Fab Worker in Federal Workers Comp Fraud; New Natural Stone CEU Course; more.

A South Carolina fabrication-shop worker gets a year in jail in federal workers-comp-fraud case; Natural Stone Institute rolls out new CEU course on countertops; granite shortages affect Jewish headstone rituals; more.

This episode is underwritten by Marmomac, the premier natural-stone event held annually in Verona, Italy. Come join the industry for a return to face-to-face business on Sept. 29-Oct. 2 at https://www.marmomac.com/en/home-english/.

00:09

Fab Worker in Federal Disability Fraud

01:48

Sustainability Certified for Texas Quarry

03:44

New Natural-Stone Countertops CEU Course

05:24

Headstone Ritual Hit by Shortages

07:23

All Slab Fabbers SLC Workshop on Oct. 14-16

07:57

Cosentino Chicago City Center Opens

08:36

Neolith® Invests in China

09:14

Princeton Chemical Freezes Prices

Radio Stone Update is presented on the first and third Wednesdays every month at 9 a.m. everywhere on Earth with the latest news and insights in hard surfaces. Check our archives at www.radiostoneupdate.com.

Transcript

K. Schipper: Hi, I’m K. Schipper with another edition of Radio Stone Update.

 00:09

An employee of Myrtle Beach, S.C.-area granite shops found his career in the stone industry cut short —- and will now spend some time in the federal prison system.

Emmanuel Papas recently pled guilty to fraud charges of collecting disability benefits while earning additional income in fabrication backshops.

The 52-year-old Papas, who lives in Myrtle Beach, was a former Transportation Security Agency – or TSA – lead security officer when he was injured on the job in 2004 at Newark International Liberty Airport. As a result of those injuries, Papas began collecting federal worker’s compensation benefits. 

However, in March 2009, he began working at the first of three different granite shops. Surveillance and interviews with various granite business employees confirmed his employment, and deposits into Papas’ bank account showed income from those same Myrtle Beach-area businesses. Investigators found he disguised his income by having his earnings paid in cash or with checks made payable to other family members.

During the time he was employed at stone shops, Papas also completed at least eight federal forms attesting that he had no outside income and was eligible to continue to receive the compensation benefits. He ultimately confessed to the crime and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution of slightly less than $150,000. 

 1:28

Continental Cut Stone, a Florence, Texas-based quarrier, earned certification to the Natural Stone Sustainability Standard NSC/ANSI 373. The company achieved Gold status for the quarry, which extracts Cordova Cream and Cordova Shell limestone, and Silver status recognition for its fabrication facility, which processes limestone blocks.

Continental Cut Stone President Rob Teel says one of his goals since becoming involved with the Natural Stone Council was to achieve that certification. He praised Kristin Cannon and Tom Cleveland for working through the process, and said, “Our hope is that others will continue to follow suit and get certified.”

The Natural Stone Sustainability Standard was first published in 2014 by the Natural Stone Council. Ownership of the standard transferred to the Natural Stone Institute early this year, providing an opportunity to raise awareness of the standard among designers and positioning natural stone as a solution for green building goals.

At the same time, quarriers and natural stone fabricators can look to the standard to identify ways to improve sustainability efforts in their operations. Through third-party verification, companies can certify their compliance to the standard’s metrics for human health and safety, corporate governance and environmental responsibility. 

By defining best practices for land reclamation, adaptive reuse and management of excess materials and waste, the standard ensures that natural stone companies remain being good stewards of the land. For more information on the Natural Stone Sustainability Standard and source certified natural stone, go to www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/sustainability.

3:44

The Natural Stone Institute announces a new CEU course credit approved and ready for presentation. Entitled “Natural Stone Countertops: Considerations for Kitchen and Bath Applications,” it offers an overview of several natural stone choices, with a focus on setting consumer expectations for their performance. 

Knowledge of fabrication, installation and proper stone care will provide all parties involved with an educated experience when selecting materials. The course also offers examples of natural stone in current and unique designs in order to help audiences feel confident that they can choose a stone to fit both functionality and personality. 

The course expands on the content of the popular “Marble Use in the Kitchen” course, which is available through 2021 but will sunset at the end of the year. Survey results concluded that CEU attendees desired more information about additional natural Stone possibilities for countertops. 

“Natural Stone Countertops” was developed by volunteer members of the CEU Education Committee and is now available to certified Natural Stone Institute CEU speakers for download and presentation through the CEU Events dashboard. The credits have been approved by several organizations, including the AIA and the NKBA. 

A live presentation of the course will take place on Oct. 6, at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. For more information, go to www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/countertopCEU.

5:24 

The pandemic has interrupted the normal flow of life in numerous ways, many of them painful. Now, Jewish families who held small funerals for fear of spreading COVID 19, are faced with the disruption of plans for a more normal unveiling a year later. The issue: a shortage of headstones.

Traditionally, a ceremony is held near the first anniversary of the person’s death to unveil the headstone. However, families are now being told that delivery of the memorial stones may be delayed for as long as nine months, according to an article in Forward.com. 

Those in the funeral industry say a combination of factors is responsible, starting with a spike in deaths which has depleted the inventory of granite headstones. However, labor shortages of everyone from quarry workers to stone cutters to engravers are also contributing factors. Also adding to the shortage is the cost of shipping from China, which accounts for about a third of granite headstones in the U.S. And, this country’s suppliers currently don’t have the production capacity to make up the difference. 

According to Adam Sprung, president of Sprung Monuments in Lindenhurst, N.Y., business in cemeteries in the New York metropolitan area is up as much as 20 percent in the last year, with a large portion of those deaths from COVID. And it isn’t just the granite headstones that are in short supply. The concrete compound used for their foundation is in high demand, and the rubber stencil material used to cut letters into the granite is hard to come by, due to a shortage of a chemical used in the stencil’s liner.

Some families for whom the unveiling ceremony is particularly important are resorting to taking a printed proof of the headstone, covering it with plastic and mounting it at the gravesite, although they recognize the situation is beyond their control.

In other news around the industry….

7:23

All Slab Fabbers will hold its first in-person workshop for 2021 in Salt Lake City next month. The event is scheduled for Oct. 14-16 at Elevated Stoneworkz. The three-day event will include speakers on topics ranging from import slowdowns to backshop operations to absentee ownership. Fabrication tips-and-tricks are also on the agenda, along with a two-round top-polishing competition. There will also be a tour of Delta Stone Products. 

7:57

Cosentino opened its expanded and revamped showroom experience at the Cosentino Chicago City Center on Sept. 9. The new space is conceptualized to offer a holistic, comprehensive experience for the Chicago area design community and design enthusiasts. The 4,600 square feet of space features Cosentino’s full product offering, as well as globally and locally sourced textiles, tile, cabinetry samples and plumbing fixtures and an augmented reality design space. The new showroom is the first of its kind in North America and only one of seven globally.

8:36

Neolith®, the Castellon, Spain-based manufacturer of sintered stone products, announces a major investment in China. The company is partnering with Techsize® to bring to life a new company dedicated to the Chinese domestic market while consolidating Neolith’s position in one of the largest domestic markets in the world. The two companies have been collaborating for several years in the kitchen and bath and furniture markets and with key construction companies. Neolith CEO Jose Luis Ramon says the partnership will unleash both companies’ full potential.

9:14

Princeton Chemical announces it will observe a price freeze on its Join-It Surfacing Adhesive. While noting that raw material costs have increased, the company says its unique online ordering system enables it to keep pricing extremely competitive by reducing customer costs – a move it sees as critical at this time in the industry’s recovery.  

Remember you can keep up with all the news in the hard surfaces industry with our online newsletter, Slab and Sheet. And, for the latest in import news, turn to Hard Surfaces Report. For notes and a full transcript of this podcast, go to our website, www.radiostoneupdate.com. For Radio Stone Update, I’m K. Schipper, and we’ll see you here again soon.