldn’t meet any other way.”

Stone Interiors of Gaston, SC, recently served as the stone consultant for an extensive renovation of the bar area of Milano’s Restaurant in White Rock, SC. Susan Cowan of Susan-Interior Design of Sautee Nacoochee, GA, was responsible for the design, which included the use of over 200 square feet of granite for bar tops as well as a fireplace surround, and travertine was also mixed into the design to add flair and interest to the space.

Surface Reproductions, LLC has introduced a patent-pending product named Surreal™, an inexpensive lightweight dimensional printed sample product designed to show different edge profiles of stone products in one sample piece.

As part of its three-year-old safety initiative, the Marble Institute of America (MIA) has developed Safety in the Stone Business, a new technical guide that features a wide range of information on safety issues in the natural stone industry.

After years of working with Arizona sandstone and flagstone, Stoneworld International has reopened an historic site that contains a unique variety of onyx.