Laser Products Industries (LPI) has made the 2018 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States for the second-consecutive year. LPI has experienced nearly 70% sales growth over the last three years and joins an elite group of repeat companies on the Inc. 5000.

Alex Bores has recently join the Breton USA sales team, covering Southern California. Bores, who lives in Arizona with his wife and three children, brings with him 20 years of experience in the stone industry.

Quarries Association (NBGQA), has produced a new series of safety training resources specific to the quarrier segment of the natural stone industry. These resources are now available free of charge in the Natural Stone University.

MSI, North America’s leading supplier of premium surfacing products, announces the opening of its enlarged and updated showroom and distribution center located in Phoenix, Arizona. The new 187,000-square-foot building has allowed MSI to more than double its inventory to better serve not only the growing Phoenix market, but also the entire Grand Canyon State.

Groves Incorporated, a manufacturer of a complete line of storage, fabrication and transportation systems for the stone and glass industries, has introduced its new Post Shoes. Designed to add support to your posts when using the company’s Bundle Rack / Multi-Purpose Glass Storage System. They are constructed of heavy gauge square tubular steel and feature a welded base plate with gusset. When tightened to the posts and resting firmly on the floor rails, the Post Shoes provide additional stability for heavier loads. 

Diamut America has announced the arrival of a new manufacturing engineer to lead both the redressing and manufacturing operations the company is adding in Charlotte as soon as early September. Alan Hooper, a UNC Charlotte graduate, says he is eager to serve customers and distributors who use Intermac and other cutting-edge glass and stone machines by making their diamond tooling like new again through redressing.

Natural Stone Institute is pleased to announce that accelerated weathering testing is now available through the testing lab’s recently acquired environmental simulation chamber. This test method is used to determine the level of strength and fabric degradation caused to a natural dimension stone by exposure to repeated cycles of freezing and thawing in a near saturated condition. Accelerated Weathering tests are often required by project design and engineering teams in regions that experience high numbers of freeze/thaw cycles.

Diamond tool manufacturer Diamut, which became part of Biesse Group in 2002, has announced that it will open a new tool restoration operation run by highly trained Diamut operators and engineers on the Biesse Group campus in Charlotte.  The company’s customers and distributors who use Intermac and other cutting-edge glass and stone machines will be able to send their worn tooling to the Charlotte facility to have it re-profiled and restored, a process often known as “redressing,” starting in early September.

Braxton-Bragg has hit the road with Viper Van, a mobile sales van, offering local Tennessee stone fabrication shops immediate access to both exclusive and national brands of blades, pads and tooling, including the company’s own Viper brand.

Within the scope of cultural events at Marmomac 2018, an exhibition will be presented focusing on educational and research experiences involving experiments with the use of stone materials carried out by Departments of Architecture and Design in Italian Universities in collaboration with companies and vocational and art schools, and curated by Raffaello Galiotto and Vincenzo Pavan.